Colleen McCullough - The Thorn Birds

Powered by the dreams and struggles of three generations, THE THORN BIRDS is the epic saga of a family rooted in the Australian sheep country. At the story's heart is the love of Meggie Cleary, who can never possess the man she desperately adores, and Ralph de Bricassart, who rises from parish priest to the inner circles of the Vatican...but whose passion for Meggie will follow him all the days of his life.

Comment: I've read this book for one of my book clubs. I have to confess that before reading I had the idea this was very sad and despairing and I've never tried it before because I feared it might be too emotional. When this book was voted to be read I was apprehensive but as the majority rules, I decided to give it a try anyway. 
The book is divided in 6 main chapters. Those chapters are also divided but mostly to create a certain timeline. The 6 chapters focus on a determined period in time in the life of the Cleary family. Each main chapter is titled with the name of one character and the things happening in the correspondent year are more focused in that person and what happens it mainly about him/her.
The story is about the Cleary family and it starts when they are very poor in New Zeland until they travel to Australia and get rich and about everything that happens to them during a long time frame. Many things happen, sad things, happy things, people die and people are born and between all those things family stays together.

Like I said, I feared this would be too emotional, but to be honest I found myself rather detached from most things. I think I only got more sad when one or two people died and I thought how unfair it was because of the way it was, completely out of purpose.
The characters had many challenges and they had to deal with many things and obviously each one had their own way of doing it. The best thing about the book was to see how everyone would act with everyone else and what their actions would mean in the long time. I was often curious to see what would happen but there were times where I felt the plot get too boring. This happened more in long description paragraphs. I felt the author had researched a lot but many things didn't have to be included and sometimes they were there just to explain a certain thing and usually that thing wasn't very happy, so I'd get troubled too soon because I knew something bad would happen.There were moments where this was done on purpose to enhance the reading experience, but not always and I resented those times.
The plot was interesting, yes. Some things made me think a lot, I believe the author does a great job in inserting details that don't seem very thoughtful but are exactly there with that aim, to make us think.
I also thought many times that people wouldn't act or speak like that. I guess it could be a cultural thing, but part of me it more inclined to believe it was just author's freedom. She also tells everything in a distant way, like it's not possible for her to have known those people, she only knew about them..strange but it's the feeling I got.
The way it ended was a bit strange too, not about what happened but in the way it was said...maybe this is just me.
In the end I liked it more than I imagined, but there are too many things in the book that keep me from wanting to read it again, although I recommend it to those who might want to experience the author's writing.

Colleen McCullough - Tim

Mary Horton is content with her comfortable, solitary existence . . . until she meets Tim. A beautiful young man with the mind of a child -- a gentle outcast in a cruel, unbending world -- he illuminates the darkness of Mary's days with his boyish innocence. And he will shatter the lonely, middle-aged spinster's respectable, ordered life with a forbidden promise of a very special love.

Comment: This is an amazing book. The author is a hit or miss for me, but this book is truly amazing. It shows it was written in the 70's, but the theme keeps actual because people with problems are still not trated right by others.

Tim is a young man, very beautiful, but with a slighty retardation. He thinks like a young boy and needs a lot of attention. His parents are getting old and they worry what will happen to him once they're dead because Tim's sister will marry too and then what would happen to Tim?
Tim, despite, his problems, works and lives a normal life although some of his coworkers make fun of him, but he doesn't get why and isn't really offended. While finishing a job, he meets Mary, a spinster lady, and between them a friendship begins.

This is a swet book that focuses on the problems people with a mental handicap have and how others around them live and see them. It's also a study on how people behave in thei lives knowing the stress and worries that come with someone like that.
I liked reading about the praticality of Mary in taking care of Tim, and how their relationship developped. It was bittersweet because soem bad things happen - not to Tim - and everyone must react and change their opath accordingly.
I enjoyed it a lot, it's an interesting reflection on the human behaviour and the faith and beauty of people.

Colleen McCullough - The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet

Comment: I've finished this book.

After an awful beginning, where I suddenly saw myself in a world totally opposite the one we find in the original Pride and Prejudice and where I couldn't see any traces of the characters I've loved - I love - then, now I must confess it isn't such an horrible book after all.

The trick is to not think of it as a sequel or as a true follow-up of the original. This an adaptation, freely thought by the author, where she imagined what might have happened, but in an independent way, because the way she portrayed the characters isn't true to what Miss Jane Austen has done in the past.

The story beginns when Mrs Bennet dies, and Mary, the third sister, is now free to live her life, at age 38. Mary has been reading some letters in a newspaper by a certain Argus, and she is compelled to see for herself the poor conditions of the people without privelegies. Obvioulsy, this against Darcy's orders and without any help she ends up kidnapped.

I won't tell any spoilers, but to be honest the story was more about feelings lost and feelings gained, than about Mary.

I hate what mrs McCullough has done to "my" characters's personality. These characters aren't the ones I love and enjoyed seeing in Pride and Prejudice.

I think that what cost me the more, was to see them changed to something like this. I'll be reading the original as a therapeutic read now.

However, as a single book, this one isn't that bad, just inventive.

New Book

I've finally finished my re-read of The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova. Amazing the amount of details I've had forgotten. It allowed me to enjoy the re-read much more.

Now I've started The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet by Colleen McCullough and I must say, I feel like yelling at Mrs McCullough for what she's doing. I'm only at chapter 1, for that!!
I have a strong belief after this book I'll need to re-read Pride and Prejudice just to ease my pain...