Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (1991)
Outlander by Diana
Gabaldon
If I
were thrown back two hundred years in time, with none of my modern
conveniences, well aware of the future that was coming I’m pretty sure I would
lose my mind. Claire Randall is in that particular situation and seems to be
handling it pretty well. The year is 1945 when the story begins. Claire and her
husband Frank are in the Scottish Highlands on vacation. World War II is over. The
two have reunited after only seeing each other six times in almost as many
years, when she is ripped from this here and now and placed in 1740’s. Still in
the Highlands but centuries before her birth. Attacked almost upon arrival and
rescued by clansmen who then think her an English spy, her life is a state of
constant peril. Then there’s Jamie the young clansmen wanted for murder hiding
with the Mackenzie clan that rescued Claire. And this is where the story and
the romance really get started.
Let me
start by checking off a few boxes: Character development, check; World
development, check; Extremely interesting narrator full of wit, charm, and
humor, double check. I’m not sure how much I would have liked this story if it
hadn’t been for Claire. If this had been told in the third person it wouldn’t
have been nearly as interesting or fun as it is now. Claire is a great character.
She is put in an unfathomable situation of traveling two hundred years in the
past. She is falling in love with a man she originally thought was a heathen,
while missing the husband she is still in love with. The bad guy in this story,
who you really grow to hate, is her husband Frank’s (however many times great)
grandfather. It is a smorgasbord of crazy and yet day to day she makes it
through. She was just so well done. A strong character that made mistakes and
owned up to them, and did what she had to do to survive. I really grew to like
Jamie too. He was passionate, tender and yet rough and combative at the same
time. Gabaldon managed to create a believable balance that I found rather
enjoyable. The cast of characters varied and yet many were interesting,
captivating and well developed.
Now I
know absolutely nothing of Scottish history so I am taking Gabaldon at her word
for what is supposed to happen in this story. Mind you I didn’t mind because
she made everything seem so damn believable. Gabaldon successfully takes
readers from post-war Scotland to 1740’s Highland. I felt as shocked as Claire
with each new development, probably more so because of how unfamiliar the
history is to me. I stayed invested in the here and now that was 1740’s
Highland and part of me never wanted Claire to go back.
My
rating varied from 4 stars to 3.5 stars because I felt like there were times
when this novel got repetitive. I don’t know if I should even say repetitive,
but there were moments when the story felt like nothing was happening or they
were doing the same things over and over again. I didn’t get bored, but I
wanted to start skimming when this started happening. I didn’t but I felt
myself wondering why we were back in the same situation. Now, this is a series.
A long series with each book close to if not more than 1,000 pages each. I’m
not sure if I am ready to make that kind of investment. If I do read the next
book I will post that review as well. But as of right now, I am content with
this book and its ending. In the end
this gets a rating of 3.5 stars. It was enjoyable but again I’m not rushing to
pick up the next one.
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