After a recommendation from my good friend, Elisabeth, I finally got my hands on the book, Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon. The book reeled me in, quick as can be, and I still feel like I'm stuck dangling on the hook. Its impact reminds me of how I felt after reading the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. I didn't want to/couldn't put it down. It's a fairly lengthy novel, but a super easy read. I think Elisabeth mentioned that it has a few steamy parts and boy, she wasn't kidding! The tale of romance at the heart of the story is intense and continues to revolve in your mind–my mind at least–even after having long finished the book. The characters, Jamie Fraser and Claire Beauchamp Randall, are intriguing in the way they interact, love, fight, forgive and constantly watch out for one another. Outlander is labeled a fantasy, but the genre of romance suits it almost as well.
Actually, I'm not a huge fan of romances, I tend to steer clear of the unrealistic views of relationships present in romance fiction, so for me to stay engrossed with a love story there needs to be an element of the fantastical, or some other component which excites and persuades me to keep reading page after page. This book adds time travel and non-stop action into the amorous tale to keep its reader poised on the edge of their seat (or maybe with a finger poised on each page ready to turn as quickly as possible as to not miss a word). My goodness, I'm still stuck in the Scottish highlands of 1744; I keep looking around for kilts, dirks, tall Norse-looking redheads, lochs, and granite stones rising out of the landscape. I felt drawn into the scenes as if I were Bastien reading some alternate version of "The Never-Ending Story" and being tugged into the tale as if I, as the reader, influenced how the plot would continue. Obviously that is not the case, I had no effect, otherwise such and such would have happened (can't say more than that to keep from ruining it for anyone else), but it proves what a convincing writer Diana Gabaldon is in providing an attention-grabbing story.
I pulled up her website and read about how the story came to be. She mentions that she started writing, just to see if she could write a novel, and included a little bit of everything: war, sex, history, violence, religion, courage, time travel, etc.. Wow! It really does have it all. At times I thought the multiplicity of stuff felt overdone–I will admit that, and I even wondered aloud at one point, "really?", but it is a fantasy so I guess I can see how, inevitably, all those crazy components fit together.
So, would I recommend this to a friend? Yes, with a few stipulations: 1. There are some passionate sex scenes (holy moly! I had to read some of them aloud to Zac just to clear my conscience), so don't read it if that will make you feel uncomfortable, and 2. this book is total mind candy; it's not a story to teach you much, so only read it if you want to be entertained. That being said, Gabaldon's novel will captivate and take you out of your little world, so if you need an escape, then Outlander should, by all means, be your next read.
1 comment:
Amy- I'm glad you liked the book! You know it's a series, right? I think there are 4 or 5 but the first few are the best. I know what you mean, I don't always recommend it to people because of the sex scenes, but honestly you can always skip them and still know whats going on.
Have you ever read The Clan of the Cave Bear? If not, I recommend that to you too, although warning again, has some graphic stuff in there. Not that that is in all the books I read or anything, honestly those are two of the few that have that type of stuff that I've liked! Anyway, you'll have to read that one sometime and tell me what you think, that is another book that I just couldn't put down kind of similar to Outlander.
Wish we could come visit you sometime!!
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