Dec 04, 2007 01:13 AM
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(Updated Dec 04, 2007 05:09 AM)
Outlander - foreigner or stranger
You know that feeling you get when you are on a roller coaster, the ride is just starting, your car moves slowly to the top of the track and you stare down at the steep descent - the feeling of anticipation, the clenched stomach - and then, whooooo..sh, you are in the middle of all the excitement, enjoying yourself so much that there's no other thought in your head. If I were to describe Diana Gabaldon's Outlander I would call it just such a joyride.
Outlander is the typical masala novel, it has a little of everything - a little romance, a little fantasy, a little history, a little action & adventure and that's where the fun of reading this 850 page behemoth lies. The actual category this would fall in is romance, even though the author has fought tooth and nail to get it removed from that genre into the fantasy/sci-fi or even general fiction stacks in libraries and bookstores, whatever the case maybe, chances are you've never had this much fun with a romance before.
An unlikely bigamist
Claire Randall - An English nurse during the second World War is enjoying a second honeymoon in Scotland with her husband, historian Frank Randall. Contentedly collecting plant samples one day, she suddenly finds herself catapulted through a crack in time to a strife-ridden Scotland in the 1740s. Mistaken for a spy by both the English and the Scots, Claire is taken prisoner by the MacKenzie clan until they can figure out who she is and where she comes from. Confused, displaced and emotionally wrought, Claire's single-minded goal is to get back to her time and her husband, but the close watch kept on her by the MacKenzies does not make this an easy task.
Jamie Fraser - a young, chivalrous Scottish warrior and cousin to the MacKenzies. Jamie is an outlaw and has a price on his head put by the English, in particular by the unscrupulous Captain Jack Randall who is capable of using any dastardly methods to get Jamie within his power. That Captain Randall is also Claire's husband's ancestor and a dead ringer for Frank makes things even more complicated.
Circumstances force Claire and Jamie to get married. On the run from the English, the two bond in more ways than one and discover a love that soon becomes all-consuming, leaving Claire torn between two very different men across two very different spans of time ......
The art of the romance novel*
I wouldnt generally review a romance novel, but I moved recently, have no current library membership, was going through my bookshelf and came across this old gem to re-read. There, excuses done !!!! The point is that Outlander is not the typical romance. Cliches aside, part of my admiration for the book comes from my admiration for the author herself. A university professor in scientific computation, she burst upon the romance novel scene with this, her first book. And her passion for research shows here.
The 1940s and 1700s are described faithfully, from Scottish customs, the age-old question of what a Scotsman wears under his kilt, Scottish slang, to the flora and their use in medicine in the 18th century, politics, sword fighting, status of women and so on. Outlander is set just before the battle of Culloden and describes the political machinations leading up to the battle very nicely. Claire coming from the future is forewarned about the outcome of the battle and part of her panic stems from the fact that she is on the losing side, but she soon finds that she cannot change any events in time. The writing and plot doesnt suffer either from all the research. The characters themselves and the humor and empathy the author shares with them are what actually make the reading compelling. Gabaldon also set the romance genre on it's head, Claire is older than Jamie, and Jamie goes through the plot hurdles generally reserved for the hapless heroine, ultimately being rescued by Claire. I think I probably enjoyed it all the more for these departures.
Outlander did to the romance genre what LOTR did for fantasy. Gabaldon now has 6 books in the series - Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross and A Breath of Snow and Ashes and a handbook 'The Outlandish Companion' describing the world she has created. The basic difference is that when Outlander was released it was meant to be a one-off novel, but the success had Gabaldon creating the series with a seventh one to be released soon. Dragonfly in Amber is enjoyable enough but the books after suffer from weak plotting and character development though the writing is always interesting. Being a sucker for a good series, and consumed with more than an ordinary amount of curiosity as to what happens to the characters I have read all the books above (except the Companion). Having said that I do not plan on picking the seventh book, I was more than ordinarily disappointed with the last one.
To those who might consider reading this book or the series, be warned. Gabaldon doesnt shy away from violence. In a period where a mundane crime might lead to mutilation or a flogging, this shouldnt be a surprise, but, the reading is not for the faint-hearted. And she doesnt shy away from torturing or abusing her characters either. However, for those expecting something highbrow, let me disillusion you, the bottomline is that this is a romance and the requisite writing does follow. So, if romance isnt your general escapist fodder, I would suggest reading the first couple of chapters to see if this will work for you. But for those who do read the stuff, and need plot and writing well above the mediocre writing and contrivances that are generally churned out, this and the next one in the series are a satisfying read. And if you are one of the women who falls in love with men in books, Jamie has been the stuff of dreams for tons of women worldwide. I didnt, but then I never did fall for a younger man !! Or is it 200 years older ??! Hmmmm ...
