![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Title: The Thornbirds
Author: Colleen McCullough
Genre: Historical fiction
Thingummies: 2.5
Synopsis: Multi-generational soap opera in the Australian outback.
Thoughts: Given the epigraph (about a bird who sings the most beautiful song in existence, but only when it impales itself on a thornbush), this book thinks it's about a family that repeatedly suffers from self-inflicted wounds by making the wrong choice.
I think it's actually about a family that repeatedly suffers from self-inflicted wounds by not actually getting around to doing anything.
I swear to God, this is the most passive group of ninnies. I guess it all works out in the end after the third generation finally does make a choice of her own and gets to be happy, but she's manipulated into that choice, so I'm not sure even that counts.
Spoilers: Grandma is forced to marry the wrong guy. Grandpa doesn't actually woo her or anything--his employer basically tells him to marry her, so he does. Son 1 does manage to get himself imprisoned for murder, but it happens off screen, so who knows what actually happened there. The rest of the sons...never do anything. Everyone inherits a giant farm just for being related to a crazy lady, but get semi-disinherited for something not their fault and don't fight it. Family priest gets manipulated into inheriting. Daughter gets seduced by random dude and kinda tricked into marrying him. Then gets convinced by other people to go home, after other people set it up for her to sleep with priest. Grandpa dies accidentally. Son dies accidentally. Grandson dies technically saving someone but really accidentally. No one actually comes up with a plan for their life and actually does it--the entire plot consists of things happening to them, not them doing something on purpose. Arrgh!
It's well written enough, and I did want to know what happened to the characters. But when I found out, I mostly just wanted to strangle them. Yes, the wounds are all self-inflicted. But they're not even self-inflicted for good reasons. These are the most un-self-aware characters ever. You know what? They deserve to suffer. At any point, most of them could have ended their suffering in fifteen minutes by removing their heads from their asses. There are plenty of people who suffer tragically and nobly. These ain't it. Grow up, people. There's no reason to be so miserable.
Author: Colleen McCullough
Genre: Historical fiction
Thingummies: 2.5
Synopsis: Multi-generational soap opera in the Australian outback.
Thoughts: Given the epigraph (about a bird who sings the most beautiful song in existence, but only when it impales itself on a thornbush), this book thinks it's about a family that repeatedly suffers from self-inflicted wounds by making the wrong choice.
I think it's actually about a family that repeatedly suffers from self-inflicted wounds by not actually getting around to doing anything.
I swear to God, this is the most passive group of ninnies. I guess it all works out in the end after the third generation finally does make a choice of her own and gets to be happy, but she's manipulated into that choice, so I'm not sure even that counts.
Spoilers: Grandma is forced to marry the wrong guy. Grandpa doesn't actually woo her or anything--his employer basically tells him to marry her, so he does. Son 1 does manage to get himself imprisoned for murder, but it happens off screen, so who knows what actually happened there. The rest of the sons...never do anything. Everyone inherits a giant farm just for being related to a crazy lady, but get semi-disinherited for something not their fault and don't fight it. Family priest gets manipulated into inheriting. Daughter gets seduced by random dude and kinda tricked into marrying him. Then gets convinced by other people to go home, after other people set it up for her to sleep with priest. Grandpa dies accidentally. Son dies accidentally. Grandson dies technically saving someone but really accidentally. No one actually comes up with a plan for their life and actually does it--the entire plot consists of things happening to them, not them doing something on purpose. Arrgh!
It's well written enough, and I did want to know what happened to the characters. But when I found out, I mostly just wanted to strangle them. Yes, the wounds are all self-inflicted. But they're not even self-inflicted for good reasons. These are the most un-self-aware characters ever. You know what? They deserve to suffer. At any point, most of them could have ended their suffering in fifteen minutes by removing their heads from their asses. There are plenty of people who suffer tragically and nobly. These ain't it. Grow up, people. There's no reason to be so miserable.
