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Life Without the Boring Bits
A SERIES of essays by national treasure Colleen McCullough, a remarkable story about defying a dictator and an adventure tale about traipsing across South-East Asia are among the best books released in Australia in 2011.
- GenresBiographyNonfiction
Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
10 people are currently reading
192 people want to read
About the author
Colleen McCullough
123 books3,092 followersColleen Margaretta McCullough was an Australian author known for her novels, her most well-known being The Thorn Birds and Tim.
Raised by her mother in Wellington and then Sydney, McCullough began writing stories at age 5. She flourished at Catholic schools and earned a physiology degree from the University of New South Wales in 1963. Planning become a doctor, she found that she had a violent allergy to hospital soap and turned instead to neurophysiology – the study of the nervous system's functions. She found jobs first in London and then at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
After her beloved younger brother Carl died in 1965 at age 25 while rescuing two drowning women in the waters off Crete, a shattered McCullough quit writing. She finally returned to her craft in 1974 with Tim, a critically acclaimed novel about the romance between a female executive and a younger, mentally disabled gardener. As always, the author proved her toughest critic: "Actually," she said, "it was an icky book, saccharine sweet."
A year later, while on a paltry $10,000 annual salary as a Yale researcher, McCullough – just "Col" to her friends – began work on the sprawling The Thorn Birds, about the lives and loves of three generations of an Australian family. Many of its details were drawn from her mother's family's experience as migrant workers, and one character, Dane, was based on brother Carl.
Though some reviews were scathing, millions of readers worldwide got caught up in her tales of doomed love and other natural calamities. The paperback rights sold for an astonishing $1.9 million.
In all, McCullough wrote 11 novels.
Source: http://www.people.com/article/colleen...
Raised by her mother in Wellington and then Sydney, McCullough began writing stories at age 5. She flourished at Catholic schools and earned a physiology degree from the University of New South Wales in 1963. Planning become a doctor, she found that she had a violent allergy to hospital soap and turned instead to neurophysiology – the study of the nervous system's functions. She found jobs first in London and then at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
After her beloved younger brother Carl died in 1965 at age 25 while rescuing two drowning women in the waters off Crete, a shattered McCullough quit writing. She finally returned to her craft in 1974 with Tim, a critically acclaimed novel about the romance between a female executive and a younger, mentally disabled gardener. As always, the author proved her toughest critic: "Actually," she said, "it was an icky book, saccharine sweet."
A year later, while on a paltry $10,000 annual salary as a Yale researcher, McCullough – just "Col" to her friends – began work on the sprawling The Thorn Birds, about the lives and loves of three generations of an Australian family. Many of its details were drawn from her mother's family's experience as migrant workers, and one character, Dane, was based on brother Carl.
Though some reviews were scathing, millions of readers worldwide got caught up in her tales of doomed love and other natural calamities. The paperback rights sold for an astonishing $1.9 million.
In all, McCullough wrote 11 novels.
Source: http://www.people.com/article/colleen...
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 21, 2012
Don't read this if you are looking for Colleen's autobioghraphy. A remarkably well written group of essays on all the subjects Colleen holds dear, a couple of which happen to include some vignettes from her life.
A fantastic author at her best.
A fantastic author at her best.
January 6, 2012
Written by an intelligent woman, thought provoking, entertaining, funny and sad.
January 4, 2020
Even something more, ***1/2. Not all essseys are equally nice, but they are really varied, from evangelical thinking to child upbringing, from Shakespeare and English literature to ecology.
Nice way to start the year!
Some quotations:
"When one religion infringes the tenets of another, there will always be man-made demonstrations of the power of one god over the other; east of the sources of the Euphrates is a fundamental world."
"Perhaps uniquely in a misogynistic time, he (Jesus)) treated women as his equals, permitted them to follow him, had them among his closest friends, and respected their opinions."
"We were put to bed at 6 p.m. and aroused at 7 a.m.: far too long a period at thirteen hours! Especially for two night-owl kids, wide awake at 6 p.m." English education!!!!! lol
"I have loved Shakespeare since I was introduced to him in school, at about fifteen years of age. Neither the plots nor the characters of his plays turned me on at the time; what did was the way he said things. Which I suppose was the instinctive reaction of a potential wordsmith confronted with the outpourings of a master.
The man had a fantastic gift for words, and could express an idea in words as modern as tomorrow, as old as humanity. "
"Always novels; short stories are the province of different minds than mine"
"The trouble is that no people, once introduced to the magical phenomena of automobiles, motor bikes, air conditioning, (…) comfortable beds, plenty of food, flight from one part of the world to another, decent roads, banks, schools, hospitals and entertainment is ever willing to give them up, no matter how much certain people talk of the damage they do to the environment." Professor Covino used to say that communist revolution is no longer an option for western people, since we deem hot water a value!!!
"there is nothing wrong with planet Earth, and however huge the mess humankind makes of it, within a million years it will recover and return to normal. It’s not planet Earth we should be worrying about, says Dr. Stewart. We should be worrying about the species called Homo sapiens: Man."
"If humanity extinguishes itself, the wounds it inflicted on the planet will be healed in a million years. The forests will grow back, the oceans de-acidify, the atmosphere be what it should be. And a new species will arise out of the wreckage. A species, one hopes, less masculinely violent, more femininely gentle. A species less prone to be hoodwinked by those awful old men who lead world religions. A species that believes in education for every baby born, that regards every baby born as truly wanted — for the right reasons."
Nice way to start the year!
Some quotations:
"When one religion infringes the tenets of another, there will always be man-made demonstrations of the power of one god over the other; east of the sources of the Euphrates is a fundamental world."
"Perhaps uniquely in a misogynistic time, he (Jesus)) treated women as his equals, permitted them to follow him, had them among his closest friends, and respected their opinions."
"We were put to bed at 6 p.m. and aroused at 7 a.m.: far too long a period at thirteen hours! Especially for two night-owl kids, wide awake at 6 p.m." English education!!!!! lol
"I have loved Shakespeare since I was introduced to him in school, at about fifteen years of age. Neither the plots nor the characters of his plays turned me on at the time; what did was the way he said things. Which I suppose was the instinctive reaction of a potential wordsmith confronted with the outpourings of a master.
The man had a fantastic gift for words, and could express an idea in words as modern as tomorrow, as old as humanity. "
"Always novels; short stories are the province of different minds than mine"
"The trouble is that no people, once introduced to the magical phenomena of automobiles, motor bikes, air conditioning, (…) comfortable beds, plenty of food, flight from one part of the world to another, decent roads, banks, schools, hospitals and entertainment is ever willing to give them up, no matter how much certain people talk of the damage they do to the environment." Professor Covino used to say that communist revolution is no longer an option for western people, since we deem hot water a value!!!
"there is nothing wrong with planet Earth, and however huge the mess humankind makes of it, within a million years it will recover and return to normal. It’s not planet Earth we should be worrying about, says Dr. Stewart. We should be worrying about the species called Homo sapiens: Man."
"If humanity extinguishes itself, the wounds it inflicted on the planet will be healed in a million years. The forests will grow back, the oceans de-acidify, the atmosphere be what it should be. And a new species will arise out of the wreckage. A species, one hopes, less masculinely violent, more femininely gentle. A species less prone to be hoodwinked by those awful old men who lead world religions. A species that believes in education for every baby born, that regards every baby born as truly wanted — for the right reasons."
February 19, 2018
Not quite an autobiography yet autobiographical, more a musing on life as Colleen McCullough knows it. There's an eclectic mix of subject matter and I particularly enjoyed the stories behind the story of her writing and books. The personal pieces about her much loved brother and dysfunctional parents was told with a unembellished honesty. Colleen McCullough would have been an interesting woman to meet, she's intelligent, well read, extremely well read and talks with a directness I appreciate, no fluffy frills. Amazingly for someone we think of as a successful writer she had a fairly constant battle with her publishers. I was very pleased to read that the book she enjoyed writing the most - Angel Puss - is also the one I enjoyed reading the most, she actually calls it ".....a complete self-indulgence"
January 7, 2022
I have enjoyed reading McCullough’s novels. I especially loved the Caesar series and wished they had been around when I was taking Latin in high school many decades ago. They are so well researched and written, they are better than most history textbooks and so much more interesting.
This series of essays revealed the person behind the stories. They were engrossing reading. I was shocked by the story of the settlement of Norfolk Island. The behind the scenes of her research and writing the novels was so interesting. And so on .. I just love the person revealed by these words.
I would give the book a 10!
This series of essays revealed the person behind the stories. They were engrossing reading. I was shocked by the story of the settlement of Norfolk Island. The behind the scenes of her research and writing the novels was so interesting. And so on .. I just love the person revealed by these words.
I would give the book a 10!
August 7, 2024
Well, at first, I did not like her style of autobiography. It was a series of essays about various and sometimes it felt like random subjects that were more like lectures or speeches on her opinion of things. There were also 2 very silly chapters written by a cat and another by the Star Trek universe of Klingons, Spock and Captain Kirk. Not to be taken seriously or even understood fully either. Anyway, that withstanding, once I got comfortable with her style, I found it very interesting although incredibly sad. This woman had a horrible childhood and aside from being a best-selling author (of whom I am a fan), she didn't have a very happy adulthood either. I do admire her strength of character, her courage and fortitude in the worst of circumstances but most of all her ability to face her life head on. Something I believe we can all learn valuable lessons from. A highly educational book.
October 1, 2025
If you are familiar with Colleen's work and already know something about her life, this book will certainly speak to you more than if you know nothing about her.
I had the opportunity of meeting her many years ago and have also recently visited her graveside and done the tour of her home on Norfolk Island which reflects the gorgeously feisty, smart, yet also slightly bonkers woman she was!
This book reflects her larger-than-life personality and is a collection of rambling thoughts, opinions, memories, the ups and downs of the cutthroat publishing world, plus experimental writing - some of which is simply bizarre. There is also an expose on her parents and her truly awful childhood and it says something about her strength of character and determination to rise above the tragedies in life and find success on her own terms.
They don't make them like Colleen any more.
I had the opportunity of meeting her many years ago and have also recently visited her graveside and done the tour of her home on Norfolk Island which reflects the gorgeously feisty, smart, yet also slightly bonkers woman she was!
This book reflects her larger-than-life personality and is a collection of rambling thoughts, opinions, memories, the ups and downs of the cutthroat publishing world, plus experimental writing - some of which is simply bizarre. There is also an expose on her parents and her truly awful childhood and it says something about her strength of character and determination to rise above the tragedies in life and find success on her own terms.
They don't make them like Colleen any more.
April 27, 2021
Picking up this book is like meeting up with an old friend. Just reading her thought provoking musings in these essays on a range of topics has been a delight. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on her books and her motivation in writing such a breadth of genres when I eagerly awaited publication and which left me enthralled over the years. I will be going back to my book shelf to once again meander through Ancient Rome, Morgan’s Run and the Carmine Delmonico series, as a start.
May 7, 2023
Mišinys iš esė ir prisiminimų. Kai kurie esė man buvo įdomūs, o kai kuriuos tiesiog praleidau. Prisiminimai iš rašytojos gyvenimo, be abejo, įdomūs, bet jų pateikimui pristigo literatūrinio grakštumo… Išties buvo įdomu sužinot, kiek daug savo garsiuosiuose romanuose rašytoja panaudojo savo ir savo šeimos narių biografinės medžiagos bei sukauptų istorinių žinių.
February 7, 2024
Not,as I thought ,an autobiography but a selection of chapters on things important to her.Interesting but random.I liked the one on the Crucifiction (why was Jesus given a slave’s death?) and her novels especially her Roman series.Nice and direction prose
August 2, 2013
Mostly enjoyable, with a few laugh out loud moments. I had hoped we might get an insight into the process of writting, and some her research moments... Not to worry though, figure if she is writting more books that is somehting to look forward too. -what a brilliant mind /imagination this woman has. I am impressed with her talent, her skills, her books and how she managed her life.
February 6, 2016
She forgot to take out the boring bits.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews