This is an epic saga, an amazing story about how repressing your desires hurts you and everyone around you. How having a detached mother can become a pattern that repeats in generations. How you should not live in the past and exist on the autopilot, you should see people who love you and maybe love them back, especially if they are your family. It criticizes catholic church for treating sex (only with women) as something dirty and not natural. About how you can't steal from God.
About how people will suffer and still love deeply!

Nah, I’m just messing with you. This book is crap.

It’s long, unfocused, badly written, soaked in soap opera levels of melodrama. Characterizations are laughable. Maggie had something like 10 brothers and not one of them had any discernible personality. They just merged into one guy who’s somewhere outside in the Australian outback, virgin and content, he doesn’t want anything from life.

This book has a very strange view of men. And women, but mostly men. They are either basic simpletons or loners who see women as a weakness and who don’t need them at all. And a very strange view of male sexuality, McCullough is obsessed with it and despises it.

This is a book about Ralph de Bricassart, a very selfish man, a man of faith who is in the church not so much for spiritual reasons but for his career. He, a 30 year old, lavishes his love and attention on this lonely young girl because he likes her and he is lonely himself, knowing well that she will fall for him, because there’s no other men around. Also we are being told time and time again that this priest has the face of Adonis and/or an angel. Then he proceeds to toy with her feelings, being hot and cold, saying he doesn’t need her, then kissing her, then stealing from her, then leaving and then coming back for more kissing and eventually hot hot??? sex.

Nobody here behaves like a human, nobody has any depth.

Also isn’t it kinda funny in the scene when Ralph is having sex with her AT LAST and it’s so transformative and he understands that he was selfish, the whole inner monologue is still about himself. He's just incapable of thinking about anyone else but himself.

One additional star because of nostalgia.

Oh boy! I have been so excited to read this novel for several years now. I have deliberately put it on my reading challenges in order to make it happen and it has suffered by getting pushed down the list in favor of other books. But now, I have tackled this well-known novel and I hope that my friends who loved it won’t be disappointed too much by my reluctance to fall for this family saga.

This book is a product of its time, written in the late 1970s and then brought to the tv screen in the early 1980s in a mini-series that I think everyone but me has probably seen. I was too young to be allowed to watch it, but I do remember the hype of all the parents in town. Honestly, I knew nothing about the plot except that it was set in Australia and that it was a huge family saga that spanned generations. I also had a preconceived idea that it was more historical fiction than it was romance but now I understand the hype of all the moms especially back in the 80s when “Dallas” and “Dynasty” were all the rage. The writing was very much fitting for the time period and of course, the romance plot line served the tv series well. However, that was what really turned me off. Sorry friends, I just couldn’t get past the young girl and a grown priest. By halfway, I was skimming and that’s always a kiss of death for a book.

I’ll not go on telling you about all the things I disliked because in the end, it’s just not a book for me. I love a Jane Austen love story, but The Thorn Birds hype just didn’t do it for me. I wanted it to, but no.

Книга викликала у мене дуже багато емоцій, це та історія, яку цікаво обговорювати десь в читацьких клубах. Не дивлячись на те, що я поставила їй 5 зірок, я вважаю що це продукт свого часу і зараз ��агато чого не здається мені таким романтичним, як це тут описується. Загалом, це прекрасна історія про декілька поколінь жінок, сімейна сага, яка не залишить байдужим нікого. Якщо книжка викликає шквал емоцій - тоді вона написана не дарма.

П.С. Так могли бути написані «Мости округу Медісон», але автор це профукав і написав якесь оповідання про декілька денний адьюльтер, замість того, щоб досліджувати персонажів протягом тисячі сторінок

I wanted to be impressed by this book, after reading so many positive reviews, and I am impressed, but not to the extent that would justify to me its heaps of praises.

The story was good. Though a quite many important parts of the story were rushed up, I liked reading about Australia, and the changing world along with the changing story. The thing I disliked most about the book was that many of its characters' decisions were counter-intuitive, and it happened a lot of times.

Except for the protagonists, most characters were likeable. In fact, in the beginning and at the end, I quite enjoyed reading Meggie Cleary. But father Ralph de Bricassart was, according to me, such an impractical character, that in my mind he was hardly human (something like this with Dane too). On the other hand, I quite enjoyed Justine, Rain, Fee, Luke, Frank, and a few others.

The best part about the book was the writing. Even at some too-tiring pages I was able to hold on because of the beautiful way in which Collen McCullough has written. Some of my favourite bits are here.

“And gradually his memory slipped a little, as memories do, even those with so much love attached to them; as if there is an unconscious healing process within the mind which mends up in spite of our desperate determination never to forget.”

"When a man's hands are callused you know he's honest."

"Time ceased to tick and began to flow, washed over him until it had no meaning, only a depth of dimension more real than time."

"Maybe senility's a mercy shown to those who couldn't face retrospection."

End of the story is, I liked the book but didn't love it.

Багато писати не буду. Прекрасно. 900 сторінок, 3 династії промайнули дуже швидко. Я привʼязався до сімʼї Клірі і не хочу відпускати.

Як тут деталізовано описані персонажі. Їх тут так багато, але кожен грає роль і кожен стає тобі наче рідний. Ти переживаєш за невдачі, радієш, плачеш разом з ними. Як так можна написати?!

Немає екшену, все спокійно, майже немає діалогів, а проте це не відчувається. Тобі вистачає драми, тобі вистачає інтриги і до кінця не знаєш, що ОЧІКУВАТИ ЩЕ.

Історія про сімʼю. Про кохання. Про важливість виражати свої емоції вчасно. Про втрату. Про співчуття і жаль.

Це прекрасно.

‏‫‭The Thorn birds, Colleen McCullough

n  There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to out-carol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in His heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain.... Or so says the legend. n

The Thorn Birds is a 1977 best-selling novel by the Australian author Colleen McCullough. Set primarily on Drogheda—a fictional sheep station in the Australian Outback named after Drogheda, Ireland—the story focuses on the Cleary family and spans the years 1915 to 1969. The novel is the best selling book in Australian history, and has sold over 33 million copies worldwide.

Meghann "Meggie" Cleary, a four-year-old girl living in New Zealand in the early twentieth century, is the only daughter of Paddy, an Irish farm labourer and Fee, his harassed but aristocratic wife. Meggie is a beautiful child with curly red-gold hair but receives little coddling and must struggle to hold her own.

Her favourite brother is the eldest, Frank, a rebellious young man who is unwillingly preparing himself for the blacksmith's trade. He is much shorter than his other brothers, but very strong. Unlike the other Clearys, he has black hair and eyes, believed to be inherited from his Maori great-great-grandmother. ...

عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «م‍رغ‍ان‌ ش‍اخ‍س‍ار طرب‌»؛ «آخ‍ری‍ن‌ پ‍رن‍ده‌ در ش‍اخ‍ه‌ ای‌ ت‍ن‍ه‍ا»؛ «آخ‍ری‍ن‌ پ‍رن‍ده‌»؛ «پرنده خارزار»؛ «مرغان خارزار»؛ و «م‍رغ‌ خ‍ار»؛ نویسنده: کالین مک کالو؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه نوامبر سال 2006میلادی

عنوان: مرغان شاخسار طرب، نویسنده: کالین مک کالو؛ مترجم: فرشته طاهری؛ تهران، انتشارات ویس؛ 1367؛ در 791ص؛ چاپ دوم 1368؛ سوم سال 1369؛ بعدا نشر درسا)؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان استرالیا - سده 20م

عنوان: مرغ خار، نویسنده: کالین مک کالو؛ مترجم: طاهره صدیقیان-رویا صدوقی، نشر مروارید 1369؛ در 368ص؛

عنوان: پرنده خارزار، نویسنده: کالین مک کالو؛ مترجم: مهدی غبرایی، نشر نیلوفر 1371؛ در 764ص؛

عنوان: پرندگان خارزار، نویسنده: کالین مک کالو؛ مترجم: امیر راسترو، نشر قصه پرداز 1379؛ در 568ص؛

عنوان: مرغان شاخسار طرب، نویسنده: کالین مک کالو؛ مترجم: تیمور قادری- زهرا قادری، نشر ابرسفید 1391؛ در 736ص؛

در پهنه ی گیتی مرغکی است که تنها یکبار در زندگی خویش آواز میخواند؛ آوایی دلنشینتر از آواز هر مخلوق دیگری در گستره خاک؛ از آن دم که ترک آشیانه میگوید خاربنی را میجوید، و تا آن را نیابد، آرام نمیگیرد؛ چو آن را یافت، در میان شاخسار گزنده مینشیند و میخواند، و خود را بر فراز بلندترین و تیزترین شاخه ی خار مصلوب میکند، و در واپسین لحظه های زندگی در سوگ خویش بلند آوازتر از بلبل و چکاوک نغمه سرایی میکند

داستان دختری به نام «مگی» است که عاشق کشیشی به نام «رالف» می‌شود و در اثر یک رابطه جنسی از «رالف» پسری به دنیا می‌آورد؛ کتاب «پرنده خارزار»، داستان سه نسل از خانواده ی «کلیریس» را باز میگوید؛ گله دارانی که از سرزمینی زیبا و سرسخت، زندگی طلب میکنند و همزمان با دلخوریها، ضعفها و اسراری روبرو میگردند که به خانواده شان نیز راه مییابد

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 19/07/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 13/06/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

Oh my fucking God. This book. I was standing in the kitchen this morning angrily chopping veg and I couldn't work out why, then I realised, it was this book just making me irrationally angry, when I wasn't even reading it!

Tragedies within the first 50 pages, let's list them.

1. She gets a lovely doll!
1.5 Doll is trashed.
2. She gets sent to school at last!
2.5 School is terrible she's beaten every day.
3. It's ok she makes an awesome friend!
3.5 Friend hates her, fuck you, nits.
4. She realllly wants a blue teaset.
4.5 Family gets themselves into debt buying it, she no longer wants it and it brings her no joy.
5. I'm allowed to go to Church with the others!
5.5 Fuck Church is boring I will never achieve spiritual fulfillment.
6. My parents don't love me but my brother does. :3
6.5 My brother has tried to run off to War and is now irreparably broken.

That was basically the whole book, over and over again. There was some shit about how priests should be allowed to marry because what is God if not Love and some other stuff about being married to the land and where babies come from. but it was mainly a series of setting up good things and then knocking them over again like a game of tragic-bowling.

At one point they meet the priest, he is like "fuck your hair is sexy darlin'" ignoring the fact she is Nine. He lusts after her for the rest of the book but he is Married to God and the author takes pains to mention how he can never get it up, several times. Apart from about 4 days in a honeymoon hotel bareback where he never again considers he could have made her pregnant, even when being faced with his own son for several hours a day for 10 years. Nobody ever says "fuck man he looks just like you," and never once does he think "You know she left her husband right close to when this kid was conceived right about the time of those 4 days in a honeymoon hotel"

Oh man I'm not going to go into it. Don't read it. Please.

Sinto que vivi uma vida inteira neste livro. Poderia arranjar dezenas de adjectivos sinónimos de maravilhoso, fantástico, incrível e ainda assim nunca iria parecer suficiente. Acontece com os melhores. Atentem no primeiro parágrafo da obra:

"Existe uma lenda acerca de um pássaro que só canta uma vez na vida, com mais suavidade do que qualquer outra criatura sobre a Terra. A partir do momento em que deixa o ninho, começa a procurar um espinheiro, e só descansa quando o encontra. Depois, cantando entre os galhos selvagens, empala-se no acúleo mais agudo e mais comprido. E, morrendo, sublima a própria agonia e solta um canto mais belo que o da cotovia e o do rouxinol. Um canto superlativo, cujo preço é a existência. Mas o mundo inteiro pára para ouvi-lo, e Deus sorri no céu. Pois o melhor só se adquire à custa de um grande sofrimento.”

Este romance acompanha três gerações da família Cleary entre 1915 e 1969 e desenrola-se principalmente na Austrália. Ainda que ficção histórica não seja dos géneros literários que mais aprecio, tenho uma certa tendência para adorar (e até delirar) com enredos focados numa mesma família. Este em particular toca em temas como a existência do ser humano, a importância das escolhas e a incerteza/certeza do destino.

Motivos para ler este livro é o que não falta por aqui, deixo os meus eleitos:
1 - as personagens são tão completas que sentimos que vivem para além do livro
2 - a escrita da autora é cativante, rica em imagens e sentimentos, conseguimos facilmente visualizar as paisagens que a autora descreve
3 - a autora consegue relacionar muito bem a história da família com os acontecimentos da época
4 - é um livro muito absorvente, daqueles que nos fazem esquecer onde estamos
5 - Colleen McCullough sabe realmente como contar uma história

Não é um romance perfeito, nem sei se tal coisa existe. Reconheço que a autora se excedeu um bocadinho, podia ter contado a mesma história em menos páginas. Também fiquei de pé atrás com o comportamento de algumas personagens femininas, demasiada submissão para o meu gosto.

No final, estes pontos menos positivos pareceram-me pouco relevantes, terminei o livro com uma sensação difícil de descrever e agora que já passaram alguns dias percebo o quanto estas personagens me marcaram. Não se deixem intimidar pelas mais de 600 páginas, garanto-vos que esta experiência é inesquecível.

Opinião no blog:
http://clarocomoaagua.blogs.sapo.pt/o...

Adorei. Adorei. Adorei. É um livro que prende da primeira à última página. É uma história sobre sofrimento, persistência e resiliência. Retrata a história de uma família, inicialmente residente na Nova Zelândia, mas que cedo parte para a Austrália (e como há tanto tempo eu anseio por visitar a Austrália...). Aí relata essencialmente a vida rural, de muita poeira e ambiente cinzento, longas extensões de terra árida, com condições meteorológicas extremas, intercalando épocas de profundas secas com enormes cheias. Quando ao enredo, é constituído por personagem de personalidade forte, orgulhosas e que tentam superar as adversidades de forma bastante introspectiva. Escrito num estilo soberbo, com um sentido de humor sofisticado. Pessoalmente identifiquei-me com algumas características da personagem Justine, especialmente com as suas dúvidas e inseguranças. Foi bom poder mergulhar nesta história, ao ponto de ansiar sofregamente por todos os momentos livres, para poder discorrer mais algumas páginas. Em muitos momentos, não resisti a saltitar umas páginas à frente para bisbilhotar o que se ia passar e é algo que nunca faço, mas a curiosidade era mais que muita. Ler assim compulsivamente é bom, permite-nos sentir aquela história em pleno. Felizmente nem todos os livros me encantam dessa forma, em parte ainda bem, senão deixava de ter vida para além do trabalho e leitura.
Tenho muita vontade de ler mais livros desta autora, pois a sua escrita e capacidade de contar uma história, surpreendeu-me muito. Também estou certa de que vou querer voltar a ler este livro.
Deixo aqui excertos do início e fim do livro:

"Existe uma lenda acerca de um pássaro que só canta uma vez na vida, com mais suavidade que qualquer outra criatura sobre a Terra. A partir do momento em que deixa o ninho, começa a procurar um espinheiro, e só descansa quando o encontra. Depois, cantando entre os galhos selvagens, empala-se no acúleo mais agudo e comprido. E, morrendo, sublima a própria agonia e solta um canto mais belo que o da cotovia e o do rouxinol. Um canto superlativo, cujo preço é a existência. Mas o mundo inteiro pára para ouvi-lo, e Deus sorri no céu. Pois o melhor só se adquire à custa de um grande sofrimento... Pelo menos é o que diz a lenda.
[...]
O pássaro com o espinho cravado no peito segue uma lei imutável; impelido por ela, não sabe o que é empalar-se, e morre cantando. No instante em que o espinho penetra, não há nele consciência do morrer futuro; limita-se a cantar e canta até que não lhe sobra vida para emitir uma única nota. Mas nós, quando enfiamos os espinhos no peito, nós sabemos, compreendemos. E assim mesmo fazemo-lo."

A meio do livro, tal lenda é esmiuçada da seguinte forma:
"Cada um de nós tem dentro de si alguma coisa que não pode ser negada, ainda que nos faça gritar, gritar, gritar, até ao fim. Somos o que somos, e pronto. Como a velha lenda celta do pássaro com o espinho no peito que canta até morrer, porque precisa de fazê-lo, porque é levado a isso. Podemos saber que vamos errar antes até de cometer o erro, mas o conhecimento de nós mesmos não afecta nem altera o resultado. Cada qual entoa o seu cântico, convencido de que é o mais maravilhoso que o mundo já ouviu. Não vês? Criámos os nossos espinhos e nunca nos detivemos para avaliar o custo. A única coisa que podemos fazer é sofrer a dor e dizer intimamente que valeu a pena."

هر چیزی که از یک کتاب خوب انتظار داشتم برآورده شد
خیلی خیلی خیلی دوست داشتنی بود
درتک تک لحظاتش غرق لذت شدم
داستان که هیچی کم نداشت ترجمه مهدی غبرایی هم عالی بود.



https://taaghche.com/audiobook/142725

This epic family drama follows the Clearys through three generations, spanning most of the 20th century.
Love, loss, war, fire, and regrets that last a lifetime.

Read long ago