Book Review: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
This book was recommended to me several times by my mother, so it made it onto my list of books I want to read by 2013.
Its the first of a series, and one I plan to continue reading. However, I when I first began the book I thought it would take a lot for me to finish it.
It starts out slow, but by the time the book ended I was all "no way. that can't be the end. I need to go get the second book". I think part of the reason that the book was so hard for me to get into at first was that because the book takes places in Scotland, the majority of the book is written in Scots or a strong scottish accent, I'm not sure if its technically Scots. But once you read enough of it and get into the story you're able to ignore it. Still, I think it was a major editing mistake to allow so much of the book to be published in that style. You can get the feel of the place without having to struggle through unique spellings.
Now, about the story. I'm always nervous about this part because I don't want to give away to much of the good stuff but I do want to give you the gist.
So basically, the main character is finally able to honeymoon with her husband when she is suddenly transported back to to 17th cnetury Scotland. She's stuck in the midst of clan wars, and the planning for the Jacobite Revolution. She falls in love with a clansman and must decide whether to stay in Scotland or to try and make it back to her husband, who she also loves. While in the 17th centurty she also struggles with the descion to share her knowledge of future events to help or hurt certain causes.
Have you read Outlander? What do you think? What's on your must read list?
I'm on about page 50 and I'm having a hard time pushing through! I keep hearing that I should keep working through it, but I have a million other books I want to read that i CAN get in to!
ReplyDeleteHey girl- you won the Voluteer Traditions giveaway on my blog. Send me your contact info and I will foward it on to Volunteer Traditions! You have 72 hours to respond. have a great weekend
ReplyDeleteI am listening to this epic series on Audible via my mobile phone and have nothing but praise for the narrator Davina Porter. I didn't realise until I read this post that the book was written in Scottish prose... which could make the "reading" somewhat slow. I am, I think, an accomplished reader but have discovered a whole new world with the Audio Book! If you have never "listened" to a good book, this is the perfect title to get you hooked!
ReplyDeleteI love this series immensely. I was hooked after the first book. I don't remember having trouble with the dialect though. It has been a while since I read them though, so maybe I did and have simply forgotten because I enjoyed the story so much.
ReplyDelete@kofee: I love listening to certain audio books. If you have ever read Angela's Ashes, or anything by Frank McCourt, I highly suggest listening to the Audio Books. Mr. McCourt reads them himself, I do believe in a very articulate, yet heavy Irish Brogue. His voice somehow make the story even more engaging in spite of the difficulties and heartbreak contained within it.
I started reading the Outlander series in 1995 and fell in LOVE with the story!
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