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A review by saj_81
Morgan's Run by Colleen McCullough
1.0
I wanted to throw this book out of the window at least 5 times while reading it. Yet somehow I struggled to the bitter (horrible) ending. I have two main complaints:
1. Richard Morgan is seriously annoying. No real human is that perfect all the time. He has the perfect body, perfect mind, perfect manners, perfect skills for every situation and perfect ability to control himself no matter what happens. During hundreds of pages the man never does anything wrong and everyone adores him. Personally I couldn't care less what happens to him, which is already a bad sign in a book that revolves so heavily around one person.
2. The women in this book are either non-existent or completely unrealistic. There is not a single believable female in this story. The women in England are hysterical caretakers, who can't control their feelings. The female prisoners are sad victims who, if they are smart and understand their place, are being sexually abused by the men (not Mr. Morgan of course, he has no sexual desires...). The women who came to Botany Bay with the officers are only mentioned as providing sexual services to each other's husbands. At the end of the book we meet one woman who is described in more detail. Her main characteristic? Being hopelessly dependant on Richard Morgan. I find it hard to believe that this would be the whole truth about women in the 18th century. Without wanting to exaggerate, I would describe this book as anti-feminist.
In conclusion, I would have much rather read an honestly historical account about this journey.
1. Richard Morgan is seriously annoying. No real human is that perfect all the time. He has the perfect body, perfect mind, perfect manners, perfect skills for every situation and perfect ability to control himself no matter what happens. During hundreds of pages the man never does anything wrong and everyone adores him. Personally I couldn't care less what happens to him, which is already a bad sign in a book that revolves so heavily around one person.
2. The women in this book are either non-existent or completely unrealistic. There is not a single believable female in this story. The women in England are hysterical caretakers, who can't control their feelings. The female prisoners are sad victims who, if they are smart and understand their place, are being sexually abused by the men (not Mr. Morgan of course, he has no sexual desires...). The women who came to Botany Bay with the officers are only mentioned as providing sexual services to each other's husbands. At the end of the book we meet one woman who is described in more detail. Her main characteristic? Being hopelessly dependant on Richard Morgan. I find it hard to believe that this would be the whole truth about women in the 18th century. Without wanting to exaggerate, I would describe this book as anti-feminist.
In conclusion, I would have much rather read an honestly historical account about this journey.