Outlander by Diana Gabaldon Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Outlander
Book Review: wth?
Summary: 1 Stars
Warning: I was not amused. >.>
Here we go:
Okay. I consider myself relatively open minded, but in a clean way. I read this book, not because I like the genre, but because it was suggested to me. And I started out pretty optimistic. The fact that it was about Scotland had me sold. Early on, some parts of it were attention grabbing and sometimes it was even funny and compelling. As for the writing, it was also well at times. I can step back and appreciate it for what it is, even if it's not really my taste. (I DO like Celtic stuffs, but I'm more a fantasy person than a romance novel person.)
....That's about all I have to say as far as positive reviews. Here is where you won't like my review anymore.
For me, the most important part of the story is what makes the journey worth it- the message. If I suffer with the characters, I also want to learn with them. And the message is what will make even the most horrific scenes worthwhile. If the message is bad, the WHOLE THING, no matter how nicely written it is, how pretty the cover art is, is CRAP. To me, anyway. And the messages I walked away from this book with downright offended me:
1. "It's okay to betray and forget about the one you love when something better comes along."
First off, I'm really bothered by just how quickly and easily she switched over to Jamie- and HOW she switched over to him is the part that bothers me and disgusts me the most.
2. "Nothing spices up your love life better than a little domestic violence! :D But it's only just the once."
Okay, I'm not into BDSM, and maybe that's why this whole scene and aspect of the story bothers me. I think there is NO excuse. Jamie abused Claire. If I were Claire, I would have told Jamie from the get go that if he hit me EVER, even ONCE, I would knee him where it hurts over and over again until he passes out and LEAVE! She should have made a B line for the stones and went back to the guy who treated her right. Oh yeah, now I remember, according to the fan base, a guy who doesn't beat you is not sexy. That's what makes Jamie *so* perfect. Because he knows how to beat a woman without giving in to the temptation of raping her right afterward and still enjoy himself. *rolls eyes*
This leads me into so-called moral #3"
3. "If you love someone, you'll beat them. If you don't beat them, you obviously don't love them enough."
This book has a warped view of love that goes from bad to worse. If you think this is bad, it's multiplied 100 times over with the villain. Oh, and Jamie is such a hypocrite- on the one hand, he tells Claire he's glad she is barren because he couldn't stand to see her in pain, and on the other hand....
4. "Domestic violence makes the heart grow fonder."
Claire: You beat me! ;_;
Jamie: If it makes you feel better, my dad beat me ALL THE TIME growing up. I liked it. :) I miss him. :(
Oh for the love of--- ugh. >.<;
Now, I know what a lot of you are probably thinking: "oh, you sound like one of those people who wouldn't punish their kids"
Oh, I'd discipline them all right, but I'd never hit/spank/BEAT THEM because then you'd get more books like THIS being written; portraying warped views of love and sexuality with a sadomasochistic rose-tinted lens. I think this book speaks for itself in that department, no matter how the author tries to 'justify' it.
And finally, the part that gets me the MOST!, even more than Claire falling in love with someone through a beating with a few little rapes here and there ("Not now Jamie!" *sex anyway* "stop, you're hurting me!" *SEX*), is how the author twists scripture to justify that everything in her story is okay. They were with monks, and fictional monks are never wrong, right? :D? With the way the author warped things, this book is nothing more than Cathlically "correct" porn. ...Written by an old lady. Who resembles my neighbor- but with less cats.
To me, a story has no purpose if it has no message, and the 5 points I just named are what I believe the author is trying to communicate based on what I read. As a result, here is what I thought of the whole book by the end of it: If a bull defecates and a dung beetle comes along and rolls it up and eats it, then the dung beetle in turn defecates, THAT is what I felt about Outlander. It's not just crap, it is the CRAP of crap. It both disturbs me and disgusts me that this goes on for more books- and that there is such a large following, despite the violence and warped BDSM. It only confirms to me that society has a one tracked mind. :/ I haven't hated another book this much since Twilight (Breaking Dawn more specifically), a series that this book gave me horrible flashbacks of.
P.S- Here's the line that made the crap of crap factor sky rocket: "round and round the mulberry bush the monkey chased the weasel". When I read that, I wanted to burn the book. I was reminded of my friend who yelled bloody murder at Twilight in the middle isle of Costco when he picked picked up a copy and read the line: "He looked at me, alluring, I looked back at him, also alluring."
WTH?!