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Colleen McCullough

Bramblethorn

Bramblethorn

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Feb 16, 2012
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Colleen McCullough died a couple of days ago. She was a neuroscientist who established a neurophysiology department at a Sydney hospital worked in research at Yale for ten years before her novel The Thorn Birds became a hit, followed by others like her Masters of Rome series. I have to confess I haven't read her work myself, but I understand she was Australia's best selling author.

The Australian (Uncle Rupert's broadsheet) gave us all a lesson in how not to write an obituary:

COLLEEN McCullough, Australia’s best-selling author, was a charmer. Plain of feature, and certainly overweight, she was, nevertheless, a woman of wit and warmth. In one interview, she said: “I’ve never been into clothes or figure and the interesting thing is I never had any trouble attracting men.” ...
Click to expand...

Responses have been pretty scathing.

The Oz has said the obituary was written six years ago by a guy who's since died himself, but I'm not sure what to think about that explanation, because they haven't mentioned how fat he was or whether he had a busy sex life.
 
Sorry to hear that. I've struggled with her books, reading most of the Roman ones, but finding them bordering on the tedious--and her illustrations, which she did herself, are really bad. I haven't read the Thorn Birds, but may someday (if it magically appears on the book pile on my nightstand--where her novel on Cleopatra now is taking up a lot of space--and has been for a couple of unread years).

I read a memorable book by her, though, that I think few know about. It was truly groundbreaking (and thus suppressed at the time). Tim, which is about what we now term a cougar taking in a mentally limited young man and both taking care of and taking advantage of him. I wasn't reading anything remotely like that at the time. Anyone else here read that one?

Here's the NYT Obit: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/30/b...uthor-of-the-thorn-birds-dies-at-77.html?_r=0
 
Last edited:
sr71plt said:
Sorry to hear that. I've struggled with her books, reading most of the Roman ones, but finding them bordering on the tedious--and her illustrations, which she did herself, are really bad. I haven't read the Thorn Birds, but may someday (if it magically appears on the book pile on my nightstand--where her novel on Cleopatra now is taking up a lot of space--and has been for a couple of unread years).

I read a memorable book by her, though, that I think few know about. It was truly groundbreaking (and thus suppressed at the time). Tim, which is about what we now term a cougar taking in a mentally limited young man and both taking care of and taking advantage of him. I wasn't reading anything remotely like that at the time. Anyone else here read that one?

Here's the NYT Obit: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/30/b...uthor-of-the-thorn-birds-dies-at-77.html?_r=0
Click to expand...
I read Tim.
 
Wow, fifteen thousand words on a normal day and thirty thousand on a great day! She must have had nimble nimble fingers.
 
I read The Thorn Birds when I was in school and I also watched the mini-series on TV. It was a very controversial story and the Catholic church frowned on it, but it had to be one of the best love stories ever written. I lost my copy but if I ever come across it again, I will re-read the poignant story of unattainable desire and love that lasted a lifetime.

I have never read one of her other books but maybe one of these days I will. Colleen McCullough was a wonderful writer and surely will be missed.
 
Tim was the first book of hers I read, followed by The Thorn Birds then An Indecent Obsession. I found all three in a second hand book shop when I was 15 (just over 30 years ago now). I wasn't aware of the term at the time, but they were my first foray into "erotic" reading. I still have those tattered, well read copies that I try to read at least once a year or so. Brilliant author and a great person.
 
Didn't realized that she had passed. I too was introduced to the 'sexy books' via the Thornbirds. RIP Colleen.
 
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