February 2013: Diana Gabaldon: Outlander

[regdog]

The spanking would have driven me to violence, no doubt.

 

[Ronny]

The spanking would have driven me to violence, no doubt.

Well Claire did get a bit in, she put up a fight and scratched him on the face. And going back to the rape, I think it also served to strengthen the bond between Claire and Jamie, they didn't just survive some rough times together, she brought him back from the brink, manhood intact, I didn't like reading it any better but I see why she had it. These were violent times so normal violence would not of been as effective as what happened to Jamie and the way it will make Claire feel later with Frank.

 

[pontalba]

I loved the fact that when, finally, she was completely honest with Jamie about her origins......he totally believed her.

I was just thinking about the scene later in the book when Claire is searching for Jamie with Jenny, and at their parting she tells Jenny to plant potatoes. Wow. I can't remember what else she told Jenny, but that made an impression on me. Potatoes were evidently not a crop that was common in that area at all. And it saved their lives. I loved it.

 

[kelstan]

One of the passages that really struck me was when the mob was after the tanner's boy for theft and Clair was contemplating standing up for him against the crowd. She talked about the people who lived near the concentration camps, and how they must have known what was going on yet stood by and did nothing. She understood how hard it was to stand up for what was right because she understood how afraid they must have been.

I remember discussing with a friend once how my husband and I had rehearsed fire escape routes with our kids, and she was adament that if there was ever a fire at her home, she would get her kids out or they would all die together. Being a bit more pragmatic myself, I said that I would like to think I would do that, but faced with a raging inferno, I might not be brave enough to so. I think fear can crush a lot of scruples that people have, and yet I don't think I have ever seen that philosophy presented in such a compelling example as in Outlander.

 

[pontalba]

Yes! And Claire was close to that very event, so it was terribly fresh in her mind. We all like to think we could stand up to such wrong, but I have to think it isn't all that easy. Mob rule and all that for one thing.

And you are right, but not only the fear itself, but absolute panic. That is why the rehearsals you had with your family are so important. Practicing something like that makes the grooves that will overcome panic.

 

[Landslide]

So, I finally finished it! It only took me a month to do it!

But I did enjoy it very, very much. I loved the writing and the story and the characters. Jamie definetely made it to my fictional characters crush list!

My only problem was with the amount of suffering. Because I'm the kind of reader that, when a story is really good and the characters are real and credible, can really engage in it and I suffer for the characters. So it was hard to read all of the bad things that happened to Jamie. It made me avoid continuing to read sometimes, cause I kept thinking that something worse would happen to him, and he doesn't really deserve it... Sadly I was not wrong. Jamie was like Job, bad things just kept happening to him. To me it was just a bit too much...

I'm a little afraid of reading the other books in the series, but since some of you have already read them, please tell me, without spoilers, is it safe to read them or will I be just setting myself up for misery?

 

[kelstan]

I hemmed and hawed over continuing the series myself. I have decided I do NOT want to read the rest of the series - partly because I have read a few of the synopses and I can tell that some of the books will just piss me off because the characters won't do what I think they should, and partly because I don't think I want to invest that much time into these characters. It's a really long series. I know this is a hugely popular series, but I found the book merely good, not great, and so I think I will just let the good book stand and not invest myself into what I am afraid would become tedious before I was finished.

 

[Ronny]

I have read most of the series and the first is still my fave, and if you don't want to see Jamie suffer anymore then you would be disappointed. Jamie & Claire continue through their struggles, it is kind of like a soap opera in that aspect, more happens to them anyone could ever survive in real life, at least with out having a complete mental and emotional breakdown.

 

[pontalba]

I've read the entire series as well as some of the side books, for example The Scottish Prisoner and one other "Lord John" Books.

I love the series. Yes, there is suffering, as in real life. But, the most important thing is that Jamie and Claire are there for each other. Not always physically, but they always end up together. Not only in love, but bonded. Deeply bonded, rooted in each other.

Yeah to the soap opera aspects though..... lol But.....so much more.

I can, without qualification recommend reading the entire series.

 

[Landslide]

Oh boy. I'm really torn. On the one hand I'd like to see more of the story (particularly the whole aspect of finding out if Claire's travel to past changed it or if it was meant to happen all along) but on the other I'm afraid I'll be setting myself up for more heartbreak...

I guess I'll wait to see if the story and the characters call out for me in the future.