Sign in with Facebook
Sarah's Reviews > The Thorn Birds
The Thorn Birds
by
by
Two stars for decent writing, zero stars for plot and characters. Everything about the story itself just felt flat and clumsy to me. The only character I found remotely interesting was Justine, and the only romance I cared about was between Justine and Rainer. And that was only in the last seventy-five or so pages. Reading the rest of the book just felt like a chore.
I hated Ralph. He seemed manipulative and sketchy and at the same time didn't really feel like a real human being. I was super creeped out by his "love" for Meggie. Meggie herself I didn't like at all. She seemed so vapid, and most of her dreams consisted of marriage and babies, babies, babies. Urghhhhh.
The dialogue felt stilted and overly formal, even for the time period in which the book took place. The story didn't feel at all real to me. Despite the religious aspects of the book (Ralph is a freaking priest for God's sake) it didn't make me think about religion or spirituality or Catholicism in any meaningful way.
So yeah, I'm quite disappointed with this book. I think I'll stick to The Poisonwood Bible and Gone with the Wind and The Legend of the Fire Horse Woman for my family epics.
I hated Ralph. He seemed manipulative and sketchy and at the same time didn't really feel like a real human being. I was super creeped out by his "love" for Meggie. Meggie herself I didn't like at all. She seemed so vapid, and most of her dreams consisted of marriage and babies, babies, babies. Urghhhhh.
The dialogue felt stilted and overly formal, even for the time period in which the book took place. The story didn't feel at all real to me. Despite the religious aspects of the book (Ralph is a freaking priest for God's sake) it didn't make me think about religion or spirituality or Catholicism in any meaningful way.
So yeah, I'm quite disappointed with this book. I think I'll stick to The Poisonwood Bible and Gone with the Wind and The Legend of the Fire Horse Woman for my family epics.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
The Thorn Birds.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
Started Reading
August 8, 2011
– Shelved
August 8, 2011
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-5 of 5 (5 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Joan
(new)
-
rated it 5 stars
Jun 19, 2012 02:26PM
Then you've never been truly in love
reply
|
flag
Well, it's fiction, just a story and really didn't intend to be of any spiritual value for anyone. I could be wrong, but you sound very young, in love ,relationships and the up's/downs and disappointments in life. I hope you never experience the disappoints so there won't be any deep emotional connection to any story of loss like this one. :)
After looking at so many 5 stars, I saw your review and heaved a sigh of relief to find that there's at least someone who fid like the book. I am going through it, and it's becoming very painful to do so. And yeah, I agree with you that the characters don't really feel human.
i completely agree!!! the first 85% of this book made me so friggin angry. literally the only redeeming part of this whole saga is justine and rainer. this book has been popping up in my recommendations for the longest time probably bc gone with the wind is one of my absolute favs but the thorn birds was such a total disappointment
Who was considered the thornbird person who had a tragic life and then fell on the thorn singing a beautiful song?
