The Thorn Birds

I recently acquired a small library at a wonderful used book store in Qualicum Beach.

Deciding to go big or go home, I dove into The Thorn Birds first.

I’d read it in the late 70’s.  (I was a voracious reader as an adolescent, and my mom provided a steady diet of novels.)  Rereading The Thorn Birds as an adult, I can only assume she hadn’t read it before giving it to me.

The Thorn Birds is one of those massive, sweeping novels I used to love.  (I read Roots and Gone With the Wind around the same time.)  Would a brick-like novel spanning over fifty years be able to keep my attention now I’m used to an intellectual diet of headlines and tiny bites of information online?

You bet!

I couldn’t put it down.  It’s been a long time (too long!) since I got carried away by a novel.

As well as being a compelling story, The Thorn Birds is easy to read.  Unlike so much contemporary lit, it’s told in chronological order with a reliable third person narrator.  This works for me.  I lose interest when books flip around between character and time before I’ve had time to get invested in the story.

I learned something about myself as a reader, and this knowledge should help with future reading choices.

I rate The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough four paws up.