EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club discussion

Happy New Year and welcome everyone to our January 2021 Quarterly Long Group Read; this quarter we'll be reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.

Friendly reminder that this is the spoilers thread - if you're not yet ready for spoilers then head on over to the pre-read thread here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

What did you think of this book? Did it meet your expectations? What emotions did it conjure up?

The book surprised me. I found myself laughing out loud sometimes. In some ways, Jamie is in the role of the damsel in distress, the beautiful object of everyone's interest. I thought of the bodice rippers that I used to read when I was in high school.

That's funny April because I found Jamie to be that too! I personally found the last chapters/scenes where he is being physically and sexually abused too grotesque - were we meant to get that he felt bad for actually wanting to be raped or did I read that wrong? It confused me, and I found it unnecessary. I'd like to hear what you have to say about it.

I don't think Jamie wants to be raped, but he is willing for King (and Queen) and Country and his family! Like any brave heroine, uh, hero.

: )

I love this series! This book was awesome.

So, I also loved this book although it sometimes felt like a guilty pleasure, haha. It was great to be immersed in this world and have a little escape from reality - I've read it in a few days and now want to read the rest of the series as well. :)
I already posted this in the no-spoilers thread (sorry), but what did you think of Claire? On the one hand, I really like her and the way she quickly adapts to the new situation at the other side of the stone. On the other hand, I don't understand why she seems to forget her husband after a few days (or hours)?

Her marriage to Frank is kinda rocky. Jamie is her soulmate.

In this first book, Gabaldon goes with the flow, blending in fun fictional and rollicking action into emotional Reality. In later books, especially the last few, she is more and more traditional in Romance/morality for how her Main characters respond to things.

But I noticed even though Claire ages chronologically from twenty-five to sixty in the series (she's older than Jamie) she remains fit and strong, still having adventures.

So I read somewhere that the author wrote this book as "practice", trying to write a little bit of everything and then planning to go off and do something else... and then when everyone loved it she kept going.
I have to say I thought it was entertaining at times, but I definitely felt the "this is for practice" piece. Sometimes off on random tangents, some loose ends, sometimes really exciting and sometimes boring things. It feels semi-real because life doesn't have a "plot" per se, and it seems we're just following Claire's life, but in the end I was kind of iffy on continuing this series. I haven't yet...

I agree with Kaseadilla. Sometimes this book was hard to read. Sometimes it lost me. I lost track of the plot. It is a lot like a roller coaster ride which, I think is part of the appeal because life is a lot like that as well. Sometimes you see things coming. Sometimes they come out of nowhere and sometimes they disappear just as quickly with no resolution.

Well I have just finished it and I read the whole thing in a few days... Like the one person above I found myself laughing at a few scenes in here..and generally I enjoyed the book. I liked the adventure parts of it the most. But towards the end I didn't like it really. It got too violent and cruel with what had happened to Jamie. It was just too much. I also felt very confused by the scene between Claire and Jamie at the Abbey...where he's like dying and she somehow gets him to recover. I don't understand that..it seemed she tried to make him angry or something and then he magically got better? But I don't think infections work that way...I mean getting a sick person angry or excited or whatever isn't going to cure the infection. And you certainly don't recover from trauma that way either. He could very well end up with PTSD. And that smell would only act as a trigger. So don't get it at all.

I'm also surprised the priest who she confessed to actually believes her?

And I didn't understand about the vaccine leaving a scar? I've had shots before...they never left scars??

And why is it that Jamie could get beat by his father and turn out okay but that other little boy who also was getting beat by his father - the one they took to work in the stable - was cowering and apparently traumatized?? The author doesn't explain this. Is it Jamie's personality? The book seems to raise more questions than it answers!

I was surprised at how the way of talking in here actually reminded me of various characters from other movies or shows. Must be the language. I even noticed phrases and certain sentences that could have been lifted right out of certain movie scenes! And it kept happening!

It was fun learning the odd words in gaelic. And as someone who has celiac I must say their diet of bannock, drammach and parritch is a true nightmare! And at first I had thought that "sassenach" was a term that meant "love" or something until I looked it up. 😁 It means english person. But I do wonder if these bannocks would be like a pancake?

And with the version I read,I have no idea what it is on the front cover!

Oh and I had a very difficult time writing a review of this book because I had no idea what to say! Which is odd. I don't ever put spoiler in review and the book was so long and going on about lots of stuff but I'm not sure what the author was trying to say?? But I definitely lost interest at the end...

I had a shot when I was in elementary school which left a circular scar. I never knew what it was for. Google says it was a vaccine shot for smallpox. Almost everyone my age has that scar, although mine has faded away.

My shots at school would have been in 77 or later. I would have been in Kindergarten in 77. I don't recall if we got shots in K but I know we certainly did in the other grades. I remember one was sugar on a spoon.. but I certainly don't remember any scars from the shots. I only remember having anxiety about getting poked by the needle! It was the idea of getting poked that scared me..

Taz wrote: "I agree with Kaseadilla. Sometimes this book was hard to read. Sometimes it lost me. I lost track of the plot. It is a lot like a roller coaster ride which, I think is part of the appeal because li..."

About Jamie's recovery scene; it actually reminded me of some kind of exposure/trauma therapy? For me it seemed like Claire wanted to let Jamie experience the whole situation again, like some sort of trauma therapy. Maybe the infections were related to the trauma triggers and that's why she wrote it this way?

Also, I started part two this week. Seems like there are more and more historical events and facts in this one :)

Yes, I saw that scene as trauma therapy too. I feel like I need trauma therapy now haha!

Sarah wrote: "Well I have just finished it and I read the whole thing in a few days... Like the one person above I found myself laughing at a few scenes in here..and generally I enjoyed the book. I liked the adv..."

It is less about how infections work and more about the human spirit. When people are in severe pain, they sometimes decide to give up-that dying would be easier. They are weak, tired, and ready to go so they go. But those that have the spirit to fight--the tenacity--there's a physiologic response involved in helping them hold onto the threads of life.

In a time where nyads the loch ness monster were widely believed, when the land was believed filled with mysticism and magic..why would it be any more difficult for a priest to believe a woman came from a different time (thru a known portal believed to lead to the faerie realm) than believe Jesus was born from a Virgin?

As far as the vaccines: We are all different. Some people scar easily. Some don't. Some have pierced ears. Some have the piercings rejected (the hole heals closed). As for myself, I have 58 puncture scars from vaccines and blood draws.

As a survivor of physical,emotional,mental, and sexual abuse: recovery has a GREAT deal to do with your personality and your support system as well as finding a healthy outlet from your traumas. For example: someone who was raped may swear off sexually activity, they may blame themselves for the abuser's behavior, or they may decide to live lasciviously.

Agreed. the scene with the opium and clair challenging jamie was meant to bring back his fighting spirit. but i do not find it very believable. but who cares, there were more parts which were very unbelievable. For example, with all the men having no problem to force themselves on women, she marries the only gentleman? but then when she misbehaves he all of a sudden does feel the need to punish her badly? it all felt like a bit power play using sex, which reminded me very much of 50 shades of grey (which made me giggle and laugh out loud). And yes Clair acts a bit inconsistent depending on where the plot needs to go.
About the vaccine, this specific one would leave a mark on most people. but it is not used anymore (at least for standard vaccinations).
Anyway, I love to have been on this trip to Schotland, it was definetely escapist. Now I just want a nice cup of tea to recover from all the imagined violence and bad smells.

I just got to Part 4 and am struggling to keep interest in this. It doesn't seem to be a bad book but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

Jen wrote: "I just got to Part 4 and am struggling to keep interest in this. It doesn't seem to be a bad book but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere."

There are eight books in the series, each about 900-1200 pages. The characters age, the kids grow up, but all they do is a lot of traveling and swashbuckling. They survive, mostly, in the middle of grand historical events and adventures! It’s not the arrival, it’s the process in this series.

; D

Ps. I’d stay away from the A Game of Thrones and the The Eye of the World series, too - all process in the journey and swashbuckling for quite awhile until the last books....

I finished! I have to admit that i found this to be an entertaining book but i was bogged down in the middle wondering if it really needed to be this long.
Lots of great comments - Claire as the rescuer, the time travel aspect, the trauma inflicted on the male main character, etc.
Not sure I will read the other books in this series but glad this group pushed me to read this one!

aPriL does feral sometimes wrote: "Ps. I’d stay away from the A Game of Thrones and the The Eye of the World series, too - all process in the journey and swashbuckling for quite awhile until the last books...."

I'm fine with "the journey and not the ending" stories. I loved the Game of Thrones and read most of The Eye of the World series in college; I didn't finish because was I got too busy. I'd have to start at the beginning at this point.

I liked this book more then I expected. It was every thing that ever happened in every romance book I have ever read. I am not sure I want to continue with the rest. Back when we could enter the library I picked up the sequel. I never did bring it home.

I do enjoy the TV series. Jamie is not the same in the book as the series.

Have any of you read the others? Are they worth reading?

In the rest of the books, Jamie is a tiger! But a savvy tiger. He is smart for an eighteenth century guy married to a twentieth-century woman.

I've read all of the books out so far, and I have enjoyed them all. But one needs to like history and the characters. The author never explains the time-traveling stones much, so we all are anxiously waiting for book nine, hoping the author doesn't die like many series authors do before they write the final book.

Whew! I finished it. The second half of the book was definitely better and faster than the first half.

It's never easy reading about an abusive situation, even a fictional one, but I thought it was well handled, along with Jamie's mental recovery. Although, I would imagine mental trauma would take longer than a couple of weeks to get over.

I've been reading Outlander since January, and I'm happy to say that I finally finished it yesterday. It's been on my TBR since 2016, so I'm definitely glad that it was picked for this group bc otherwise I'm not sure I ever would have finished it.

At times it was entertaining, but most if the time I was just reading it to be done with it. I'm glad I read it, but I'm more glad that it's over now.

Throughly enjoyed every moment of this! Not only was it a captivating story; I also really liked the style of witty humour with which it was written. The author managed to strike the perfect balance between seriousness/tragedy and the more light-hearted parts. Really didn’t understand the scene towards the end when Claire somehow healed Jamie by re-enacting Randall’s abuse..but other than that, it was a great read. I’m looking forward to watching the tv adaptation, to see how closely it reflects the book. Would highly recommend this book.

I was actually really disappointed with this book, but maybe it was that it was so long that I was just left with parts that I didn't like rather than the parts I really enjoyed. Like a lot of you there were parts that I was laughing at and this actually made me start watching the series as well (which I am liking so far). But most of the time I just felt gross about their relationship. Maybe this is because I listened to the audiobook and hearing the descriptions out loud...not sure. Also, I kept feeling like Claire didn't have the personality or attitude of a 1940's woman but instead she acted like someone from today. Sections of the book were fantastic with how the author dealt with Claire's struggle between returning home and staying with Jamie.

LOL love all your comments. I started this one in January and have just now finished. It was a SLOG. Gabaldon could have cut 200 pages out if she had removed all the "he took my chin in his hand to raise it up for a kiss" crap.

50% Historical Fiction and 50% Romance/50 Shades. I know it appeals to many but my advice is watch the Starz series instead of reading the books. The books are mediocre (at least this first one was). The series is fantastic.