Customer Reviews

Outlander

5 star:		(1,501)
4 star:		(171)
3 star:		(94)
2 star:		(110)
1 star:		(161)

 

 

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU COMPLETELY LOST YOUR HEART TO A BOOK? Well, look no further. Diana Gabaldon has created the ultimate escape in The Outlander. Don't let the 850 pages dissuade you. It's the fastest read you'll ever have.

The epic tale begins when Claire Randall, a young combat nurse in World War II, moves to Scotland with her beloved husband to re-ignite their marriage interrupted by the war. Hiking one day, Claire accidentally passes through the stones of an ancient stone circle and wakes up to find herself in 16th century Scotland. Lost, alone, and confused (yet, determined), Claire's path crosses, and is inextricably linked to, a young Highland warrior, James Fraser. (The kind of man women want, and men want to BE.)The story that ensues would make Shakespeare proud--danger, suspense, passion, betrayal, true love, and tragedy. Gabaldon is a master story teller. She shrouds her fantasy in just enough reality as to completely seduce her readers.

The time-travel element as well as the romance, while unconventional for a "serious" historical novel, are handled brilliantly by Gabaldon. Not, for the faint of heart-- the author tackles themes of a violent and sexual nature. However, the story is so realistic and beautifully told, it doesn't come off as a ploy to shock readers. Well-crafted and meticulously researched, The Outlander is historical fiction at it's finest-but never this much fun! The hero and heroine come alive. You'll find yourself living and breathing in their world, anxiously devouring each chapter.

WARNING: have the next three books in the series handy. Once, you turn the last page of Outlander, you won't want to return to the 21st century. I couldn't get to the bookstore fast enough. And, Gabaldon does not disappoint...

I must admit, the synopsis on the back of this tome threw me off. I didn't think I would be much interested in a romance novel based on time travel -- it just seemed way too implausible. However, at the persistence of several friends from a book group, I gave this novel a try. I am certainly grateful that I did. Firstly, this is not merely a romance novel. It involves a romance, to be sure, but this romance is not one you'd find again and again in your average Harlequin. This is an original romance, which so completely describes love that I found myself better understanding love than I did at the onset of the novel. When a novel has the capacity to make you understand something as vague as love, you know it is good.
It is also filled with adventure, religion, and human conscience. A historical novel rarely has the ability to make me understand things about my own presence, and yet, Outlander simply did. I was unable to put this book down, as enraptured as I was by the compelling writing.
The character development is beyond any I have lately read. Dianna Gabaldon has a true gift for understanding human emotion and translating it for the rest of us to understand.
If you fear that the plot seems to be a bit too "outlandish" for you, still, give this one a try. While certain aspects may be unbelievable, the reality is, this novel has so much truth to it, you will be amazed. I was.

I don't normally like books written in the first person. I *loved* "Outlander" (known as "Cross Stitch" in New Zealand). I read "Outlander" on the recommendation of a good friend and immediately fell in love with Jamie (as any living, breathing woman would).

The book is rich in history, romance, drama... It has the qualities of a true epic, easily rivalling such classics as "Gone With the Wind".

Claire Randall is the reader's guide into the story and throughout it's sequels. It's through her eyes that we are introduced to the way of life and harsh truths in those times. If you've never been to Scotland, you will be dying to go "Jamie Hunting" by the end of this book.

For new Gabaldon readers, Outlander is the one to start with. Do not even attempt to read any of the sequels first. Even though it is not crucial to read them in order, you will get the most enjoyment by doing so. The second and third books in the series are not nearly as good. It is only the enjoyment of reading about familiar characters that kept me going. Nevertheless, by the time you have read all four books, you will be hungering for more.

"Outlander" is the ultimate Gabaldon test. You will either hate it or love it. If you hate it, you won't read anything by Gabaldon ever again. If you love it, you won't be able to eat, drink or sleep until you have read the others.

I am happy to say that I definitely belong in the latter category.

I'm a librarian and do a lot of reading. I also consider myself to be quite liberal and open-minded. I am also an abuse survivor, a fact which comes into play here.

A colleague of mine handed me this book, since she knows of my love for historical fiction. And I must agree, I was hooked immediately. The imagery is lush, the characters intriguing, the history of the Highlands absorbing. I found Claire to be an independent, intelligent woman and Jamie a brutish if not lovable man. Then I came to a part about 200+ pages in ******SPOILER ALERT****** where, after trying to get back to the place where she was originally swept back in time, so she could return to her husband, Claire is captured by the English troops. She is placed in another precarious situation with the sadistic Captain Randall, and Jamie literally swoops in to save her. High adventure all around, and they do escape. But what follows afterwards is Jamie's decision to beat Claire with his sword belt. Claire puts up a fight but is no match for the large Scotsman and is beaten so much that she cannot sit or ride a horse for days. Gabaldon has Claire go through a deep moment of introspection where she realizes she is indeed impetuous and has been careless of the people in this time and of their land and ways...in this way, then, the beating is justified, and might even be seen as romantic and passionate as of course, Jamie and Claire make up afterward.

This incident may not bother some, but I would just like to post a warning to women who have suffered any sort of abuse (physical, sexual or otherwise) or trauma. I feel betrayed somehow and am not sure if I can continue reading the novel after this. I have a hard time seeing a woman who has been beaten and stripped of her power return to that very same man and continue on in a loving relationship with him. To me, abuse is not love. My history undoubtedly distorts the scene of the book, but unfortunately, the damage has been done, and what once may have been a wonderful literary excursion is forever ruined for me.

I simply don't know how I managed to miss this for so long! A huge fan of Dorothy Dunnett (RIP--she will be missed) and similarly lengthy historical novels I picked this up by chance in London and had a very similar experience: read it all afternoon, read it all evening, stayed up all night, stumbled back to bookstore to get books 2-4.

This is an enthralling tale of love, medicine, and clan politics in mid 17th-century Scotland. The central female character, Claire Randall, has been swept back in time after walking innocently into a stone circle shortly after World War II. A former WWII nurse, Claire makes her way in the fierce world of the clans through her medical skills and her blossoming relationship with a tall, red-haired Highlander, James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser. By page 250, you will be in love with Jamie Fraser, too, mark my words!

I know what you're thinking: yuck. I don't DO time travel. Well, neither do I. But Gabaldon is a great author, and takes the twee convention of time travel and uses it to breathe new life and sharp observations into historical fiction. I was totally skeptical, but I am now convinced. You will be, too. If you like Dorothy Dunnett, you will love this book. Trust me. I'm a historian.

I put off reading this book, even though it was highly recommended by a friend. I didn't have the heart to tell her that "romance novels" weren't my cup of tea- never mind some far-fetched paranormal historical romance. I could have not been more wrong!

I loved this book. I mean, I REALLY loved this book. It was absolutely packed with adventure, passion, thievery, witchcraft, heart-stopping suspense, love, war, escape, buggery, revenge, even some wolves were in there for good measure! Diana writes with spirited intelligence, heart, and humour. Her charcaters are full of life and will live on long after you close the cover, and pop it back onto the shelf, and to my delight, the love scenes are written with imagination and freshness- no ridiculous "he touched her quivering milky bosoms" here. The research for factual information in this superb novel is first-rate, and meticulous, which makes this book an even greater pleasure to read.

If you are someone who prefers to read literary fiction over any other genres, as I do, all I can say to you is PUT YOUR PREJUDICES ASIDE AND TRY THIS BOOK. I'm sorry I didn't read it sooner! It truly is the work of an excellent, and extremely talented storyteller and writer, all my "book snob" friends will be getting a copy for Christmas,and I can't wait to dig into the others in the series!

I am not a romance novel lover. I lean more to Faulkner and Twain when I read fiction, but a friend recommended this book, so I bought it.

I was thoroughly entranced by the author's writing, as well as the plot. You know how most novels peter out, and the author was obviously tired of writing by chapter 10 or so? In this one, she keeps a fresh edge on her prose, and the plot twists are steady and credible.

Those namby pamby reviewers who were turned off by the "sadism" or "violence" must lead very sheltered lives. True, this novel does depict a time when men were more brutal, women treated as second class citizens, and violence and sadism are plot elements. But to me they ring true, and are not overplayed or glamorized. This isn't Hello Kitty!, but it is a long way from Quentin Tarantino too.

If you enjoyed Clavell's Shogun, or McCullough's The Thorn Birds you won't be put off by the episodes in this one. And the female characters are as remarkable as the male ones, by the way. I can't imagine a dyed-in-the-wool feminist having any problems with how Ms. Gabaldon treats her characters.

The reviews I've read also overplay the sex scenes in this book. Our heroine has a lusty married life, and enjoys the physical side of her relationships... but the prose is anything but purple. If you know what goes where, you won't have any trouble figuring out Who is doing What to Whom, but the references to body parts and other trappings of the act are all oblique. I would be very comfortable letting my teen-aged daughter or son read this book.

So there... Probably noone will read this little screed, but it makes me feel better to loose a volley across those wimps' bows.

Buy it. Read it. Enjoy it. And best wishes to all.

A lover of historical fiction, adventure books, and books with a time travel theme, I hesitated buying this book, despite the very intriguing sounding plot, because it was labeled as being a romance novel. Still, curiosity won the day, and am I ever glad that it did! This has got to be one of the most engrossing and highly entertaining novels that I have ever read. Surprisingly well written, I was hooked almost immediately.

The novel begins in the year 1945, and the plot revolves around the adventures of Claire Randall, an Englishwoman and combat nurse during World War II, who is reunited with her husband, Frank, after the war. While on a second honeymoon in Scotland, she visits a strange flat topped hill in the highlands of Scotland, where a forbidding stone circle draws her. Touching one of the stones, she is hurled through a vortex in time and finds herself in eighteenth century Scotland.

There, she meets James Fraser, a brave and brawny Scotsman, and finds herself thrust into the midst of clan warfare and intrigue. Finding in Jamie a soulmate, she falls passionately in love, but is conflicted because of the feelings she harbors for the husband she left behind. She goes on, however, to have enough adventures to last a lifetime. What happens to these star crossed lovers in eighteenth century Scotland is riveting.

The author is a master storyteller and her use of historical detail is superlative. Those who love well written, historical fiction will be delighted. The book tells a rip roaring good story and is a veritable page turner. This is the first in a now published series of four books. Having read each and every one, all I can say is... Bravo! I love each and every one of them!

The hero is marginally likable at best. In the beginning of the book the author tries hard to heap charm on him by making him terribly sympathetic ... being flogged, believing his sister raped by the the horrible, grizzly, repulsive antagonist of the book, taking a beating for a strange young girl to spare her embarrassment.

Then he gets married to the spunky heroine and out of the blue he beats her. I still can't figure out why this even had to take place. It didn't do anything for the plot, it just made the hero unlikeable. "Hero" Jamie, took a beating for that girl earlier in the book, and the morning after his marriage he said he would lie and say that they hadn't consummated their marriage, all to spare his new wife ... awww, he's sweet ... but then BAM! The beating scene came along and he wouldn't lie about beating her to his clansmen or take a beating for her. He HAD to beat her. I found it repulsive and he lost every bit of charm the author spent so much time trying to convince me he had.

Also, until this point I at least liked the spunkiness of the heroine but after the beating she turned into a simpering, soft headed, idiot thinking she actually did deserve it. *gag* She stays miffed a page or two but soon after forgives him because he piles on another tragic story about a childhood beating. [Enough with the beatings already!] So she forgives him completely and they have sex. He's hurting her, she tells him to stop, he says no. Are you kidding me? And again NO bearing on the plot! It just made me not like him!

But darn it, my friends loved the book, I was hanging in there and reading the rest! Then the book drags on and on and ON! One incredibly annoying part, again with no bearing on the story, the happy couple are at Jamie's childhood home and a woman wants Master Jamie to hire on a child because his father is beating him. I had to laugh in disbelief! All of a sudden the author is against beatings! How odd! I can't even begin to count how many times Jamie takes a beating or describes his beatings or threatens beatings even when his beatings ARE HIS HAPPY MEMORIES thinking of his dear departed father!!!! Now, she's against beatings! Ugh!!! But to break up the monotony of all his beatings they did burn a witch to keep you awake through the center 400 pages ... of course they had to beat her first. *sigh*

And then as a topper we get to the end. It was brutal, horrible, vile, violent, repulsive and quite frankly disturbing. I got the distinct feeling that the author really hated some guy named Jamie and decided to write a book to brutalize him in the worst ways imaginable! Never in my most horrible nightmares could I come up with something so disturbing and I pray that I will never stumble on something like it again!!!

And did I mention the heroine kills a wolf with her bare hands somewhere in the dreadfully long middle section? Why you may ask? I have NO IDEA! Again, no bearing on the story that I can tell. The whole thing just has me scratching my head! And don't even get me started on the dialog! :P

I'd like to go back in time and stop myself from reading this book!

My mother brought this novel home from the library one day. She never got to read it. It totally and completely absorbed me and has had the same effect upon legions of women. This was the first novel in which I felt so moved by the characters that I wanted to be the heroine and was so entranced by the time-travelling theme that it inspired many a late-night fantasy about Scotland. The book revolves around the life of Claire Beauchamp, a former World War II nurse, who, during her vacation with her husband, Frank Randall, in the Highlands of Scotland, gets transported back in time to the 18th century. "Outlander" details Claire's adventures in Scotland, her relationship with James Fraser and her struggles against her husband's ancestor, "Black Jack" Randall. This book has everything I admire: a strong, intelligent heroine; a valiant and charismatic hero; a nefarious villain that I loved to loathe; a cast of supporting characters that contributes to the development of family, a sense of humor, and various political machinations; a historical backdrop full of intrigue and legend; a well-written story that challenges the reader's mind and tempts our imagination; a stunning climax and a happy ending. I absolutely loved this book.