- Unbound
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Sep 2000)
- ISBN-10: 0743214676
- ISBN-13: 978-0743214674
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,544,001 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
From the bestselling author of "The Thorn Birds", this is a historical saga rich in romance, adventure and unforgettable characters, set in Australia.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Colleen McCullough was born in Australia. A neurophysicist, she established the department of neurophysiology at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney She then worked as a researcher and teacher at Yale Medical School for ten years. She is the author of the record-breaking international bestseller The Thorn Birds and her series of books on Rome have also been bestsellers. Colleen lives on Norfolk Island in the Pacific with her husband.
I really thought that I would enjoy this book and was very much looking forward to the date it was published. But for some reason, I don't know why, I was a little disappointed with the book. It is difficult to criticise a Colleen McCullough book, particularly as it was written in her own inimitable style, with great attention to detail and the ability to take the reader back in time to 18th century Bristol among other places, with it narrow winding streets and gin and rum shops spewing out into the alleys some of the worst trash that ever sailed the seven seas.
The story is told through the eyes of Richard Morgan, an Englishman, caught up in the bitter arms of fate. Richard is convicted of thievery and blackmail by a justice system that presumes guilt, rather than innocence and is deported to New South Wales and so begins a period of change for a man who was only trying to do his duty . . .
I am sure that many reader's particularly those who follow the author will love this book. It is well written and has a good and well thought out storyline. It just did not gel for me personally.
I really thought that I would enjoy this book and was very much looking forward to the date it was published. But for some reason, I don't know why, I was a little disappointed with the book. It is difficult to criticise a Colleen McCullough book, particularly as it was written in her own inimitable style, with great attention to detail and the ability to take the reader back in time to 18th century Bristol among other places, with it narrow winding streets and gin and rum shops spewing out into the alleys some of the worst trash that ever sailed the seven seas.
The story is told through the eyes of Richard Morgan, an Englishman, caught up in the bitter arms of fate. Richard is convicted of thievery and blackmail by a justice system that presumes guilt, rather than innocence and is deported to New South Wales and so begins a period of change for a man who was only trying to do his duty . . .
I am sure that many reader's particularly those who follow the author will love this book. It is well written and has a good and well thought out storyline. It just did not gel for me personally.
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Morgan's Run follows the life of Richard Morgan, a gunsmith and son of a Bristol innkeeper. From his early Bristol life with his family and their sad and untimely deaths, through to his capture and imprisonment on trumped up charges, to his life as a convict, sailing on one of the ships in the First Fleet to Australia and his subsequent life on Norfolk Island. An interesting book. Very well researched and packed full of historical facts. Unfortunately, though, there are too many characters which haven't been very well drawn out. In the end I felt Richard Morgan himself to be too good to be true. At over 900 pages this was a bit of a chore to read.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
66 reviews
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful
McCullough Does It Again!!
24 Oct 2000
Format:Hardcover
Having read all but two of her books, I am still an avid Colleen McCullough fan, after having just completed her latest, "Morgan's Run." I have never been disappointed in anything she has written, for this author has a rare gift for both seeing into the depths of the human soul, understanding all the sociological, anthropological, medical and legal aspects of the history she so fastidiously studies to present us with these flawless books. The Masters of Rome series is the most insightful and thorough work I have read on that era in human history, and I was a bit resentful when the final volume was set aside to write this book first. However, now that she promises it will be two volumes to complete that series, I am happier again. With this book I had the same feeling that I always experience with her writing: "It can't stop here...I want more of the ongoing story as only she can tell it!" So her closing promise that we would learn more of Richard Morgan and Norfolk Island really gladdened my heart. Perhaps the majority of us knew little of the terrible experiment that created the penal colony of Australia, and nothing of this tiny island, and we can now appreciate more fully the strength of those castaways who created such flourishing new colonies. Thank you, Colleen McCullough, for some of the best reading I have ever enjoyed. Keep them coming!
27 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Why isn't this woman better known?
13 Sep 2000
Format:Hardcover
At the pagecount 220, when Richard Morgan is surprised at his own eloquence, I am caught in surprise at hers, although I ought not be. For I have known her work these two decades, and there is none better now writing in the English tongue.
Colleen McCollough has both a voice and an ear; when she writes, you can hear her characters, and what she writes, you can her own voice, her own very active mind at work -- and at play. When I first read The Thorn Birds, what surprised me most was her voice; it was the first time I ever read a writer that didn't write in American English or even British English, her syntax and rhythms had an element all its own, it was my introduction to a distinctive AUSTRALIAN English (this was the mid-70's, before even Crocodile Dundee, after all).
Once again, she hits the nail right on the head with Morgan's Run. It's exciting to read, you fly right through the book. What amazes me, though, is the level of research she does for every page she writes. You can tell just from the maps and illustrations in each one of her books she's done her homework, and made it so interesting, to boot.
When I read CREED FOR THE THIRD MILLENNIUM, I wound up infuriated by it. After reading Creed, I realized how tired I was of people following or searching for "a philosophy worth dying for." What I wanted was a philosphy worth living for. Richard Morgan is, in many ways, the opposite number to that novel's J.C. -- he puts his nonverbalized view of life into practice, into action, and Colleen McCollough takes you along on his journey.
There are many sly little touches tossed off throughout. Early on, one of the characters uses the phrase, "The die is cast", which was attributed to Caeser as he crossed the Rubicon; yet, in CAESAR, she suggests an alternate translation of the phrase, "Let the dice fly", which is more in keeping with that books themes and character. I loved catching the reference on the fly (as it were) as I zoomed through this fascinating story. If the language is at first a little off-putting, it seems a trifle arch, but once Colleen gets going and the story gets mvoing, it all becomes of a piece.
I make no apologies; I love this woman, and I am thoroughly enjoying this book. More people should become aware of who she is and what she does and enjoy her as much as I do.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Slow going, but worth it in the end
17 Nov 2005
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I was very bored while reading the first hundred pages of this book. Then, I was somewhat bored reading until Richard Morgan gets arrested. After that I was interested, but not fascinated. Once the ships headed for Australia though, I was hooked.
This book is about Colleen McCullough's real life great great, grandfather, Richard Morgan, who was arrested in England under false charges so he couldn't testify against a powerful man who he had caught avoiding taxes. From his place in prison, which is overcrowded thanks to the revolutionary war in America which caused a halt on sending convicts out of the British Isles, Morgan is placed on a prison hulk in the Thames. This is a grand experiment, to see if old slaving boats can work well as prisons without taking up land space. From there, Morgan, along with several other healthy convict buddies, are loaded into a somewhat better ship, and sailed off to the newly discovered Australia, known then as New South Wales. In this way, England solved its prison problem, and colonized a new continent ahead of the Dutch.
I'm sure a lot of the book is family legend about Richard Morgan's real life deeds, but I don't care. This book is a fascinating, brutal slice of real history and an amazing look at a man who will do whatever it takes to survive. Even if Richard Morgan tends to be a little cardboard like, his story and friends who are full of color make up for it. This book turned me on to a whole new area in history, and I'm extremely disappointed there are no other such books about the colonization of Australia.
If you're thinking about reading this, do. It's slow going to the start, but more than worth it in the end. I know it's a book I'll read year after year.
Five stars all the way.
This book is about Colleen McCullough's real life great great, grandfather, Richard Morgan, who was arrested in England under false charges so he couldn't testify against a powerful man who he had caught avoiding taxes. From his place in prison, which is overcrowded thanks to the revolutionary war in America which caused a halt on sending convicts out of the British Isles, Morgan is placed on a prison hulk in the Thames. This is a grand experiment, to see if old slaving boats can work well as prisons without taking up land space. From there, Morgan, along with several other healthy convict buddies, are loaded into a somewhat better ship, and sailed off to the newly discovered Australia, known then as New South Wales. In this way, England solved its prison problem, and colonized a new continent ahead of the Dutch.
I'm sure a lot of the book is family legend about Richard Morgan's real life deeds, but I don't care. This book is a fascinating, brutal slice of real history and an amazing look at a man who will do whatever it takes to survive. Even if Richard Morgan tends to be a little cardboard like, his story and friends who are full of color make up for it. This book turned me on to a whole new area in history, and I'm extremely disappointed there are no other such books about the colonization of Australia.
If you're thinking about reading this, do. It's slow going to the start, but more than worth it in the end. I know it's a book I'll read year after year.
Five stars all the way.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Fiction > Historical
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
