Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon
WHY ARE ALL THESE OUTLANDER BOOKS SO DAMN LONG?!?!?
I do enjoy reading them and the journey has been *mostly* good for me so far (more on that in a sec)….but Jesus H Roosevelt Christ….they take me FOREVVVVVEEERRRRRRRRRRRRR.
This gem right here was almost 1200 pages.
I am an anti e-book reader but I gotta say…I can TOTES see the advantage to having one when it comes to holding a book like this….especially when you’re snuggled in bed at night trying to find a comfy position.
It is INCREDIBLY hard to balance a ginormous paperback book like this while in a semi-reclined position😂 …especially when I stay up later than my hubby and have to clip on my little book light to the back….it’s just awkward wrist and finger positioning along with odd angled bent knees as a book rest.
Bookworm problems to the MAX. 🙄
LOTS happens in this book…I mean, OBVIOUSLY….LOOK AT ALL THE EFFING PAGES…..and as usual with this series, I had things that I was totally into and then things that made me completely cringe.
Here is the summary for book 4 in the Outlander series:
“What if you knew someone you loved was going to die? What if you thought you could save them? How much would you risk to try?
Claire Randall has gone to find Jamie Fraser, the man she loved more than life, and has left half her heart behind with their daughter, Brianna. Claire gave up Jamie to save Brianna, and now Bree has sent her mother back to the mysterious Scottish warrior who was willing to give his life to save them both. But a chilling discovery in the pages of history suggests that Jamie and Claire’s story doesn’t have a happy ending.
Brianna dares a terrifying leap into the unknown in search of her mother and the father she has never met, risking her own future to try to change history . . . and to save their lives. But as Brianna plunges into an uncharted wilderness, a heartbreaking encounter may strand her forever in the past . . . or root her in the place she should be, where her heart and soul belong.”
This book begins the journey in the American colonies for Claire and Jamie….and quite a few other characters too but I don’t wanna give away toooooo much here (though I will say that some of the ones who join them are pretty predictable even if there is quite the build up of them getting there…)
I have quite conflicting feelings about the way two people groups were addressed as characters and how they were integrated into storylines: enslaved people and indigenous people.
Like the other Outlander books, I get that this novel was written in the late 1990s and again the author was trying to be true to the time period……but UGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
Hearing the words “Indians” and “savages” and all the ridiculous stereotypes, misconceptions and even caricatures of Native Americans in these pages was extremely cringey if not downright infuriating.
Weirdly enough, at the same time, the author does try in some ways to also honor native ancestry and culture.
It’s quite the strange equation of getting some things honorable and right while at the same time getting them so very disrespectful and wrong….. just doesn’t hit the mark correctly at all.
Same can be said on the issue of slavery in this book.
While Claire, Bree and Roger all have modern racial awareness of the immorality of enslaving other human beings and quite consistently speak out and act out against it, there are also times when they are complicit and silent.
The author does write bluntly about some terrible realities enslaved people had to experience, but she also at times writes with the whole inaccurate “happy slave” narrative that also is enraging and frustrating to read.
So again….quite the weird juxtaposition I found in the pages. Some things right….Some things SO DAMN WRONG.
Another thing I had an issue with……
WHY THE HELL IS THERE ANOTHER RAPE SCENE?!?
I don’t understand why there has to keep being sexual violence in ALL of these novels. I know that for centuries women have been abused and mistreated in this way….and society has not only turned a blind eye to it but at times has even accepted and endorsed it….but why do we keep having to read about it in fictional novels? Especially this ENTIRE damn series?
This one is much briefer than others…but still just as horrendous. Yall know how I feel about reading about sexual violence. I absolutely hate it.
Here is the weird part, yall……..
Do all these negative aspects have me completely giving up on this series and tossing the whole entire book in the trash?
Oddly enough, NO.
I am still drawn to it like a moth to a flame.
I have had a very complicated relationship with this series since Book 1 yall, and if things continue on this trajectory in the future, I do not see that changing one itty bitty bit.
I feel like I KNOW these characters now….I feel like I am a part of the evolution of their lives, their relationships, their histories…..I feel INVESTED in them. I HAVE to keep going, page after page after page….even when they go on for six thousand forevers 😂 I don’t know what type of literary magic this author weaves through her words, but it’s remarkable.
I love seeing the progression of Claire and Jamie’s love and dedication as they grow older. I love reading about Ian and Fergus as they mature and be all adult like. I love getting to know Bree and Roger and all the other characters (although to be honest….I am not super crazy about Roger’s character….I just feel like he’s harder to get to know for some reason LOL)
I love the nonstop adventures that take place in all these books…you just never know what kind of crazy shit is going to happen next or what kind of weird place they will end up in in the future…and that is absolutely part of the fun of reading them.
Like always, I finished this book with all kinds of mixed emotions…because what I loved, I ADORED. And what I hated, I LOATHED.
I am pissed at the author’s insensitivities and ignorance…. and at the same time in awe and amazement of her talent.
I am ALL OVER THE PLACE as per usual with the dang Outlander crew.
It’s a mixed bag, yall.
What does that say about me that I keep coming back for more???
I have no idea….probably that I have a bunch of unhealthy and ignorant tendencies my damn self to deal with (don’t we all???)….
But I’ll definitely be seeing this possibly dysfunctional literary relationship thru to the brutal end.
Because I CAN NOT STOP with these books.
But I AM going to do the next one in audio form yall….because it is even LONGER THAN THIS ONE WAS. 😨
My wrist needs a break LOL