November Books 2) The Thorn Birds, by Colleen McCullough

[nwhyte]

Back in the mid-1980s, as a regular train passenger between Belfast and Dublin, I used to cringe at the sound of American tourists pronouncing "Drogheda". This was entirely the fault of the mini-series based on The Thorn Birds, starring Richard Chamberlain as the dashing Father Ralph, and set on an Australian sheep station named after (but

Comments

[rparvaaz]

I never could finish that book...it just didn't grab me. I much prefer her Rome series, which really did grab me.

I have long suspected that its popularity was in a large part due to the thrill of the forbidden.

[nwhyte]

Yes, and given what we now know Catholic priests have been up to, shagging a twenty-something married woman seems rather tame in comparison...

[rparvaaz]

*g*

The world ain't what it used to be...

[surliminal]

I think it was just people who saw it on TV buying it - the guy playing the priest WAS gorgeous..

[rparvaaz]

Well, we never had the TV series run here...it was many years before the liberalisation...so I had people telling me that the book was hot and the Priest was droolworthy. I remember sitting by the school's basketball court and trying to force myself to read on.