David Bruce Collins—the Official Site
  • Index
  • Blog
  • Biography
  • Writing
    • Novels in Print
    • Eastern Daylight (1997) >
      • Eastern Daylight: April
      • Eastern Daylight: May
      • Eastern Daylight: June
      • Eastern Daylight: July
      • Eastern Daylight: August
      • Eastern Daylight: September
      • Eastern Daylight: October
    • Bite-Size Hungarian
  • Politics
    • Life As a Green
    • Ten Key Values of GPUS (English)
    • Issues for 2020
  • Web Links

Reading "Outlander" and Not Wussing Out

29/3/2017

 
I'm reading Outlander and enjoying it. And I'm a guy. So there.

I'm just over 300 pages into the first novel of the series, which weighs in at about 800 pages in paperback.

I'm also concurrently watching on DVD the Starz video adaptations of Diana Gabaldon's best-sellers. Each season covers one of the books; so far, Starz has broadcast its treatments of Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber. The video version of Voyager is due this fall.
More than two deacdes elapsed between initial publication of Outlander and production of the first videos. The series is a daunting task to adapt—although there is plenty of dialog, description, and internal reflection that can be cut because it doesn't propel the narrative.

Three years ago, when Kayleen and I were in the early stages of figuring each other out, she treated me to a lengthy discussion of her fascination/obsession with Gabaldon's works. I had heard of the books, seen them on bookstore shelves, but knew nothing about them beyond the packaging.

Kayleen has read all eight novels (a ninth is in the works as we speak) and listened to them in audiobook format. She has watched all 29 extant episodes multiple times on video and seems never to tire of them. She has several of the companion books, including a book of recipes inspired by the series (not 170 Ways to Prepare Haggis, thank ye). She frequents at least one Outlander fan page on Facebook (don't know which), where fans share tips on coping with "Droughtlander," the long wait for the publication of the ninth book and the beginning of the third season on Starz.

Sex! Time Travel! Dialects! More Sex!
Gabaldon's expansive novels comfortably bridge several genres: historical fiction, science fiction, and romance just for starters. But they are best approached as literary fiction. In the 1990s, it was easier to get a genre-bending novel like that published; today, publishers want only what they can shoe-horn into a specific section of a bookstore. Some agents, and even some editors at publishing houses, actually understand what is meant by "literary fiction," but lit-fic seems to be losing market share. It's certainly a difficult corner of the literary universe for an author to break into.

Because Gabaldon has developed a reputation as a romance writer (and has worn the label willingly), straight men with an aversion to such fiction may have to overcome an attitudinal barrier. Here are my suggestions for such men:
  1. Get over yourself.
  2. Get a taste of the video series. Netflix has it. Yes, there's an element of costume porn to it, similar to Showtime's The Tudors from a few years ago. But there is also martial and political intrigue aplenty.

The 300 pages I have read so far are not bad, but nothing yet has made my heart go giddy-up. Mostly it has made me nitpick to a degree that annoys even me. Beyond the romance angle, Gabaldon has acquired a reputation for painstaking accuracy in her settings, personal descriptions, and 18th-century Scots-English dialog. In the first novel, however, I keep finding details that don't ring true, especially in the conversations.

While I don't expect the characters' diction, syntax, and sentence structure to match that in 18th-century literature that I have consumed (the dialog of which was quite artificial—think Shakespeare but in prose), too much of what the 18th-century characters say feels more like 20th-century colloquial speech. This makes it easy for the accidental time-tourist Claire Beauchamp Randall to pass as an 18th-century woman, which is important for the success of the plot. Kayleen assures me that the accuracy of the period details improves as the series progresses.

Excerpts from Reviews
A few friends of mine on Goodreads have given the first book middling ratings. None of them appear to have proceeded to Dragonfly. I shall reserve full judgment until I finish the first.

Below are some excerpts from reviews on Goodreads, including one by a guy (apparently, anyway) who has reviewed some other books that I have also read or reviewed. Random Anthony's review (three stars) is not quite the orgasm that others have given it, but it is quite positive and well thought out. I have not included any excerpts from negative reviews, but if you want to see some, have at it.
I usually don't care if someone does not like a book that I love. Everyone's tastes are different. That being said..... I find if someone says something negative about Outlander I have an almost visceral reaction and want to stab them with a fork. So if you're a hater you better watch yourself........and seriously? What's wrong with you?
​—HeatherJay
This book is my love, you all know this. It deserves an infinite amount of stars, too bad Goodreads only allows 5!
Check out my review on YouTube here:
http://youtu.be/FNfLLKhP-E8
—Sasha Alsberg
Ok, I have a question. Why is the quality of Outlander so controversial? It’s a flat-out good book. Is it because Outlander is aimed, it seems, primarily at women? Is it the huge, smelly pile of Fabio-covered romance novels tainting Ms. G.’s work? I swear, and I think I’ve said this before, market this book differently and you’ve got a respected hit on your hands rather than a less-respected novel that sold a zillion copies but appears to be of lesser quality than it is (thanks, fake leather cover!). Don’t be afraid of Outlander. It’s a solid adventure story with decent psychological insight and some good sex scenes. I doubt you’ll be disappointed. Take the risk. Don’t be a wuss.
—RandomAnthony


Comments are closed.

    DBC Sez...

    Here you will find political campaign-related entries, as well as some about my literature, Houston underground arts, peace & justice, urban cycling, soccer, alt-religion, and other topics.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    2018
    Abby Martin
    Abortion Laws
    ACORN
    Affordable Care Act
    Ahmad Hassan
    Air Alliance Houston
    Ajamu Baraka
    Alabama
    Alexandria Ocasio Cortez
    Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
    Al Gore
    Amanda Palmer
    Amazon
    Angela Walker
    ANM 2020
    Annual Meeting
    Approval Voting
    Art Car Parade
    Ballot Access
    Bernie Sanders
    Beto O'Rourke
    BikeHouston
    Binary Thinking
    Black Agenda Report
    #BlackLivesMatter
    Bloomsday
    B&N
    Book Review
    Borders
    Brains And Eggs
    Breast Cancer
    Brody Mulligan
    Burning Man
    Caitlin Johnstone
    Caleb Alexander
    Campaign
    Campaign 2018
    Candidates' Forum
    Candidate Workshop
    Captcha
    Catastrophic Theatre
    Cenk Uygur
    Censorship
    Chelsea Manning
    Cheri Honkala
    Chicago
    Choir
    Chris Hedges
    Chris Tomlinson
    Chuck Kuffner
    City Council
    Climate Change
    Climate March
    Climate Strike
    CODEPINK
    Colin Kaepernick
    Convention
    Corporatocracy
    County Clerk
    County Convention
    County Judge
    Cover Design
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    Cycling
    Dallas Morning News
    Dan Monahan
    Dario Hunter
    Darryl Cherney
    David Cobb
    David Rovics
    Death By Cop
    Death Penalty
    Debates
    Deep State
    #DemEnter
    Demexit
    #DemExit
    Democrat Primary
    Depression
    Detroit 2020
    Dichotomism
    Dick Dowling
    District Conventions
    Donald Trump
    #DownticketGreens
    DSA
    Duopoly
    Dwight Boykins
    Early Voting
    Earth Day
    Earthworm
    Eastern Daylight
    Ecological Wisdom
    Economic Justice
    Ed Emmett
    Edie
    Egberto WIllies
    Eleanor Goldfield
    Election 2015
    Election 2016
    Election 2017
    Election 2018
    Election 2019
    Election 2020
    Electoral College
    Elvis Costello
    Emancipation Park
    Emily Sanchez
    Emily Sanchez
    Endorsements
    Energy
    Environment
    Erika Martinez
    Extinction Rebellion
    Fascism
    Fauxcialism
    Fiction
    Film Review
    Fourth Turning
    Francesca Fiorentini
    Fremont Solstice Parade
    Full Frontal
    Fundraising
    Gary Johnson
    Gary Stuard
    George Floyd
    George HW Bush
    George Lakoff
    George Reiter
    Gerrymandering
    Glenn Greenwald
    GPTX
    Gray Matters
    Green Convention
    #GreenEnter
    Green New Deal
    Green Party
    Green Party Houston
    Greenwatch TV
    Gun Violence
    Hallucinogens
    Hal Ridley Jr.
    Harris County
    Harry Hamid
    HAUS
    HAUS Project
    HB 2504
    HCGP
    Higher Education
    Hillary Clinton
    HMS
    Homelessness
    Houston
    Houston Area Progressives
    Houston Astros
    Houston Chronicle
    Houston Dash
    Houston Dynamo
    Houston Fringe Festival
    Houston Press
    Howie Hawkins
    Hurricane Harvey
    Immigration
    Instant Runoff Voting
    International Affairs
    Inverted Totalitarianism
    Iran
    Ireland
    IRV
    IUniverse
    James Joyce
    Janis RIchards
    Jesse Ventura
    Jill Stein
    Jimmy Dore
    Jonathan Franzen
    Jordan Chariton
    JosH Darr
    Julian Assange
    Juneteenth
    Justice
    Kenneth Kendrick
    Kenneth Mejia
    Kent Mesplay
    Keystone XL
    Key Values
    KPFT
    Krystal Ball
    Laredo
    Last Week Tonight
    Late Stage Capitalism
    Late-Stage Capitalism
    League Of Women Voters
    Lee Camp
    Legal Challenge
    Libertarian Party
    Lina Hidalgo
    Lisa Savage
    Local Democracy
    Mail-In Ballots
    Maine
    #MarchForOurLives
    March For Science
    March On The Pentagon
    Marc Lamont Hill
    Margaret Flowers
    Marijuana
    Martina Salinas
    Mass Shootings
    Mayor
    MD Anderson Cancer Center
    Media
    Medicare For All
    Mental Health
    Metro
    Michael Moore
    Michael Pollan
    MJ Hegar
    Movement For A People's Party
    Mudslinging
    Music
    Naomi Klein
    NationBuilder
    Net Neutrality
    New Orleans
    New Zealand
    Nick Cooper
    NORML
    North Carolina
    Our Revolution
    Outlander
    Outreach
    Overdevelopment
    Pacifica
    Parkland FL
    Partisan Realignment
    Paul Ingmundson
    PDiddie
    Peace
    Pennsylvania
    People's Party Convention
    Platform
    Plutocracy
    PNC
    Police
    Police Brutality
    Politics Done Right
    Polls
    Poor People's Campaign
    Progressivism
    Proofreading
    ProPublica
    Puerto Rico
    Radicalism
    Ranked Choice Voting
    Ray Hill
    Recount 2016
    Remington Alessi
    #Resistance
    Rev. Barber
    Revolution
    Right-wing Terrorism
    Rosa Clemente
    Russiagate
    Samantha Bee
    San Antonio
    School Shootings
    Scotland
    Scottish National Party
    Scott McLarty
    Sema Hernandez
    Sheila Jackson Lee
    Single Payer
    SKCM Curry
    Smart Growth
    Socialism
    Socialist Alternative
    Spoiler Effect
    Straight Party Voting
    Strauss & Howe
    Sunrise Movement
    Sylvester Turner
    Syria
    Tax Policy
    Ted Cruz
    Texas House
    Texas Leftist
    Texas Legislature
    Texas Progressive
    Texas Public Radio
    Texas Supreme Court
    Texoblogosphere
    Texpatriate
    The Intercept
    The North Star
    Third Parties
    Thom Hartmann
    Traffic
    Transit
    Transportation
    Travel
    Treason
    Trump Derangement Syndrome
    Tulsi Gabbard
    Turnout
    Ulysses
    Unitarian Universalism
    Urbanism
    US Senate
    UU
    Valarie Kaur
    Van Cliburn
    Vanessa Edwards Foster
    Vanessa Guillén
    Venezuela
    Vish
    War On Drugs
    Website
    Women's March On Pentagon
    World Beyond War
    World Cup
    World Naked Bike Ride

    Archives

    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014

Proudly powered by Weebly