Friday, July 2, 2010

Over the River and Through the Woods to Jamie Fraser's Bedroll we Go!

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have gotten to chapter 19 in "OUTLANDER". 

OK y'all.... the last time I blogged about my reread,  Leg Hair was jumping Jamie in the alcove (I refuse to see it any other way.)  So I think it's time I did a little blogging... don't you? Mkayyyyy let's get started.

They. Got. Married. And I cannot TELL you what fun I had, listening to Davina wax on about the fly in the green puddle on the bar. I dinna know why, but I have always felt a certain bond with that scene. I can totally put myself in Claire's position in that scene... and it absolutely cracks me up. She's surrounded by people... and yet she's all alone. And she's owning it. She's saying to herself "Well this is a fine mess  youve gotten yourself into, Beauchamp...better just embrace it and marry the bugger." And I'd be saying the same damned thing. So there she is... almost falling off the bar stool... and what I REALLY want to know is 1) WHO got her off the barstool and 2) WHO undressed her down to her shift and put her to bed? I am going to assume Murtagh got her off the barstool and fetched the innkeeper's wife to undress her. I canna imagine any of the men would have done it. Hell, Jamie wouldna even sleep on her floor! Remember?!

Anyway... it is so DIFFERENT, reading it now, when you KNOW the outcome. During my first read, I was totally with Claire in her desire to get back home. The fact that she had gone through the stones was always running in the background in my mind (like some annoying Microsoft program you don't even know is clogging up your harddrive until you see the blue screen of death and it's all over with.) So THIS TIME I'm like "EFF THE DAMN STONES, WOMAN! STAY WHERE JAMIE TELLS YOU TO STAY YOU MORON!" If I were her - NOW that I know what happens - I'd be making every excuse to fetch water... or wash clothes down by the pond... or pick berries... or do anything that meant Jamie was going to come with me as a bodyguard - and we were going to have wild monkey sex in the ferns. Seriously, y'all. Doesn't it kill you the second time around???

For you Twilight fans (Non-Twihards, just skip this part...and dinna judge!) - don't you see Claire like Bella when you do the reread and she leaves to go find Fort William and the stones? The first go round had me saying "Yeah Claire - you go girl - you're tough - you can travel 7 miles and find the stones!!"  This time I'm all "BELLA CLAIRE, YOU DOPE" - he told you to stay there - so STAY THERE!!  He'll be back and once again you'll be playing "Hide the Haggis" with Jamie under the blankets while Murtagh's snoring 2 feet away! Pure bliss!!!" But noooooo....instead she's got to try to escape... fail miserably... and end up in Jack Randall's office, where she is now. And something I don't get - why doesn't she ever even TRY to reason with Randall? They're both English. Can't she use her English charms on him and just say "Look, honestly, I haven't done anything wrong. I'm sorry you think I'm someone I'm not. But please try to understand I'm alone and the Highlanders offered me a place to sleep and protection and there really isn't any more to it than that." Now I KNOW Black Jack would have probably just laughed at her because he's a sadistic mofo - but it still irks me that she never tries. She just keeps giving him her sassy little retorts that are just enraging him even further.

OK before I go - let me say this - the scene where the Grants attacked them while they were camped out on the granite (ouch)?? Holy god -I forgot all about that. And I am now visualizing it SO WELL! I hope y'all got your free Outlander audio... because it is so different when you LISTEN to the story. You can form pictures in your mind and totally lose yourself in the scene. I am glad I READ it first... but now it's like dessert. Just sit back... and listen....while spooning more of the gooey chocolate stuff into your mouth.

22 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh Carol! Wild monkey sex!! Hide the haggis!!! I need to pick myself off the floor from laughing so hard!! I too am at this exact point of my re-re-read (3rd time through) I canna help but notice just HOW different these two are in the first book (young I guess). Maybe they need that crazy make-up sex to really know each other...?

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  2. oh i know you love twilight and edward and the whole mess, but really do you have to compare bella to claire? because bella isn't anything like claire. bella is a shadow of a character. all twitchy and morose and awkward and not at all fun. ack. you know how much you hate leg hair? that's how much i hate bella.

    heh.

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  3. "Hide the haggis". That's funny. It got me thinking, though. I've read all the books twice and many of my favorite parts a lot more than twice and I don't think I can remember one reference to haggis in the stories. That's interesting since haggis is something non-Scottish people always imagine Scottish people eating. Correct me if I'm wrong.
    I agree about not comparing Jamie and Claire to Edward and Bella. While I loved, loved, loved the Twilight books, those characters are so shallow compared to any Outlander character. I read the Twilight books 2 summers ago and of course fell madly in love with Edward. I adopted a cat around that time and named him Edward. He is a loving and devoted cat, just like Edward. Then last summer I started reading the Outlander books and fell madly in love with Jamie. I've told Edward the cat many times since that if he had come around one year later, his name would have been Jamie - specifically James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser. As wonderful as Edward Cullen is, he "pales" pitifully next to Jamie. (pun intended)

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  4. I don't recall them actually eating haggis in the series, but I believe it is in The Fiery Cross, that Jamie refers to Claire's eyes being the color of haggis when you light it with some sort of alcohol. Sherry? Brandy? Whisky?

    Oh, and I have not read Twillight, and I probably never will. Robert Pattinson is VERY off putting to me. (*ducks head*)

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  5. I also love that scene where Black Jack is trying to get busy with Claire, and out of nowhere, Jamie is in the window telling BJ to "take ye' hands of my wife" The first time I read that, I was like, yes, you go, Jamie. Go get your lady!

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  6. There's one haggis mention in Outlander, p. 137 of the trade paperback. It's during the Mackenzie gathering, when Claire is describing what Mrs. Fitz and co. have prepared for after the oath taking...

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  7. I had haggis in Scotland and I hid it under my serviette. Is that what you mean by hide the haggis? :)

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  8. OK, so various observations on what you've read to this point:
    • When Dougal takes Claire to Geilie's house, and Geilie and Dougal disappear for awhile, and then Geilie appears all winded from "climbing the stairs." Hmmm....climbing the stairs--is THAT what they're calling it these days? ;-)

    • I just find the reread so interesting in terms of Claire's relationship with Dougal and where it looks like they're going for the longest while.

    • Speaking of Dougal, I really like the scene where he tells Claire about seeing Jamie get flogged--you can tell that WHATEVER feelings of distrust or resentment that he has towards his nephew, they are matched by unabashed respect.

    • When Jamie and Claire are talking on their wedding night, and Claire asks Jamie why he returned to Scotland after getting beaned on the head and recovering in France, and he totally blows her off??? OMG HOW MUCH DOES THAT MAKE YOU DROOL FOR THE GRAPHIC NOVEL?????? That question will SOOO be answered...

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  9. Jeanie - ding ding ding ding - and we have a winner! That is my favorite scene in the entire series.. and I'm SO EXCITED because it's going to happen any second. When Jamie appeared at that window and said "I'll thank ye to take your hands off my wife" I started freaking out and yelling "YEAH!!! YEAH!!! That's what I'M talkin' 'bout!!" Jamie knew he loved Claire when he comforted her on his lap. I knew I loved Jamie at that scene.

    All - don't misunderstand me. I don't compare Claire to Bella.. in the slightest. I was just saying that during my first read, I was totally behind Claire's decision to leave - and thought she was so tough for trying to get back to the stones. But when I got to that scene in the REREAD, I got annoyed with her for not doing exactly what Jamie told her to do... because I knew the outcome. And THAT feeling made me think of how annoyed I always was through FOUR BOOKS with Bella. That's all. Just a feeling. Claire is totally tough... whereas Bella was whiny and just plain stupid ("no Edward, I won't sleep in the bed you just bought for me. Waahhhh").

    As for Robert Pattinson - I will admit that I absolutely love him. I think he's a good actor and has a huge career ahead of him. But - hear me on this - he is not my Edward Cullen. I love going to see the Twilight films (no I haven't seen Eclipse yet) and I think he has done a fantastic job with the role - probably better than anyone else could have ever done. But he's not my Edward Cullen. When I truly "talk Twilight" - I am talking about the books - not the films.

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  10. Tracey - I am finding myself a little obsessed with Dougal during the reread. I was really upset when he died because I always found the character pretty fascinating. But now... I dunno... he can be a pain in the ass and you always have that thought that he's a step away from plunging a dirk into Jamie's chest... but he's so suave. I'm warming up to your Russell Crowe idea. Although I don't think Russell Crowe is attractive enough. Then again, Colum is supposed to be super good-looking, right? ALSO - Colum is supposed to appear aged beyond his years... and I thought "Hmmm.. wouldn't it be interesting to see Mel Gibson in that role". He's a formerly gorgeous guy who is now older with lots of wrinkles, which Colum is supposed to have. I dunno... it's just a thought.

    Also - yes - good point about Geillis and Dougal. Now I want to know what that note said that she gave to Claire and passed off a a bill for herbs. I also want to know more about what went down after Jamie whisked Claire away on the horse and Geillis was left to her own devices. I know she told Claire her version in Voyager - but Geillis isn't exactly a reliable source.

    And it's funny - I never gave it much thought.. why Jamie came back from France. Now it's this huge thing in all of our minds, because of the comments in Echo about the woman he couldn't save. Now I'm dying to know what happened!!

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  11. Ok, random place to post this but... I randomly came across this actor which made me think Fergus, which made me think Carol!! I know how you drool over Fergus Carol! Tell me what you think:

    http://api.ning.com/files/3gTVnNug0BKB3B3kW4-CcwPJpv-EI6I3njBYRO2VYU308nBqf16aIn4-sl99df4nrfq4OmMwmSdqyiI5iv7pC764qPv33XB-/benbarnes.jpg

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  12. Holy CRAP MEGS!!!!!!!!! He is borderline Fergus PERFECTION! What a FIND! Thanks! I just watched a video with him from Chronicles of Narnia. DAMN.

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  13. I am currently re-reading Fiery Cross, so if you haven't read it, beware of spoilers!

    Carol, I just about died after Roger gets hanged and the governor shows up to apologize (really, Tyron? How do you effectively apologize for such a thing? Oh, that's right, you don't! And no, a 5,000 acre land grant isn't going to cut it!) Anyhoo, Jamie, goes after Tyron and tries to strangle him. Tyron says something to the effect of "dare you put your hands on me, sir?" And Jamie responds with, "the way you put your hands on my son?" I died. Right there. Jamie thinks of Roger as his son! Yay Jamie!

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  14. Oh Jo. Thank you SO MUCH because you just made my day. "my son". Sigh. It's so weird... I'm in Outlander... and Jamie and Claire are fighting... and I remember being in Echo and thinking "how am I going to go back to young Jamie?" and now I'm so involved in Outlander that now I'm like "Yey! Old Jamie is so WONDERFUL!" He's a completely different guy! Squeee!

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  15. hi carol
    glad you,re enjoying the audio version.
    i didn,t know anything about the "hide the brass haggis" scene on the granite until i heard it on the audiobook, i was like "whoa where did that come from and why is it not in the book" i have the uk version "cross stitch" and then recently i read about the differences between "outlander" and "cross stitch" so now i just have to get "outlander" in print to add to my collection :-)
    lesley :-)

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  16. Carol, I am re-re-re-reading (ok, I have lost count) all my favorite scenes these days...and I just read the scene in ABOSAA where Jamie tells Claire to let all the ghosts in so she can grieve them (Malva,Frank and Tom) and let them go. It's right after Jamie has rescued her from the governor, after Malva's death, and all that. He says, "Let them come, and grieve them, Claire. And when they've gone, I'll take ye home..."
    It's just great to see how Jamie has matured since the first two books, but still, he's the same...*sigh*

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  17. Carol-doesn't the young Jamie remind you of a boisterous, overly-eager puppy? It was so strange to read Outlander again for the first time after finishing Echo. Lucky for us, we can like young Jamie and mature Jamie all at once, and we get glimpses of young Jamie (like when Jamie sticks creepy Obadiah with a penknife because he's messing with Bree)!

    And thanks for the tip about Outlander on Audible!

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  18. Leslie! Are there any scenes in Cross Stitch that aren't in Outlander? Because I'll get my arse on a plane if I have to to get a copy! :)

    Jeanie: You had me at "I'll take ye home". Jesus god - going home with Jamie. Is there anything better than that??

    Jo - YES! During one chat a few months ago, someone asked who we liked better, "Young Jamie" or "Older Jamie". I pretty much thought "Young Jamie".. until I started my Outlander reread. And now I'm like "Whoa! As much as I dig Young Jamie (LORDDDDD do I dig Young Jamie)... I think I might actually appreciate Older Jamie better!" Whaddayaknow? I may be growing up. It's about damn time!

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  19. Carol-I'm to the part in Fiery Cross where Roger learns about Adsmuir from Kenny Lindsay. I was just thinking how much I appreciate that DG makes Jamie a real character by having people dislike him. How unrealistic (and unsatisfying) would it be if everyone in the books loved and drooled over Jamie?

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  20. OMG - when Jamie stabs creepy Obadiah for Bree, and she says she didn't tell Roger because she didn't want him to worry... Jamie's reply is "What do ye want a man for then, as a pet??" LORRRRRRRDDDD Old Jamie can protect me any day!

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  21. Let's be honest, Jo, it also makes Jamie even hotter because we know they don't like him because he's the Big Man On Campus. ;)

    Diane... LORDDDDDD you are cracking me up! :) SO TRUE by the way. "What do ye want a man for then, as a pet?" WHAT a great Jamie line. SO typical.

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  22. As if it was possible for Jamie to be any hotter than he already is! And yet, DG continues to amaze!

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