Monday, May 27, 2013

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

** 2 stars

Mmmmm.  I know I read this years ago when I was in high school. It was quite the scandalous read back then and the mini-series made it even more popular.  I remembered very little about it; only the basic love conflict and (of all things), the "ashes of roses" color.  Weird.

However, my general impression would have been that I liked it and it was a good read.  So, to have to labor to finish it now was a bit of a surprise.  I was initially engaged in the story but I found the whole book sort of lacking.  The central relationship is not only creepy, it is unconvincing.  I'm not sure I understood the draw for either character. 

I know this is a great favorite of many people and I hate to ridicule it too much but it was entirely too long and I found myself skimming lengthy passages just to wrap it up.  The character of Justine was just about insufferable and I was, more than anything, just plain relieved to be done with the whole thing. 

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