The Thorn Birds
by Colleen McCullough
List Price:
Our Price: $3.26
You Save: $4.73 (59%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Colleen McCulloughEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1979-06-01
ISBN: 0230196809
Number of pages: 692
Publisher: Avon
Book Reviews of The Thorn Birds
Book Review: We're forgetting about Justine!!!!!!!
Summary: 4 Stars
The summarize the Thorn Birds, it is a great, but very depressing book. The first part of the book is especially depressing, so if you're looking for a feel-good kind of book I definitely don't recommend it. There is nothing humourous in this book. It is the tragic love story between Meggie Cleary and Ralph DeBriccarcent (I don't think I spelled his name right!). They both love each other, but Ralph is far too self-absorbed and ambitious to show some humility and admit his love to Meggie. and Meggie is too obsessive to get over Ralph and move on with her life. That's the really sad part. Most of us have had some bad experience with love sometime in our lives, or even had our heart's broken. But most people are able to pick up and move on after awhile. Well Meggie spends literally her WHOLE life pining away for Ralph, whom she knows she can never have. That's the tragedy. Her whole life is ruined because of her obsession. It is said that Meggie is a strong character but I think if she was really strong she should have actually done something worthwhile with her life and found a man who really loved her, enough to give her a warm home and many children as she always wanted (unlike Luke!). The only purpose her whole life had was the raising of her two children. Of course one of them had to die to make the book even more tragic but let's just say that the children are the two strongest characters in the book. Dane, her son, becomes a preist like Ralph, but unlike Ralph, he is the perfect preist. Instead of simply trying to move up in position in the church, he is sincerely interested in finding God and the way to best serve him. Justine is also an amazing character and in all the other reveiws I've read, she's been absolutely neglected. Justine's being in the book is the very reason i gave it 4 stars instead of 2. When the book focuses on Justine the book really livens up. Here's a woman who won't spend her life pining away for a man who doesn't love her. This girl is moving!!!!!!!! She isn't content to waste her life as a nothing on little old Drogheda. She runs out into the real world and grasps from it what she can. And she becomes a rich and famous actress in London because of it! Plus, she is EXTREMELY intelligent and quick-minded. Her vocation choice (an actress) fits her perfectly and she is brillant as an actress as she is in everything else. Well, everything except love and emotion, but she does have an emotional awakening at the end. She is a lot of fun, has many friends and is very exuberant. Unlike the other characters who seem to refuse to be happy no matter what there circumstances Justine excepts happiness. She is by far the happiest character in the book (Dane and Rain are close at least). Unlike her mother, grandmother and Ralph who are content to stay down in the dumps and depressed for their whole lives, Justine always stays mostly high-spirited and optimistic. That's one of the reasons you've gotta love her, she brings some cheer and humour and vivacity into this tragic-beyond-real-life book. She's a very spirited and animated and lively, energetic person who is vivid and will stay in your mind. So don't forget Justine. She helps the book out a lot in the end and really ties things together well. You cannot wait to find out what this chic does next! I think they should have a sequel called JUSTINE. Well anyway, this is definitely a book you want to read, and if the middle has you down a little bit, the Justine part will perk you up a bit.
Summary of The Thorn Birds
Now, 25 years after it first took the world by storm, Colleen McCullough's sweeping family saga of dreams, titanic struggles, dark passions, and forbidden love in the Australian Outback returns to enthrall a new generation. As powerful, moving, and unforgettable as when it originally appeared, it remains a monumental literary achievement?a landmark novel to be read . . . and read again!
Family Saga Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Family Saga Books
Elephant Manby Christine Sparks
Ballantine Books; Published: 1986-11-12; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.03
Price in other shops:
Assegaiby Wilbur Smith
Thomas Dunne Books; Published: 2009-05-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops:
Birds of Preyby Wilbur Smith
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2003-05-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $48.99
An Act of Loveby Nancy Thayer
St Martins Pr; Published: 1997-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.85
Price in other shops:
Honoluluby Alan Brennert
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2009-03-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.53
Price in other shops:
Family Treeby Barbara Delinsky
Anchor; Published: 2009-10-27; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops:
Those Who Save Usby Jenna Blum
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Published: 2005-05-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.97
Price in other shops:
Vinegar Hillby A. Manette Ansay
Penguin USA (P); Published: 2000-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.99
Billy Phelan's Greatest Gameby William Kennedy
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1983-01-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.79
Price in other shops:
Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 1)by Neal Stephenson
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 2004-09-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.22
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Outlanderby Diana Gabaldon
Delta; Published: 1998-08-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
Captains and the Kings: The Story of an American Dynastyby Taylor Caldwell
Fawcett Crest Books; Published: 1983-10-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.91
Price in other shops:
Roots: The Saga of an American Familyby Alex Haley
Vanguard Press; Published: 2007-05-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.79
Price in other shops:
The Touch: A Novelby Colleen McCullough
Pocket Star; Published: 2004-08-31; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.69
Price in other shops:
Morgan's Runby Colleen McCullough
Pocket Books; Published: 2002-01-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.42
Price in other shops:
A Woman of Substanceby Barbara Taylor Bradford
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2009-10-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
Rebeccaby Daphne Du Maurier
Harper Paperbacks; William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 1997-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.49
Price in other shops:
Gone with the Wind, 75th Anniversary Editionby Margaret Mitchell
Scribner; Published: 2011-05-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.51
Price in other shops:
Thorn Birds Collector's SetWarner Brothers; Release date: 2011-06-21; DVD
Best price: $28.64
Price in other shops:
Thorn BirdsWHV; Release date: 2011-06-28; DVD
Best price: $11.39
Price in other shops: