Thursday, October 13, 2011

Literary Bite: Outlander


I'm mildly embarrassed to admit this, but Eat Run Read is a safe sharing space right? Ok. Well. I read a trashy book, and I liked it. Actually, I liked Outlander by Diana Gabaldon so much I couldn't put it down. I spent an entire Saturday lying around my apartment reading this book, then spent most of Sunday doing the same. Quality literature is of course amazing, and I love a well-written eloquent narrative...but sometimes a "rollicking sexy adventure" is exactly what you need (ugh, again, embarrassed as I type that).


I'm going to strongly recommend this book with two caveats:
  1. Adjust your expectations accordingly. It's at times cheesy and weird and over-the-top, but undeniably entertaining.
  2. Don't judge me for recommending it. We all have our guilty pleasures. According to the cover, it’s "Marvelous and fantastic adventures, romance, sex...perfect escape reading!" Yup. True. 

Despite its not-so-subtle trashy-ness, Outlander is a good book because there is a great story-line built around the sex. According to Gabaldon, she wrote the first book not planning to publish it, so she didn’t hold back at all. It’s about “history, warfare, medicine, sex, violence, spirituality, honor, betrayal, vengeance, hope and despair, relationships, the building and destruction of families and societies, time travel, moral ambiguity, swords, herbs, horses, gambling (with cards, dice, and lives), voyages of daring, journeys of both body and soul…”

Like I said, I couldn’t put it down for days – romance, time travel, and 18th century Scotland made for a completely unrealistic but totally amusing read!

This is the first book in the Outlander series (7 books so far), but I think one might be enough for me. Also, rumor has it that the story gets really depressing in book two, which is not the sort of escapism I’m going for.  

Wow, there are some INTENSE fans out there. Someone created Outlanderthe Musical