“Murtagh was right about women. Sassenach, I
risked my life for ye, committing theft, arson, assault, and murder into the
bargain. In return for which ye call me names, insult my manhood, kick me in
the ballocks and claw my face. Then I beat you half to death and tell ye all
the most humiliating things have ever happened to me, and ye say ye love
me." He laid his head on his knees and laughed some more. Finally he rose
and held out a hand to me, wiping his eyes with the other. You're no verra sensible, Sassenach, but I like ye fine.”
I stumbled into the pages of Outlander (Diana
Gabaldon, 1991) one cold and wintry afternoon. It was New Years Eve, almost two
years ago. And, as usual, I opened the first page immediately. I did not emerge
from the book again until I had turned the last page. I sat in my green chair,
drinking tea and coffee, reading that book, for two whole days. I read for
hours, and hours, and hours. My real life stopped completely.
Claire Randall of 1945 accidently touched the
standing stones at Craigh na Dun, near Inverness, Scotland, and was immediately
back in time to the same place in the Scottish countryside of 1743.
Claire, at first, furiously fought the time
change, determined to make it back to 20th century Scotland, and to her
husband, Frank. She made numerous attempts to reach the stones on her own, but
every chance proved ruinous.
She gradually learned to love her new life. She
married Jamie Fraser, a strong clan warrior. Very good things happen, and very
bad things happen; Claire changes lives everywhere she goes. It’s a marvelous
tale of love, evil, war, and mystery.
The amazing thing about this book, and the
entire series, is the tremendous number of Diana followers. Her readers are
diehard fans. When we're talking about 900+ pages of text, you have to be
really committed.
This summer, Starz debuted the Outlander Series
television show. As a result, the Outlander Facebook group has seen a record
increase in numbers. Since the show started, it’s been wonderful to be reminded
of what a great book this is. It’s so much fun to experience the same emotions
as strangers across the universe. Although I’m not as much of a diehard fan as
some (I’ve only read the first book – there are eight so far in the series), I
enjoy knowing others are as crazy as I am about fictional stories and imaginary
characters. The recent "mid-season finale" aired, landing on a
cliffhanger (of course) causing those who had not read the book to clamor for
more!
While this post is not only about the television show, I appreciate that the show has
brought more people "into the fold" and encouraged them to read the
series. I love when a show creates such an excellent translation, that fans
want to know more, so they go read the book.
Outlander is a spellbinding book, but not for everyone. It requires
a pretty intense commitment, but it is well worth your time.
This post is part of the 31 Days of Bibliophilia series.
i love the whole series. i read the first book in my teens but it became a meaningful book in my life when my son was about a year old. i was beginning to fall apart, had some health issues and was exhausted. probably depressed. i went to talk to our counsellor at church and he asked what i did for me. the answer was nothing. he asked what i wanted to do for me, something to fill my emotional tank. i wanted to read. i had a vague memory of the book, i knew it was about time travelling in scotland. so i went to my local library and asked the librarian if she knew what the book could be. i thought it might of been a needle haystack scenario. but the librarian knew exactly what the book was. in fact there was a series! cross stitch was the first book i had read in about a year. and i was hooked. like you i emerged a few days later, and happier. i've loved the love story and the drama. i love frank and bree. love it all. blessings, claire
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your story Claire. Isn't it amazing how books can help us. :) Have you read the whole series yet?
DeleteI first discovered this book about two weeks ago on GoodReads and got really intrigued by all the raving reviews, so I decided to give it a try. But to be honest it seemed kind of... cheap to me, like a slightly better-researched harlequin romance, with all lavishly described sex scenes etc (nothing against a good sex scene, though! :) ). So to me it's what I call 'a beach read', a no-brainer, but still entertaining.
ReplyDeleteI really like your series, though, and look forward to your other recommendations!
xoxo Anna
Anna, thank you! I do hope to keep people intrigued by this series. I am realizing that I maybe I hadn't read as many classics as I'd thought. Or, I'm hesitant to tackle them because I feel I can't do them justice.
DeleteJust downloaded this from the library, and I already love it. Unfortunately, I will never get thru it before it's due back, because it's mid-October, and I'm in a daily Hustle grind, and this is no time to Get Lost in a book like this! Methinks a New Years Day like yours sounds fantastic!
ReplyDeleteYou do! Just buy it from Amazon, and the next time you have a day or two free, read it. :-)
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