Outlander

I rarely take the time to write reviews. Here's the thing: Diana Gabaldon has written something quite masterful.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but there is one HUGE problem that is going to keep me from going on to the next books and that kept giving me pause and making me cringe throughout this one: casual rape culture.

I'm not talking about the times when rape is handled appropriately in this book. The main character is attacked and defends herself or is saved and it's clearly traumatic, but reflective of the time: a young beautiful woman was not safe alone on the roads. Fine. Another main character is actually raped. Again that is treated like a trauma and is appropriate.

What I'm talking about is the repeated spousal rape. show more Non-consensual sex between spouses is rape. No means no. There is simply no justifying rape.

If you want to have rough sex, you want to be dominated, you want to say in advance "here's my safe word, but I'll be choosing to say 'no' because it turns me on and tonight only my safe word means 'no'," fine. Fine. Fine. Fine. That's your naughty prerogative.

But if a woman says not tonight dear and then a man is penetrating her anyway because "he knows she wants it" that. is. rape.

Sigh. Why is this in here Ms. Gabaldon? Why would you ruin a wonderful epic with this BS?? The main character is strong and independent. She stands up for herself in tons of other ways, rejecting 18th-century marital norms. Why couldn't you just address this issue? Have her push back against the casual rapey culture of the 18th (and let's be real 20th and 21st) century? Is that asking too much?

For the writing and overall story, I say 5 stars. For the repeated, nonchalant, easily forgiven rape of a spouse I have to say absolutely no, no, no. Sigh. So disappointing. For now, I'm splitting the difference but may decide eventually to give it 1 star. show less

Claire is on a second honeymoon after the war when she steps through a circle of stones and finds herself 200 years in the past. In Scotland of 1743 she is an English intruder, a Sassenach wench, and in serious danger. Married in 1945, but with no choices in 1743, she must marry James Fraser or risk being handed over to Black Jack Randall, an English captain with the face of her first husband and a soul as black as his name.
This is one of my favorite stories. I have been reading and rereading this volume every time a new one came out for decades. Claire's competence as a physician, Jamie's competence overall, and their love story hit me hard every time I read this book.

How do you describe a book like "Outlander"? Drama, fantastical adventure, magical realism, historical fiction, love story? It is all of these things, but above all, a heart-throbbing, maudlin, intensely passionate, soulful, beautiful love story. Everyone should consider themselves very fortunate to come somewhere close to the kind of love Gabaidon describes of her heroine and hero - Claire Beauchamp and Jamie Fraser.

When Claire and her history professor husband Frank Randall are on a vacation in Scotland, Claire roams off alone one day sightseeing to a historical monument called Craigh na Dun. She accidentally presses herself against a monumental boulder and finds herself physically transported back 200 years in time and this is where show more the story begins.

Arousing the reader with a somewhat skeptical “I’ll give it a try” attitude, Outlander begins at a slow pace, lays the groundwork, and before you know what happened - you are hooked! It’s a page turner alright! As far fetched as the notion is of magical time-travel, Gabaldon makes it believable with her vividly colorful descriptions of Scottish countryside, primitive 18th century living conditions, historical details, mythology, and just the right amount of humor.

Rape, murder, torture, thievery, kidnapping, superstition and betrayal juxtaposed against herbal healing, religious faith, kindness and loyalty, sacrifice and love. I don’t know if Scotland had swashbucklers or if there was ever a female amongst those so titled, but the heroine of this series surely qualifies. And the best part of all is that it is merely book one of a series. When you close the book on that last page it is not farewell to Claire and Jamie - you can move right on to Book 2 - "Dragonfly in Amber".

However, be for-warned - contrary to my opinion, not everyone will love the series. Outlander has received some less than stellar reviews. It’s been criticized for various offenses: too violent, too much sex, too much violent sex, too fantastical, too boring, too preposterous, too degrading to women, too misrepresentative of Scottish history, and not enough focus on history.... so read at your own risk.

In the 20th Anniversary Edition Hardcover of "Outlander" Diana Gabaldon modestly writes in the introduction that when this book - her very first attempt at a novel - was first published in 1991, her editor said “This has to be a word-of-mouth book, because it’s too weird to describe to anyone.” and she addresses the reader, “This is true. That being so, I offer my undying gratitude to all the people who took a chance on it and then spread the word.” I am happily spreading the word. Just this afternoon I sat outside in the hot and humid sun to finish the last few chapters. The pages are now literally smeared with sweat.... and tears... tears were just dripping off my face onto those final pages.

I loved the book. Thank you Marie for turning me on to the series. show less

Sweeping time travel and adventure saga that takes place in the Scottish Highlands. Protagonist Claire Beauchamp starts off on a second honeymoon with her husband, Frank, just after WWII, when she is mysteriously transported back to the mid-eighteenth century. I am late to the party on this one, so I will spare an unnecessary plot summary.

I put off reading Outlander for years because I am not a fan of romance and thought I would not like it. But my sister-in-law loves the entire series and highly recommended it. Plus, it is the type of book that has captured the public’s imagination, and I generally get around to reading them sooner or later.

It turns out that my reservations were well-founded. It is basically a very long and show more repetitive boddice ripper. I do not care for books that rely heavily on sexual content, especially sexual violence, as entertainment. This book has so many sex scenes, rapes, and attempted rapes, that I started to skim over them. I did not feel the attraction between the main characters, other than lust, and if you do not buy into the idea that these two are “meant to be” lovers, it just does not work. The fact that she is already married seems not to matter. Some of the scenes are so gruesome, I felt sick reading them.

I did like a few elements. I enjoyed the first quarter of the book, where we are meeting the characters and learning the setting. There are vivid scenes describing the landscape, the castles, the manner of living, which portray the environment that Claire must navigate. I particularly liked the scene of Claire, a nurse from the 20th century, sifting through the contents of a healer's herbs and remedies. She goes through such lovely items as “mouse ear” (which is exactly what it sounds like), “ground human skull” (yikes!), and the like. She discards the grotesque and keeps the herbs, which may actually prove useful. This scene is vividly rendered and provides the reader with a good idea of the state of “medicine” in the 1740s.

I know this author is much loved, but no book is for everyone and this one was not for me. show less

I cannot stop thinking about this story. And I want to read the second book so desperately. But unfortunately, I can't fit it in my March readings.

I loved almost everything in this book. First of all, the historical background is very interesting for me. We haven't learned a lot about Scotland's history in school, especially about the 18th century. So I enjoyed learning about that events, at the same time comparing them with the information found in Google.

Secondly, I loved the characters. They are so realistic. None of them is perfect and this made me believe each one of them. I wished with all my heart that Jamie and Claire will be together and in safety. Actually, while reading all I could think of was their adventures, their show more quarrels, and their problems. I even had some dreams about them:P

The last 30% of the book was so tense that I was made to read it in one day. And only my reading plans stopped me from starting the next book immediately. show less

I picked this book up again because everyone seems to love the darn thing so much. I managed to finish this time, but my view of the book is not much improved. I can't really find flaws in the author's style or the way the book is put together. The issue I have, is the same issue a lot of people seem to have with a few specific scenes. As a survivor of abuse in a relationship, I don't take this kind of abuse lightly. The scene where Jamie beats Claire is brutal. In her own words, her "husband" beats her within an inch of her life. Later on, his demand for sex from an unwilling Claire just solidified my dislike of this man. Sure he's a Scotsman living hundreds of years ago, but that doesn't seem like an excuse. He's a jerk to his wife show more and a jerk to his sister. I was also creeped out by Jamie's descriptions of his abuse and rape under the hands of Randall, and Claire's recreation of this to rouse him from a fever. This who bit was strange and really did not make me like the characters any more. I know the author has written a lot of large books to continue this story, but I can't imagine dedicating the time to reading them when I really don't like Jamie. At all. show less

Reseña de Fantasía Mágica

Tengo tanto para decir sobre este libro que no se por donde empezar. En el fondo siento que tendría que leerlo por tercera vez para poder comentarlo con justicia.
Ésta no es simplemente una historia de amor. Es una historia de aventura, de viajes en el tiempo y de misterio, condimentada con romance.

Claire Randall es uno de mis personajes preferidos por entre todos los libros que he leído. Es la protagonista de Forastera y nos cuenta su historia en primera persona, por lo que conocemos a fondo sus sentimientos y pensamientos. Es una mujer inglesa moderna y práctica, que como enfermera ha conocido muy de cerca el horror de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y se ha visto separada de su marido, Frank Randall, durante show more muchos años. Ahora que la guerra ha terminado, viajan a Inverness (Escocia) para tener una luna de miel y para que Frank investigue más a fondo sobre la historia de sus ancestros, entre los que se encontraba un soldado de alto rango llamado Jack Randall.
La tan ansiada tranquilidad dura poco, sin embargo. En un paseo por una colina en busca de hierbas medicinales, Claire se topa con un círculo de piedras que comienza a zumbar cuando se le acerca y provoca que se desmaye.

Y si bien el libro ya era muy entretenido y de lectura ágil hasta éste punto, ahora es donde empieza lo realmente bueno. Si, lo amo. Lo amo.
Claire se despierta para encontrarse en Inverness, sí, pero en 1734. Es una mujer inglesa en una Escocia en guerra con Inglaterra, vestida "como una prostituta" para la época, sola en medio de un campo con soldados.... y quien la encuentra no es otro que Jack Randall, el antepasado de su esposo, que salvando el inquietante parecido físico, no existe ninguna otra similitud.
Pero no permanecerá con él durante mucho tiempo, porque pronto se verá arrastrada junto con un grupo de escoceses de aspecto salvaje y violento, entre los que se encuentra Jamie Fraser, quien le ofrecerá la protección que necesita, aunque a un precio quizás demasiado alto.

Claire es una protagonista atípica que lleva con ella el temor de no ser fértil. Se encuentra partida entre la necesidad de volver a su época y lo que se comienza a formar al rededor de ella en éste viejo siglo.
Sabe lo suficiente de enfermería y hierbas para ser considerada una curandera y así resultar útil en una época donde las mujeres eran poco menos que una posesión. Aunque nada de ésto la mantendrá fuera de peligro, y las relaciones que elija la llevarán a situaciones más que complicadas.
Y no puedo no hablar de Jamie. James Alexander Malcom MacKenzie Fraser es un personaje increíble, con los suficientes defectos y virtudes como para que resulte prácticamente imposible no encariñarse con él. Es jóven pero no falto de experiencia, extremadamente culto para una sociedad en la que la gente común no recibían una gran cantidad de educación, y su relación con Claire -que tiene la incapacidad física de ocultar de su rostro lo que está pensando- está más allá de las palabras.

Esta no es una historia simple. No es de esos libros románticos en los que ya se sabe cómo va a terminar la historia, aunque si haya muchos momentos que (nos) arrancan suspiros a las personas más románticas. Las personalidades de los personajes están muy pensadas, el contexto histórico es impresionante y resulta en muchos momentos impredecible.
No hay sólo una historia lineal y sencilla. Diana Gabaldon ha creado una historia compleja como la vida, que resulta creíble a pesar de tener muchos elementos paranormales, que por estar intercalados de forma sutil resultan completamente creíbles y posibles.
Hay escenas conmovedoras, otras de violencia, de acción, mucho sexo (pero que al menos para mi gusto no resulta chocante ni molesto), y ciertos momentos que simplemente harán salir carcajadas.

Está muy, muy bien escrito. Las páginas se devoran y la historia nunca pierde su fuerza. El misterio nos atrapa y vivimos junto a Claire como es estar en un siglo diferente, peligroso y hostil.
Por si aún no quedó claro, es uno de mis libros preferidos y planeo leerlo muchas veces más junto con el resto de la saga.

Ah, y siento un terror infinito cada vez que se habla de hacerlo película o serie.

Edito: Ya se empezaron a elegir actores. El terror se ha materializado. show less