Summary The Thorn Birds should be familiar to any fan of Australian literature. This is a novel by 20th-century writer Colin McCullough. It was first published in 1977. Soon the work became a real bestseller. There is even a study according to which two copies of this book are sold every minute in the world.

The meaning of the name

The summary of The Thorn Birds should begin with an explanation of the meaning of the title of this novel. It is based on a legend.

It tells that there is a bird in the world that sings only once in its entire life. But this one time is more beautiful than the songs of all other birds combined. At some point in her life, she flies away from the nest in search of a thorn bush. She searches for him until she calms down.

In its thorny branches, she begins to sing her song, and at the end she throws herself with her chest on the most dangerous and sharp thorn. She continues to sing, dying, suffering from incredible agony. This one song she succeeds at the cost of her own life. At this moment, the whole world freezes, listening to her. The legend claims that even God in heaven smiles when he hears this song. After all, it was obtained at the cost of great suffering. So says this beautiful legend.

The summary of The Thorn Birds should begin with the fact that this is a story that began in 1915. The whole novel covers the next half century of the life of the main characters. The story is dedicated to the fate of the Cleary family. Its members during this time go from the poor, born in New Zealand, to the leaders of one of the richest and largest estates in Australia, which is called Drogheda.

Each part of this novel is dedicated to one of the heroes of the novel "Singing Thorns". A chapter summary is therefore easy to compose. The title mentions his name and the time period that the chapter covers. For example, the first part of the summary of The Thorn Birds is about Maggie. Events unfold from 1915 to 1917.

At the very beginning of the work, the birthday of a little girl named Maggie is described. She is only four years old. She lives in a poor, large family. Their life is hard. The mother of the family has to work every day to have enough money for housing and food.

At this time, children learn the basics of science in a Catholic school under the supervision of strict and even harsh nuns. Frank, the eldest child in the family, at the first opportunity demonstrates his dissatisfaction with the current situation, with the way they live. Especially poverty and oppressive monotony.

One day they have a chance. The father of the family receives an unexpected letter from his sister, whose name is Mary Carson. She owns the rich and prosperous estate of Drogheda in Australia. She calls her brother to work as a senior shepherd. Together they move from New Zealand to Australia.

Ralph

The second chapter is dedicated to Ralph and covers the period between 1918 and 1928. Ralph is a young priest who is one of the first to meet the Cleary family in Australia. Although he is not related to the family, he should be given a place in the summary of the Thorn Birds. The description of his relationship with Cleary plays an important role.

He is immediately attracted to 10-year-old Maggie. She strikes the priest with her shyness and beauty. When Maggie grows up, she herself falls in love with Ralph. But it turns out that they are not destined to be together. Since the priest made a vow of chastity, which he cannot break. All that remains for them is to walk together and talk a lot.

Mary Carson, the owner of the estate, is also in love with Ralph. She watches his connection with Maggie with growing hatred. She begins to fear that he may part with his dignity for the love of a young girl. Then Mary makes an unexpected move - after her death, she leaves her entire inheritance to the church on the condition that the Catholic priests appreciate their minister Ralph. The Cleary family remains to live on the estate in the status of administrators.

Serious career opportunities open up before Ralph in the church, and he refuses Maggie's love. Overpowering himself, he leaves Drogheda.

Paddy

The decade from 1929 to 1939 is dedicated to Paddy. That's the name of the father of the family in The Thorn Birds. The summary of the book describes how he dies during a huge fire. The fire claims the life of his son Stuart as well.

Ironically, when their bodies are brought to the manor, Ralph returns to Drogheda for a while. Maggie, who has forgotten to yearn for her father, dreams of connecting with her lover, even receives a kiss from him. But as soon as the funeral ends, the priest leaves the estate again.

In parting, Maggie gives him a rose that survived the terrible fire, he promises to keep it. So ends this part of Colin McCullough. "The Thorn Birds" in a summary introduces the reader in detail to the love story of Maggie and Ralph.

Luke

The period from 1933 to 1938 passes under the sign of Luke. This is a new worker who arrives at the estate and begins to care for Maggie, who yearns for Ralph. Outwardly, he even looks like a priest. Therefore, the girl first goes dancing with him, and then gets married.

After the wedding, Luke gets a job cutting cane, and his young wife starts working as a maid for a young and wealthy couple. Maggie dreams of her child, but Luke prefers to save money for now, promising a full family life in a few years, when they get back on their feet. He leaves for work and spends several months away from home. Maggie goes to the trick and manages to give birth to a daughter from him, whom she names Justin.

Childbirth is difficult. After she gets back on her feet, the owners of the house where Maggie worked as a maid give her a trip to Matlock Island. In her absence, Luke arrives from work, refusing to follow his wife on vacation. After Ralph appears, who, after some hesitation, nevertheless goes to Maggie.

Passion arises between them, and they spend several days as husband and wife. These are the most romantic places in The Thorn Birds. The summary becomes even more interesting to read when it turns out that Ralph has to leave for Rome to become a cardinal. Carrying a baby from a Catholic priest under her heart, Maggie leaves her husband and returns to her parents.

Fia

The period from 1938 to 1953 is dedicated to Fia. Ralph at this time is hardly reconciled with flexible relations between the Vatican and Mussolini. After all, in Europe begins the Second World War. The Cleary twin brothers go to the front. Maggie's son Dan is born. No one suspects that he is not from Luke, because he and Ralph were very similar. Only her mother Fia understands everything.

She tells her daughter that in her youth she was also in love with a man who could not marry her because of his high position. But she gave birth to his son Frank. Her husband knew everything, because his father-in-law gave him money to marry Fia. It turns out that mother and daughter have more in common than they might have thought.

At this time, Ralph comes to Drogheda again. He meets Dan, but does not realize that this is his son.

Dan

The fate of Dan is devoted to a part describing the events from 1954 to 1965. At this time, Maggie's children have already grown up so much that they choose their own professions. Justina dreams of becoming an actress, for this she leaves for London.

Dan dreams of becoming a priest. Maggie is against it. She wants grandchildren and does not want the church to take another loved one away from her. But Dan insists on his own and leaves for Rome to Ralph.

A relationship develops between father and son on a sensual level, although they are not aware of their kinship. This is noted by many researchers in the analysis of "The Thorn Birds". In the novel, events develop tragically.

Dan passes the rite of ordination and goes to rest in Crete. On the island, he drowns while saving two women. Maggie asks Ralph to help her negotiate with the Greek authorities and reveals who Dan really was. Ralph arranges for their son to be buried in Drogheda. He performs the rite of the sacrament over him and dies shortly after the funeral. He realizes that he has sacrificed too much in life for the sake of his career.

Justin

The final part talks about Maggie's daughter Justin. Experiencing the death of her brother, she seeks solace in her work. At the same time, it improves personal life, she marries the German Lyon Hartheim.

The novel ends with sad reflections on the future of the estate, which has no future. Maggie's brothers never got married, Dan died, and Justina doesn't want to have children.

If the female images - Fiona, Justina and especially Maggie - are felt as alive, in their carnal reality and originality, then Ralph de Bricassard is written out in a purely romantic vein. There is even a stamp of obvious idealization on him: a man of rare beauty, highly educated, charming, a born diplomat, not just a spiritual mentor to his flock, but who knows how to be a simple shepherd, a shepherd, despite refined manners, a jack of all trades, an object of Mary Carson's unfulfilled desires , as, indeed, and other women, firmly remaining faithful to the Catholic principles of celibacy of clergy, he, obeying the ascetic dogma, seems to have firmly suppressed human passions and inclinations.

Meeting Maggie transforms him. Even then, he notices in her that barely perceptible charm of femininity, which will make up the essence of her nature. This is how it will remain in the memory of readers. In its own way, this friendship between a priest and a teenage girl is touching, a friendship that develops into affection, then into love, still vague, unconscious for Maggie. Through all her life she will carry this feeling to her first and only chosen one, and that crumpled, accidentally surviving rose from the fire, which she will give to Ralph, will become the key to the strength of her love, a multi-valued symbol.

There are probably some in this sad story two "monogamous" touch of sentimentality and even literary. To other readers, it may seem far from real life. But let's take into account the genre features of this novel. Is it permissible to measure the romantic thickening of colors by the standards of everyday credibility? It seems that the love of Maggie and Ralph has its own deep truth, expressing all the strength and tragedy of this feeling in its highest manifestations.

Switching attention in the last parts of the novel to Dan and Justina, those who represent the third generation, the writer turns to new ideological and moral conflicts. Maggie's children are already breaking the family's allegiance to the earth. Dan, a beautiful and pure young man, will follow in his father's footsteps, become a Catholic priest, join the Jesuit order. His tragic death will be a fatal blow for Ralph as well.

Of course, there is in the portrayal of Dan, like his father, a well-known idealization. And yet the attitude of the writer to Catholicism is not without a critical beginning. Claiming the enduring value of everything, primordial, living, natural, the novelist

by the very logic of the events recreated by her, she reveals the inhumanity of the Catholic dogma of the celibacy of the clergy, which is a challenge to human nature itself. This problem has been eagerly discussed in literature since the Renaissance: in Boccaccio's short stories, for example, the sophisticated antics of monks, whose carnal lusts rebel against the prohibitions imposed on them by dignity, are wittily played up. In the novel, serving the Catholic God actually means renunciation of life, it turns into the deepest life drama for Ralph and Maggie. In the mouth of her heroine, the writer will put words of bitter reproach to the Almighty, who took away her beloved from her. Yes, and to Ralph himself, in the face of Maggie's earthly beauty, God will sometimes seem like a "colossus with feet of clay." Ralph's pride and ambition, his devotion to his dignity, will eventually reveal all their ephemeral nature against the background of real earthly love - perhaps the most beautiful thing that he has known in life. The historicism of the novel is also evident in the depiction of the various generations of the Cleary family. Maggie's daughter - Justina, who became an actress, left her home and lives in Europe - is another interestingly conceived female image. She bears Cleary's family traits, is proud, independent, independent, and at the same time she is a person of a different time, her circle of interests, ideals is wider than that of her slightly "provincial" parents, and moral standards are different, free. Next to her, the figure of her beloved Hartheim seems, however, pale, the very history of their relationship is somewhat far-fetched, describing it, the writer, I think, strays into the clichés of a “secular” novel, recreating the “beautiful life” of people who are not burdened with material worries.

In general, Colin McCullough avoids halftones in the depiction of his characters; she tends to embossed, sharp lines, piercing and catchy colors. Ralph de Bricassart is not only generous and brilliantly educated, he is also a phenomenon of rare physical perfection. Here is how, for example, Ralph is seen by Mary Carson: “... tall, impeccably built, thin aristocratic face, amazing harmony and completeness in all appearance - far from all of his creations, the Lord God endows so generously. All of him, from the wavy black curls and amazing blue eyes to the small graceful hands and feet, is truly perfection. Before us are the proven attributes of a romantic portrait. The appearance of a number of other heroes - Fiona, Maggie, almost all members of the Cleary clan - is distinguished by the same expressiveness, originality.

Bright, amazing triumphs in the novel over the everyday, prosaic, everyday. Beloved of Fiona, Frank's father, is not just a famous person, but a statesman, whose name is given to the streets in his homeland. Justina not only becomes an actress, she shines in the Shakespearean repertoire - in the roles of Ophelia, Desdemona. Mary Carson is Australia's richest woman. Ralph de Bricassar, who began his journey in the Australian outback, makes a dizzying career. His ancient noble family dates back more than one and a half thousand years, his distant ancestor was a baron under William the Conqueror, and everyone up to Bricassara, true Catholics, staunchly defended the faith. Ralph comes to Maggie on Matlock Island, deserted and fabulously beautiful.

Even the very departure of heroes from life, as a rule, is illuminated by a particularly tragic light. Dan, who inherited from Ralph not only physical, but also moral qualities, dies at sea, saving two women; Paddy dies in the flames of a forest fire; Stuart is killed by a wild boar; Ralph breathes his last in Maggie's arms.

The romantic tendency of the novel also makes itself felt in the peculiar atmosphere of chastity poured into it, in emphasizing the motives of loneliness, celibacy. This is the result of widowhood (Fiona and Mary Carson), unsuccessful family life (Maggie), many years in prison (Frank), divorce (Lion Hartheim), belonging to the Catholic clergy (Ralph de Bricassard and Dan). In a number of cases, this feature, for example, among Maggie's brothers - Bob, Jack and Hugh, who remained unmarried, seems psychologically unreliable, although Fiona speaks of the coldness inherent in all members of the Cleary family. In general, the behavior of the heroes in love, their inexperience has a noticeable touch of "Victorianism", "gentility", it seems like a return to the classic English novels of the last century, so revered by the Australians. Favorite books of the Cleary family - and children and parents - romantic-adventure writings, designed for adolescence, where the kiss, not to mention any risky descriptions, was a rarity.

True, against the background of this chaste atmosphere of the novel, several intimate scenes stand out, quite naturalistic. Of course, they play a significant role in depicting the psychological makeup of the characters and characterize the moral concepts of different Cleary generations. For example, Maggie's wedding night, described in detail, allows her to discover in Luke a rude person, deeply alien to her. It is possible that the corresponding scene from Maupassant's novel "Life", which is so important for the characterization of Julien de Lamar, served as a "model" for the writer. The meeting of Maggie and Ralph on Matlock Island, on the other hand, is stripped of physiological details: it appears as a lofty apotheosis of true love. Justina, a completely modern girl "without prejudice", during a date with Arthur Lestrange wants to learn the "technique" of love. And yet in this scene, as well as in the description of the first wedding night Maggie, there are clearly "excessive" details in which the writer pays tribute to "fashionable" samples.

However, these episodes do not determine the general atmosphere of the work. The heroes of Colin McCullough are conscientious people, experiencing collisions of passion and duty, pride, love for them is a persistent, serious feeling. It seems that time has no power over their souls. For years they keep their secrets, endure loneliness.

But the main thing about them is that they follow their nature, their inner essence are going their own way. This deep idea of ​​the work is reminiscent of both the title of the novel and the old Celtic legend in the epigraph about a bird that throws itself on sharp spikes and sings an amazingly beautiful song before death: “All the best is bought only at the cost of great suffering.” The image of this bird as a leitmotif also appears in the text of the book: the final lines of the novel return us to it.

Frank, and Luke, and Dan, and Justin go their own way. They are not able to give up their convictions, to change their character. Maggie and Ralph can't help the feeling they're having; it brings them both great pain and great happiness...

The peculiarity of the novel lies in the fact that the writer's focus on the moral and psychological conflicts experienced by her characters is combined in the novel with a wide panorama of reality, with the scale of geographical and historical horizons. This clearly shows the realistic tendency of the work. The Australian parts of the novel are especially interesting in cognitive terms, specific descriptions are specifically national forms life, fairs, dance parties, life on a farm, at a monastery school, a silida holiday in Queensland, and so on. At the same time, no matter how separated Drogheda from the “big world”, the powerful wind of history reaches her, it carries away the heroes of the novel, determines their fate. The action moves from New Zealand to Australia, from New South Wales to Queensland, from Sydney to London, to Bonn and Rome, to Athens, North Africa, to the Pacific Islands. The novelist has a high sense of history. And this - the most important sign modern realistic art.

The Cleary family is, as it were, a model of national history. This idea is emphasized by the very composition of the novel, which is divided into parts, named after the characters and enclosed in a strictly defined chronological framework. Tracing the genealogy of some of his heroes, McCullough makes important excursions into the history and economy of Australia. History is not only a background against which the fates of heroes are played out. As the plot develops and approaches the present, her breath is more and more clearly felt in the novel. Recalling the events of the First World War, the novelist through the mouth of Padrick Cleary, an Irishman who remembers the oppression of his homeland, condemns the self-interest of English colonialism, as well as jingoistic propaganda, of which Frank almost fell victim. The novel mentions attempts by the official press to glorify the Gallipoli operation, which from a military point of view was an adventure inspired by the then Minister of the Navy Churchill. Australian and New Zealand soldiers paid with thousands of lives for this inglorious action.

The famous Australian socialist poet Henry Lawson once wrote about Australia:

Those who said that there is no need and poverty here,

Apparently, they had their own reason for coming up with this lie.

With his novel, Colin McCullough also challenges the myth of a happy, eternally prosperous Australia, this almost "promised land". An expressive characterization of the severe economic crisis of the 30s, which struck the whole country and was very tangible in Drogheda. This crisis, long, painful, leaves a heavy mark on the souls of people: thousands of vagrant handymen, "swagmen", wander along the roads of the country, they often feed on alms from wealthy farmers, subsist on petty daily work, others find an end, dying on the road ...

The events of the Second World War, which involve the heroes of the book, are also covered in the novel. Two sons of Cleary, Patrick and James, twins, inseparable friends, find themselves in the ranks of the 9th Australian Division, fighting in North Africa against the Nazis. First, she was blocked in the besieged Tobruk, then transferred to El Alamein, where in the fall of 1942, under the command of Field Marshal Montgomery, she took part in the famous battle that led to the defeat of Rommel's corps and the beginning of the liberation of North Africa.

Probably, the battle scenes of the novel will seem to the Soviet reader naive, not convincing enough. In general, the theme of the war, its influence on the fate of the characters in the novel does not sound as bright as we would like, which, however, has its own explanations. Although Australia contributed to the defeat of German and especially Japanese fascism, the war did not leave such a tragic mark on the life of its people, and the victims it suffered cannot be compared with those that fell to the lot of Soviet Union, his army and the civilian population.

However, the anti-fascist orientation of the novel is obvious. Resorting to historical fiction, the writer introduces several important scenes relating to the activities of Bricassar in the Vatican during the war years. Ralph de Bricassard represents those forces within the Catholic Church that were in opposition to Nazism and its misanthropic doctrines. It was in the mouth of Ralph that the writer put a sharp and insightful debunking of the pro-German position of Pope Pius XII. Rejecting the Pope's "infallibility" thesis, Ralph states: "His judgment is biased. All his efforts are aimed at fighting communism. Germany for him is the most reliable enemy of communism, the only obstacle to the advance of communism to the west, and he wants Hitler to hold firmly in power in Germany, just as he is quite satisfied with Mussolini in the role of ruler of Italy.

In this seemingly private episode, the writer touches on a hot political issue, aligning herself with the West German playwright Rolf Hochhut, who, in his famous play The Viceroy, accused Pope Pius XII of criminally refusing to raise his voice against the mass repressions carried out by the Nazis.

Together with de Bricassard, the internal opposition to Nazism is also represented by Lion Hartheim, who, while still a young man, a soldier of the Wehrmacht, met with the cardinal on the dramatic days of July 1943 in the Vatican. The truth about his character political activity the novel speaks rather dully; one can, however, conclude that Lyon Hartheim is an opponent of the "extremes" of Nazi ideology, an adherent of a broad bourgeois-democratic platform. Of course, there were many Catholics in the ranks of anti-fascists in Italy, France, and Germany. However, - and this will be noted by the Soviet reader of the book - the decisive role in the European Resistance was played by the active, heroic struggle of the left forces, primarily the communists. Unfortunately, their activities are out of the writer's field of vision.

The realism of the novel, as already noted, is manifested in landscapes, unforgettable in brightness, accurately and in detail. And here the art of Colleen McCullough grows out of a national tradition that has deep historical roots.

Since the last century, poetization of the "bush" - the virgin Australian thickets - has entered the literature. Like the American pioneers who explored the frontier, the Australian pioneers fought their way through the bush; there their character was tempered, steadfastness and diligence were formed. Life in the "bush" required self-restraint, accustomed to loneliness, it was opposed to existence in the conditions of the city, which was associated with effeminacy, even sinfulness. Nature, sung in many works of Australian poetry and prose, on the contrary, as if cleansed the souls of people, made it possible to see human nature itself in its integrity, free from everything superficial.

The images of nature that are constantly present in McCullough's novel, especially in its Australian part, are not just a picturesque backdrop against which events unfold. Thickets of woods, pastures, pastures for sheep, reeds taller than a man, thickets of bushes - all these are the real conditions for the existence of the Cleary family, firmly tied to the earth. The heroes of McCullough seem to be close to the eternal fundamental principles of life. And that is probably why they are so straightforward and whole.

Among the most memorable paintings in the novel are landscapes in the vicinity of Drogheda, this peculiar reserve of Australian flora and fauna. It seems that the writer takes us to the legendary Eden, where quite modern people "coexist" in rare harmony with the primordial nature, not subjected to the destructive effects of technological progress.

Thus, a peculiar philosophy of life arises in the novel, a kind of revived Rousseauism - as a form of confrontation between the personality of the dehumanizing "machine" civilization. The poeticization of nature, of course, is a romantic element of the work, which gives it an exciting novelty against the backdrop of modern literature with its urbanism and impregnation with material and technical realities and accessories of "mass" society.

If the poeticization of nature and the peculiar Rousseauism of McCullough testify to the romantic tendencies of her novel, then the realistic element manifests itself with particular clarity in the depiction of labor. This theme has always played a prominent role in the realist literature of Australia from the 19th century to the present day, an example of which is the work of the already mentioned Patrick White. Mastering the vast material, generations of pioneers and pioneers had to settle in gigantic deserted spaces, cut down forests, sow fields, build, graze giant flocks of sheep. They were pioneers who fought against the elements: lumberjacks and herd workers, sugarcane cutters and fishermen, gold diggers and fruit pickers created the wealth of Australia with their labor. All this largely determined the very structure and character of literature, prose and poetry, as well as folklore, in which the theme of nature merges with the theme of labor. Australian poetry, for example, is generally distinguished by reality, concreteness, its lyrical hero not inclined to meditation, not hovering in the clouds, he is as close as possible to earthly concerns. The same heroes, shown in real labor practice, we meet in the stories and novels of G. Lawson, W. Palmer, K.-S. Pritchard, A. Marshall. At the same time, labor is associated not just with prosaic earnings: its high ethical value has been revealed. That is why not only the traditional themes of literature - love, wanderings, grief and joy, but also such seemingly everyday "matters" as bread baking, are exalted and poeticized. Nancy Keesing in the poem "Bread" writes:

ancient food

I cook well.

She takes life

Warm like a body.

Her tight flesh

I mix with my fists

And yeast dough

It swells under the hands.

The concept of “man” is warmed by symbolism, - Grain, leaven, bread And the fruit under the heart somewhere.

Probably, these words could be repeated by McCullough's heroine Fiona, who calmly, with her inherent dignity and pride, carries the heavy burden of mother and mistress in a huge house.

The main business in which the men in the Cleary family are engaged is sheep breeding. The writer includes in her narration "layers" of special information relating to the cultivation of sheep, their shearing, caring for them, herding, and meat production. All this is given in vivid, in its own way fascinating details and is of undoubted cognitive interest. The reader will learn how much hard work has gone into obtaining the very famous wool for which Australia is famous. It is especially difficult time for a haircut. And although a lot of seemingly special technological details are introduced into the text of the novel, these pages are read with unflagging interest. Meanwhile, the history of literature also knows many examples of so-called "industrial novels", for example, by Pierre Ampa, sketchy and colorless, in which a person dissolves in dense descriptions of machine-technical texture.

Does this mean that the main thing in people's lives - their work - is not amenable to artistic and aesthetic development? Of course not. And above all, because in significant, weighty works of art, the image of the labor process does not exist by itself, as a kind of foreign body, but is organically associated with the depiction of human individuality, with its socio-psychological characteristics. That is why generations of readers have been following with unceasing attention how Robinson Crusoe works on a potter's wheel, makes a boat, tames pets, builds a hut!

Heroes Colin McCullough love their work. They give themselves to him with some greed and self-forgetfulness. Frank enthusiastically works in the forge. Little Maggie watches in awe as he cuts down huge eucalyptus trees. Her brothers, who live in Drogheda, are so attached to the earth, to their cause, that they sacrificed their family life for this. Cane cutting in Queensland is masterfully described.

And if this work causes physical fatigue, then it is rewarded with joy and satisfaction. McCullough poeticizes the work of people in the bosom of nature, not associated with large-scale machine, conveyor production; after all, under capitalism, the individuality of the worker is leveled, dehumanized, loses its human essence and turns into a kind of impersonal appendage of a ruthlessly functioning "system".

"Singing in the Blackthorn" is a multifaceted work, it confirms the well-known truth that the work of a serious writer is fed by the life-giving juices of reality. Colin McCullough is most original where he artistically testifies to nature, labor, the way of his homeland, introduces characters with nationally specific features. On the contrary, when she enters the European scene, she somehow loses her inherent freshness...

That is why perhaps the most important image, dominating everything, is the image of Drogheda. It carries the lyrical theme of the novel, the theme of "home", "origins", "roots". The main characters of the work are associated with Drogheda. Its boundless expanses are the embodiment of the motherland, native land, the most precious beginnings for a person. Here heroes are born, live, die, find their last peace in a quiet cemetery. Even the withered, drought-torn land of Drogheda is full of "indescribable charms" for the Cleary brothers, one kind of sheep is a consolation, and the smell of late roses in the garden seems to be "heavenly bliss." Not without a feeling of elegiac sadness, the finale speaks of Drogheda, the last of the vast estates of New South Wales; with it, the old patriarchal Australia, the world of immediate, unsophisticated and deep feelings, must recede into the past ...

The history of foreign literature, and especially American literature, knows many examples of "writers of one book": the author, who happily made his debut with the first work that absorbed all his life experience, is subjected to the most difficult test - success, fame - and in the future often cannot stay at the level of the first your achievement.

Her novel, Immodest Passion (1981), already built on American material, turned out to be unsuccessful. McCullough then co-authored a cookery book with Jean Easthope. In 1985, her novel "A Creed for the Third Millennium" was published - an undoubtedly interesting work in which the writer tries her hand at a new utopian genre. The novel is set in the 21st century. main character- provincial psychiatrist Joshua Christian, a man of great spiritual generosity, filled with a sense of compassion for his compatriots, decides to cure the "millennium neurosis", the fear of threatening as a result of overpopulation of the planet and exhaustion natural resources"ice age". Under the influence of his follower Judith Carriol, a businesslike, energetic and ambitious woman, Christian writes a book that is a huge success. With it, he seeks to help overcome neurosis, to instill in people faith in themselves, their strengths, self-esteem. Standing at the head of a mass procession heading to Washington, he deliberately nailed himself to the cross, wanting to serve the moral renewal of society at the cost of self-sacrifice. Although the writer here did not manage to avoid the poster-symbolic conventionality of images, this novel is animated by humanistic ideas. There is no doubt, however, that after The Thorn Birds McCullough is in a difficult creative search for new themes and new artistic approaches. Let's hope that Colin McCullough in his new writings will consolidate the success of the novel "The Thorn Birds".

Reading is exciting. This is the discovery of a new world, new impressions and emotions. Reading a book, we move away from our problems, empathize with the characters, draw our own conclusions. are different from others. They are more erudite, they have better developed and emotional sphere. Today we will talk about the novel "The Thorn Birds".

The Thorn Birds is a highly acclaimed novel by Australian writer Colin McCullough. It was published in 1977, but is still read with great interest today. In 1983, a series based on the novel was made. The author did not like it very much.

This novel is a family saga. It has everything: true and false love, betrayal, duty, betrayal, success, grief and disappointment.

What is interesting about Colin McCullough's novel "The Thorn Birds"

main character

The central image of the novel is Maggie Cleary. We met her at the age of 4. We observe her growing up, we experience her problems, we go through all the life stages with her. Watching her life go by. Maggie is a person capable of true love, only this love did not become happy.

Other characters

There are quite a few other characters. Maggie has many brothers. The book also describes a fairly long period of time. We will only highlight some of the characters.

Fiona Cleary, Maggie's mother, is a deeply unhappy woman, but she hides it well. Her image is revealed throughout the book. She lives to a ripe old age. Her example clearly shows how a person can cope with difficulties and not complain about fate.

Ralph is Maggie's love of life. But he is a priest, so he cannot reciprocate. The author shows his throwing, mental anguish. He had an excellent career, became a cardinal, but was not happy.

Dan is the son of Maggie and Ralph. The man who became a true priest wanted to dedicate his life to God, but died young. Dan is the only thing Maggie could take from Ralph. Ralph found out that Dan was his son only after Dan's death.

Plot

The storyline is the life of the Cleary family. First they lived in New Zealand, then in Australia. The author describes in detail their work on pastures. It is significant that none of the brothers created a family. They left no heirs behind them.

Time frame

The action of the novel covers the period from 1915 to 1969. Each of the parts bears the name of the hero: Maggie, Ralph, Paddy, Luke, Fia, Dan, Justina.

Meaning

Of course, the novel has a deep meaning. Each reader will determine for himself. In my opinion, the author shows true love. Love that was the most real, but unfortunate and forbidden. And also - the ability of heroes to withstand difficulties. In any situation, they accept all tests with honor.

This novel is interesting and thought provoking. The book is easy to read and draws you in from the first page. The author masterfully reveals the psychology of the characters, their actions. The novel teaches us to empathize and feel truly.

“There is such a legend - about a bird that sings only once in its entire life, but it is the most beautiful of all in the world. One day she leaves her nest and flies to look for a thorn bush and will not rest until she finds it. Among the thorny branches she sings a song and throws herself at the longest, sharpest thorn. And, rising above the inexpressible torment, it sings so, dying, that both the lark and the nightingale would envy this jubilant song. The only, incomparable song, and it comes at the cost of life. But the whole world freezes, listening, and God himself smiles in heaven. For all the best is bought only at the cost of great suffering ... At least that's what the legend says. »

( From book)

The Thorn Birds is a 1977 best-selling novel by Australian writer Colin McCullough.

Colin McCullough, Colleen McCullough

Colin McCullough was born on June 1, 1937 in Wellington, New South Wales to James and Laura McCullough. Colin's mother was from New Zealand, among her ancestors were representatives of the Maori people, the indigenous population of New Zealand. The McCullough family moved frequently, eventually settling in Sydney. Colleen read and drew a lot and even wrote poetry. Under the influence of her parents, Colin chose medicine as her future profession. She studied at the University of Sydney, where she majored in neuropsychology. After graduation, she worked at the Royal North Shore Hospital. In 1963 Colleen McCullough moved to London.

From 1967 to 1976, McCullough was a researcher and lecturer at the Department of Neuroscience at the Yale Medical School at Yale University. It was also during this period that she first turned to writing and wrote her first novels, Tim and The Thorn Birds, and eventually decided to devote herself entirely to writing. She has lived on Norfolk Island since the late 1970s.

In 1974, Colin McCullough's debut novel "Tim" was published, and three years later the famous "Thorn Birds" saw the light - the book became an international bestseller, was translated into more than 20 languages ​​and brought recognition and fame to the author.

McCullough died on January 29, 2015 at the age of 77 in a hospital on Norfolk Island (an island in the Pacific Ocean between Australia and New Zealand).).

His only one who was not destined to be around. Such is the fate of Maggie Cleary, selflessly in love with spiritual father her family, the priest Ralph de Bricassar. Maggie is like a bird from an old Celtic legend that spends her whole life looking for a thorn bush to die from its thorns, singing her last voluptuous song.

She is ready to carry love all her life as a happy gift and cruel torment for the sake of those few moments when she can be with her beloved. Ralph also loves the girl, but the monastic cassock and the vow before God are more important to him than earthly love. And yet, having survived many troubles, losing loved ones, going through adversity, Maggie remains true to her love..

The story begins in 1915 and spans half a century. The book is divided into seven parts, each of which reveals the character of one of the main characters. The plot focuses on the life of the Cleary family, who have made their way from the New Zealand poor to the managers of one of the largest Australian estates, Drogheda.

Part 1. 1915-1917 Maggie

The book begins with the birthday of the youngest daughter, Maggie, who is four years old. The life of a large family, the hard daily work of the mother of the family, Fiona, the difficulties of teaching children in a Catholic school under the command of harsh nuns, the dissatisfaction of the eldest son Frank with poverty and the monotony of life are described. One day, his father, Padrick Cleary (Paddy), receives a letter from his sister Mary Carson, the wealthy owner of the vast Australian estate of Drogheda. She invites him to the position of senior shepherd, and the whole family moves from New Zealand to Australia.

Part 2. 1918-1928 Ralph

In Australia, the Cleary family is met by a young parish priest, Ralph de Bricassar. Ten-year-old Maggie, the only daughter in the family, attracts his attention with her beauty and shyness. Getting older, Maggie falls in love with him, but they are not destined to be together, because Ralph, like any Catholic priest, took a vow of chastity (celibacy). However, they spend a lot of time together, riding, talking. Mary Carson, widow of "King of Steel" Michael Carson, has an unrequited crush on Ralph and watches over his relationship with Maggie with ill-concealed hatred.

Feeling that Ralph is about to give up his priesthood for the sake of the matured Maggie, Mary sets a trap for Ralph at the cost of her life: after the death of Mary Carson, her huge inheritance passes to the church, provided that the latter will appreciate her humble minister Ralph de Bricassar, who becomes sole steward of the Carson estate, and the Cleary family is given the right to live in Drogheda as stewards. Now, when the possibility of a church career opens up again in front of Ralph, he refuses to connect his life with Maggie and leaves Drogheda. Maggie misses him. Ralph also thinks about her, but is overcome by the desire to return to Drogheda.

Part 3. 1929-1932 Paddy

During a huge fire, Maggie's father Paddy and brother Stuart die. By pure coincidence, on the day their bodies are transported to the manor, Ralph arrives at Drogheda. Maggie, who temporarily forgot her longing for her family, manages to get a kiss from him, but immediately after the funeral, Ralph leaves again. Maggie gives him a rose, the only one that survived the fire, and Ralph hides it in his pocket breviary.

Part 4. 1933-1938 Luke

Maggie continues to miss Ralph. Meanwhile, a new worker, Luke O'Neill, arrives at the manor and begins courting Maggie. Outwardly, he looks like Ralph, and Maggie first accepts his invitations to the dance, and then marries him. After the wedding, it turns out that Luke found himself a job as a cane cutter, and Maggie got a job as a maid in the couple's house. Maggie dreams of a child and her own home, but Luke prefers to work and save money, promising her a full family life in a couple of years.

They do not see each other for months, but Maggie, embarking on a trick, gives birth to his daughter, Justina. After a difficult birth, she is ill for a long time and the owners of the house where she serves as a maid give her a trip to Matlock Island. After her departure, Luke arrives and the hostess offers to visit Maggie, but Luke refuses and leaves. After that, Ralph arrives, and he is also advised to go to Maggie, posing as Luke. Ralph hesitates, but goes to Maggie. Unable to resist the attraction to each other, they spend several days as husband and wife, after which Ralph returns to Rome to pursue his career and become a cardinal. Maggie leaves Luke and returns to Drogheda with Ralph's baby under her heart.

Part 5. 1938-1953 Fia

Meanwhile, World War II begins in Europe. Maggie's two brothers leave for the front. Ralph, already a cardinal, finds it hard to accept the flexibility of the Vatican towards Mussolini's regime. In Drogheda, Maggie's son Dan is born, a copy of Ralph, but no one doubts that his father is Luke, since the men are very similar. Only Maggie's mother, Fiona (Fia), guesses. In a conversation with Maggie, it turns out that in her youth, Fiona was also passionately in love with one influential person who could not marry her. She bore him a son, Frank, and her father gave Padrick Cleary money to marry her. Both Fiona and Maggie loved a man who couldn't love them back: Fiona's lover cared about his career, Ralph was devoted to the church. Maggie laughs and says that she did the smart thing and made sure Dan had a name and no one questioned his legal parentage. Ralph arrives in Drogheda, meets Dan, but does not realize that this is his son. Maggie doesn't tell him anything.

Part 6. 1954-1965 Dan

Maggie's children, having matured, choose their professions. Justina is going to become an actress and leaves for London. Dan wants to become a priest. Maggie is furious: she hoped that Dan would have children, and so she would "steal" Ralph from the church. But Dan stands firm, and she sends him to Rome, to Ralph. Dan is undergoing seminary training and ordination. After the ceremony, he leaves for Crete to rest and drowns, saving two women. Maggie visits Ralph to ask for help negotiating with the Greek authorities and reveals to him that Dan is his son. Ralph helps her transport Dan to Drogheda, performs his last rites on him, and dies after the funeral, confessing to himself that he has sacrificed too much for his ambitions.

Part 7. 1965-1969 Justin

After Dan's death, Justina finds no place for herself and seeks solace in her work. She either tries to return to Drogheda, or seeks to establish relations with her friend, the German Lyon Hartheim. Lyon loves Justina and wants to marry her, but she is afraid to become attached to him and become vulnerable to pain and experiences. In the end, she marries him. Maggie in Drogheda receives a telegram from her announcing her marriage. The estate has no future - her brothers are unmarried and childless, Dan has died, and Justin does not want to hear about children.

Adapted from the acclaimed bestselling novel by Colleen McCullough, it tells the epic story of the Cleary family, who moved from New Zealand to a ranch in Australia. Events unfold around the forbidden love of Maggie Cleary and the ambitious Catholic priest Ralph de Bricassar.

Richard Chamberlain - Father Ralph de Bricassard

Rachel Ward - Magenn "Maggie" Cleary

Gene Simmons - Fiona "Fiah" Cleary

I'm happy that I have my Thornbirds, this saga is about love and the human family on earth, and, you know, my dear people, but I have long been indifferent to the fact that many men are not able to love themselves, but are able to appreciate how they are loved!

Without exaggeration, a book of genius, simply a masterpiece, and no less beautiful and memorable film about beautiful love! "Thornbirds"!

When I first read Colleen McCullough's book, it made a very strong and deep impression on me. The book just blew me away. I re-read it after a while. This book is one of those about which they say: "read to the holes." The Thorn Birds has become one of my favorite books about the power of love.

About the love of a woman for a man. To the child. To the family as a whole. To your home and land. About a man who is not worthy of this love, chasing a ghostly career in order to realize in the end how fickle his goal is, how bleak and lonely his long empty life path is. But she is there, his life, and joy, and happiness, his beloved woman, his Maggie, and their son, the only thing for which people should live on earth.

But in the fabulous American cinema, the bookish prudent careerist Ralph finds soul, destiny and character, humanity and wisdom, attractiveness. And the artist’s performance really impresses you seriously, you believe him, trust him (!), and you resigned yourself to the fact that such a wonderful girl in every way as Maggie is in love with this saint (in the worst sense of the word) and accept them both: the game these artists in a duet, in a film couple, this charming and smart handsome Richard Chamberlain and this red-haired beauty Rachel Ward, is simply magnificent, very convincing, believable, you believe in these wonderful, beloved, artists, you hope and love and lose with them, they tear you apart soul to pieces, and no matter how many times you watch this classic movie, you cry and can’t (or don’t want to?) do anything with yourself, you like to think, and feel, and cry in the cinema! - to the beautiful music of Henry Mancini and magnificent shooting of nature - oh, yes, Americans know how to make a fabulous movie!. And you are in high spirits before each new series, and even in life you succeed in all things! “Singing in the thorn bush!”…

... But the story itself about the formation of Australia as such, about three generations of the large Cleary family, remains "beyond" the script, "behind" the frame of the film. It remains on the pages of a magnificent brilliant book by the Australian writer Colin McCullough, who knows how to tell the story of ordinary people in ordinary, simple human words, which, in terms of the intensity of passions and the drama of events, is in no way inferior to Shakespeare's plays! ..

In the film itself, I would like to especially note the magnificent play of the older generation of actors: the actresses who play the roles of Mary Carston and Fiona Cleary are simply brilliant, and they are chosen for the roles very accurately! But reading the book itself is still much more interesting than watching a movie, the script of which is very "shrink" compared to the book. As an independent work, yes, you can watch it endlessly, and it’s very pleasant: it’s a very beautiful romantic movie about love!

How great is the story of how a person falls into the illusion of good intentions. The story of how the daughter, who promised not to do this, repeats the path of her mother. The story is that it can be fixed, and it's never too late to do it. The story is that a mother never wants her daughter to suffer her bitter fate. A story about love that people carry through their lives. A story about what seemingly good intentions lead to. A story about how often a person refuses to hear the voice of the heart, mistaking it for weakness or an unfortunate misunderstanding. A story about love, acceptance, support, choice and acceptance of the choice of a loved one. The story is that life gives chances, and a person decides to use them or not. The story is that children do not belong to their parents. The story is that everything ultimately belongs to God.

And in any of the two options - either a book or a film - the saga of love comes to the fore: about a bird that, having flown out of its nest, flies in search of a thorn bush, and sings all its life with a thorn in its chest, for all the best in this life is bought at the cost of great suffering, a saga of sinful and holy love, which must be forgotten and buried in your heart, but for which you breathe and live, and for which novels are written and Hollywood fairy-tale films are made, which alone has a place to be. The love of a woman for a man. To the child. To the family. To home. To your country. To the ground. A love that a man chasing a ghostly career does not deserve. But the love that makes this life worth living...

Quotes

The ancient Greeks believed reckless love is a sin before the gods. And yet, remember: if someone is so recklessly loved, the gods are jealous and will certainly destroy the beloved in the prime of life. This is a lesson for all of us, Maggie. To love beyond measure is blasphemy.

... she unbearably longs for a living feeling, excitement that would engulf her like a hot and strong wind. And I don’t want to trudge all my life, as if wound up, along the same track; I want change, fullness of life, love. Yes, love, and husband, and children.

No woman in the world can defeat God. After all, he is a man.

Probably, the demon of destruction lives in us, we always want to stir up the fire. It just speeds up the end. But what a beautiful ending!

There are men in whose lives women have no place.

Resistant and hardy people on this earth - it does not allow them to be different: the faint-hearted, not possessing violent, unyielding perseverance, will not last long in the Great Northwest.

I will never forget you, until the day I die. And I will live for a long, very long time, it will be my punishment.

In some ways, this little girl was already so grown up, and so much a woman, that she felt a sharp irresistible joy: she is needed!

Maggie is a mirror in which I am destined to see that I am an ordinary mortal.

There is such a legend about a bird that sings only once in its entire life, but it is the most beautiful in the world. One day she leaves her nest and flies to look for a thorn bush and will not rest until she finds it. Among the thorny branches she sings a song and throws herself at the longest, sharpest thorn. And, rising above the inexpressible torment, he sings so, dying, that both the lark and the nightingale would envy this jubilant song. The only, incomparable song, and it comes at the cost of life. But the whole world freezes, listening, and God himself smiles in heaven. For all the best is bought at the cost of great suffering ... At least, so the legend says.

A bird with a thorn in its chest obeys the immutable law of nature; she herself does not know what kind of force makes her throw herself on the edge and die with a song. The moment the thorn pierces her heart, she doesn't think about imminent death, she just sings, sings until her voice runs out and her breath stops. But we, when we throw ourselves on thorns, we know. We understand. And still - chest on thorns. It'll be this way forever

Just try to love a person - and he kills you. Just feel that you cannot live without someone, and he kills you.

He made a mistake. Time passed, but the pain did not subside. On the contrary, it tormented me even more, turned into a cold, ugly torture. Before, loneliness was faceless, and he never thought that even one person, entering his life, could bring him healing. Now loneliness had a name: Maggie, Maggie, Maggie...

Don't be upset, baby. The Lord God treated you very generously - he did not give you brains. Believe me, without them it is much more convenient.

I am writing to you, Maggie, to tear up the letter again so that it never reaches you in Drogheda...
If you knew, dear, how hard it is for me now, how I try to fasten myself, without showing any sign,
What oppresses my soul, burning it from the inside ... I appeal to the Almighty: God! Please, keep
That flower, my sweet, scarlet, wild rose. Let her tender cheeks not dare to touch tears.
Give her strength. May she still be able to forget me. And may I be madly in love as before.
And pray for happiness, and dream about it at night ... So many different things in life sometimes happened to us.
Only You helped, allowing us to forget sorrows. We always received your advice in a difficult hour or moment.
May your angel give her happiness, console her in a difficult hour. What am I saying, you are with her ... oh, how I am a sinner ...
You are omnipotent, O God, you gave strength more than once. Calm me down in this difficult hour of doubt. Remove these thoughts, fill my emptiness... I again touch my lips to the holy cross. And I try to imagine all the pain of your, God, suffering .. There are perhaps no creatures in the world weaker and more vulnerable than we, people, especially those who love. These thoughts about her, apparently, will still ruin me ... How I once loved those days of your adolescence, But Mary was right and also her prophecy. And at the hour when Drogheda became legally mine. I betrayed you, my Maggie, shamefully and lowly.

According to British scientists, two copies of Colin McCullough's novel The Thorn Birds are sold every minute in the world. The book glorified the Australian writer, despite the fact that she has 25 novels to her credit (the last, Bitter Joy, was released in 2013), the most famous was the novel about the Cleary family and the forbidden love of Maggie and Father Ralph.

At the center of the novel is the story of the Australian Cleary family. It seems that some kind of evil rock is gravitating over them: the men die tragically, and those who survived do not continue the Cleary surname. The family is gradually dying out. Reading the book, I wondered: how can so many troubles fall on ordinary people? Even the childhood of the main character Maggie cannot be called happy and carefree: she was not loved at school; brother Frank, her only friend in the family, left home and ended up in prison.

Under the yoke of life's trials, the Cleary became real Stoics, courageously enduring all hardships. Family members have learned to restrain their feelings, such is their upbringing. In a difficult family situation and Maggie matured very early. “She learned the old lessons firmly, her self-control was amazing, her pride was unheard of. No one should know what is happening to her, she will not betray herself to the end; examples were always before my eyes - Fia, Frank, Stuart, and she is of the same breed and inherited the same disposition, ”and this is such unfeminine firmness and endurance at the age of 15!

Since childhood, she was lonely, she had no one to talk heart to heart with, except for the priest Ralph de Bricassar. The girl grew and became prettier before his eyes, they spent a lot of time together. The priest, seeing her for the first time as a little girl, immediately began to treat her in a special way, not just as his spiritual daughter. And at the age of 15, she admits to herself that "he is her friend, her adored idol, the new sun in her firmament."

There are a lot of stories and storylines going on in the book, but Ralph and Maggie's romance is at the center of the story. Ralph himself - a common person and, perhaps, in many ways not the ideal of a priest: he is proud, ambitious, dreams of career growth, sometimes he is cunning, cruel and malevolent. He is smart and attractive, knows how to charm, dances beautifully at the ball. But he has many qualities of a good shepherd, he helps people, loves to serve and finds happiness in this. He is honest with himself and fights his attraction to Maggie. His internal conflict is much stronger than that of the heroine. And personally, I respect the way of Ralph in faith, despite all the falls, that is, it is important for me not the absence of mistakes, but their overcoming. Bricassar is not as presumptuous at the end as he was at the beginning of his ministry.

The heroes of the novel are desperately looking for happiness, for the sake of which, according to V. G. Korolenko, every person was created, "like a bird for flight." But happiness does not want to smile at suffering heroes. On the other hand, let us recall the epigraph of the novel, which tells about the surprisingly beautiful singing of a bird before death on a thorn of a thorn. “... Rising above the inexpressible torment, he sings so, dying, that both the lark and the nightingale would envy this jubilant song. The only, incomparable song, and it comes at the cost of life. But the whole world freezes, listening, and God himself smiles in heaven. For all the best is bought only at the cost of great suffering ... "

In the epigraph, the author briefly expresses the main idea of ​​the book, therefore, McCullough claims: despite the hard life, the main character was still happy, at least for a moment. Yes, indeed, Maggie and Ralph were good together, but it was given to them through sin. It is difficult to say whether the writer herself was a believer (unfortunately, she did not find information about this), but her writer's intuition is amazing: for sin there must be retribution, and for great sin - great retribution.

The Cleary family was not religious, their faith was reduced to the formal ritual side. Maggie knew the basics of Catholicism, but at the same time, “prayers did not bring her comfort and joy, and she obeyed the orders of the church simply because otherwise she would have to burn in hell forever after death.” Therefore, the heroine could not find in faith either relief, or at least a simple explanation why she could not love a priest. She even rebels against God and the Catholic Church, which, in her opinion, took away her beloved man. But, reading about her suffering, the tongue does not turn to condemn the heroine. I am sure that among readers, especially young ones, there are few who have not shed a tear over a novel or series based on a book.

Of course, Maggie married in order to forget Ralph. Even from the proposal scene, it is clear that Maggie, out of inexperience (in Drogheda, she had no communication with men outside her family), confused love and simple sexual desire.

It is interesting to compare Maggie's relationship with her husband Luke O'Neill and with Ralph. If the pregnancy and the birth of her daughter Justina from her husband was given to her with great pain, then the pregnancy and the birth of her son Dan from Ralph were easy. If Justina grew up obstinate and impudent, then Dan inherited spiritual depth and wisdom from his father.

It is impossible to talk about The Thorn Birds without saying a few words about the film adaptation of the novel. The film, in my opinion, is good and accurately reflects the characters' personalities. Like almost any film adaptation of a book, it does not reflect the work 100%, sometimes in such films there are also fictitious plot twists, some details are omitted and often the inner experiences and changes of the characters are not reflected. So, for example, in the film, the scene of Ralph's death is noticeably softened. The author of the novel herself was horrified by the television version and spoke very harshly about it.

When I read the book and watched the movie, I got the impression that Maggie and Ralph were made for each other, the author emphasizes this: their physical closeness only confirmed the spiritual unity. But they cannot be together, and this exacerbates an already difficult relationship. Or maybe it's just a meeting of two loneliness? Ralph once admits that he did not see female love, he is not even sure that his mother loved him. The same goes for Maggie. Could they be together? Questions remain open ... Each reader and viewer will solve them in his own way.

Singing in the thorn bush

The material uses footage from the mini-series The Thorn Birds (dir. Daryl Duke, 1983)

Evgenia Novoseltseva

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