Getting a Read: Outlander
The first edition cover of Outlander, released in 1991. Bet ya don’t recognize this one!
It’s my firm belief that when a person recommends a book to me, they’re handing me an inside look at their soul. In this series, “Getting a Read,” I try to uncover truth about books and their recommenders.
THE RECOMMENDER
My aunt Diana gave me this book for my blog over dinner at my grandpa’s 90th birthday celebration. With a wink and a nudge, she simply said: “you gotta read Outlander.” Having been casually interested in the book for years, I was happy to oblige my aunt, and extraordinarily curious to find out why her eyes sparkled when she talked about it.
HOW TO READ IT
On vacation, when you have plenty of time to get hooked and keep reading the rest of this giant series. Or in that moment of your life when you need to sink your teeth into something that will last you awhile as a way to escape from the drudgery of the day to day. It’s tempting to tell you to read this in a garden, in the country, or any space where you can imagine vast, sparsely-populated areas with room for epic battles, but I’ve got to say, Diana Gabaldon does the visual work for you. Maybe drink a glass of scotch, maybe brew a cup of tea, but definitely cozy right up on your couch and let Gabaldon weave this world before your eyes with no outside help at all.
REVIEW: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Outlander, in case you’ve missed the excruciatingly prevalent Starz ads recently, is the tale of a woman out of time. Split between two worlds, she finds herself also split between two loves—her first husband from the WWII era and the brilliantly handsome and epically kilted Jamie Fraser of the mid-18th century. We see very little of Claire’s first husband, Frank Randall, in book one, but we see PLENTY of Jamie. And by plenty, I mean——————plenty.
Which brings me to my first true content advisory on a book that didn’t make it into the controversial reads archive. This book has lots and lots of sex in it. Reader take note.
Romance is a wonderful genre. I’m always finding new gems from romance authors of all levels, from those with only three downloads to people like Mary Balogh, who gets her own full shelf at the bookstore. The tropes, including the essential happy ending, give readers a sense they can trust the book. They come to it wanting love to win over all else, and that’s exactly what they get, along with just the right amount of steamy scenes—readers can choose from a range of heat levels from “sweet and clean” to erotica. You might be tempted to think this book is a romance novel based on my content note above and perhaps what you’ve heard about it before now. It’s not, though, and there’s a particular reason why it’s shelved in fiction instead.
Romance, you likely know, comes with an array of connotations. You’re probably thinking of many of those associations now. These books are often dismissed as naughty, simple, only-for-the-lonely, unnecessary, or, perhaps most importantly for Gabaldon, only for women. Gabaldon didn’t want these associations. She knew her book deserved a giant audience and fought hard to make sure it would be readily available to all. And in truth, this book belongs in romance as much as it belongs in scifi, fantasy, historical fiction, or several other genres and subgenres. Gabaldon, though, argued until she got her book shelved in the precise location she wanted in the bookstores: plain, old fiction.
There’s a ton of debate about whether or not this was a good move on Gabaldon’s part. You can read Jessica Tripler’s frustrations with Gabaldon’s choice if you’re curious, but getting right down to my thoughts: I truly believe that had Gabaldon not fought a battle with her publishers to put her book in fiction, this book would never have become a smash hit and a five season Starz series.
But it did. In fact, it’s so big, that these days you can even take an Outlander tour. My friend Lisa Seigmann went on one recently and has generously provided the pictures for this post. As a critic, bibliophile, and a lover of history, I think this extratextual option to engage with a book is wonderful. If a wild, fantastical, steamy novel is so great that it motivates people to visit real historical sites and traipse all over ancient lands for a week, who cares if a huge motivating factor is a glimpse of this guy?
The Hot Scott himself! photocred: Lisa Seigmann
I think this book is genius for two reasons: 1. By convincing her publishers to officially classify her book in fiction, Gabaldon increased the size of her potential audience DRAMATICALLY. She accomplished this precisely because of this book’s genre-busting spread, which made it both difficult to pin down and widely appealing. (see Barnes and Noble’s blog for more on this concept.) And 2. She had the writing chops to back it up.
I’d imagine that those who might otherwise have been put off by the vast quantities of sex are drawn in by the abundance of accurate, historical detail. Gabaldon doesn’t futz around. She’s a scholar, a scientist in fact, and chose to write Outlander because she thought historical fiction would be the easiest genre to write in for her first book. What a debut novel!
I suppose no PhD is afraid of research, and Gabaldon certainly jumped right in. All of those historical sites in the tour are walkable because Gabaldon truly did her homework. For example, Lisa visited the standing stones where our fierce heroine got lost in time.
Balnuaran of Clava - a prehistoric cemetery. Photocred: Lisa Seigmann
She also visited battlefields, churches, homes, film sites, bars, and, while just wandering along through Scotland, she got to check out views like this:
A Scottish path… I mean, really, who wouldn’t want to go on this tour, regardless of the dreamy, kilted men?
This is the best part of historical fiction. You learn things while you read, and have fun along the way. I could tell you so many stories about books I fell in love with as a kid precisely because they transported me to a different time and place—metaphorically speaking, of course. Unfortunately, I did not fall into any standing stones and experience real time travel, though I’ll happily sign up to visit another century if the tech ever becomes available.
Here’s Lisa hoping for a trip to the 1740s if she leans just the right way.
Before I wrap this up, I have to give this book a bit of real critique and tackle the issue of this book’s length. Gabaldon is fond of storytelling within a story, which is a subject I’ve talked about before in my review of Circe. It takes a deft hand to pull off this layered work without being confusing, or worse, boring. In Outlander, this dialogue-reliant flashbacking failed to capture me. I read this book very fast, and it still took me the majority of two days to get through. I could’ve happily done it faster without Jamie and his sister’s long asides about their childhood and other such narrative wanderings. Though some of these stories were fun, in my opinion most didn’t move the plot forward, and I ultimately got tired of them.
My go-to editing refrain is “chop that draft down by a third and see how you like it.” I have to imagine that Gabaldon’s editors said something similar to her and this 1000 page tome is the result. And, really, who am I to complain? Everyone loves it!
I wish I had the time to keep reading, to watch the series too, but I don’t (unless you, reader, become a Dreamer level patron and recommend me book two—then I’ll have no choice!) For now, until I get more time or find a way to time travel, I’ll have to let you tell me how the series goes, because I bet those of you who pick up Outlander based on this review will get hooked. And you should! This book gets my HUGE stamp of approval for creativity, wide appeal, great beyond-the-book engagement opportunities, and overall excellent writing. Go forth, and have your fill of dreamy, kilted men! Or time travel! Or well-researched history!
THE RECOMMENDER IN REVIEW
Aunt Diana is always ready to laugh, open to adventure, and quick to tell stories. In fact, tales like the ones Jamie and his sister swapped in the middle of this book are a frequent, and wonderfully enjoyable, passtime whenever I visit with my aunt and family, along with the perennial complaint that my mother was forever getting out of doing the dishes as a child. I feel like Aunt Diana would do quite well for herself, if she fell through a standing stone into the 18th century. She’d make friends wherever she went, embrace the peculiarities of her new circumstances with a laugh, and, as she always does in the here and now, she’d go with the flow and keep pressing on.
WHERE TO FIND IT
Literally, anywhere books are sold. Realistically, since this is a great vacation book, I’d recommend you pick it up in an ebook format. Unless you’re an uber fan, definitely skip the special edition I checked out from my local library that comes with the Outlander Musical Experience CD. It took up way too much of my shelf, and the four musical tracks on the CD left much to be desired. Save yourself some space and read this book, and the rest of the series, electronically.
