If I had to describe the book with one word, I would say 'impossible'. Not the book, but the task. Describing Outlander is like writing an essay of the meaning of life.
I read the paperback edition of it, so it's 850 pages of the thinnest paper ever, with the smallest kind of font you can read without getting a headache. Still the pages flew and it never made me feel exhausted in a bad way. But exhaustion in a good way was common whilst reading. Outlander makes you exhausted, it's so carefully weaved with complex characters and Beautiful landscapes. While reading I travelled to Scotland, read the lines with a weird Scottish accent (I've got no idea, how the words are pronounced, so you can imagine) and experienced the whole book like I really had been there. Outlander is amongst the rare books that had me living inside the book. Some books have captured me, but none of them not so intensely.
About the plot. Those who have read it, know that a lot happens during the book, but then there is also times when nothing happens, which is a good balance for all the emotional and rough stuff. For example the battle scenes, interaction and just normal day things were described so lively, that sometimes you're confused if you're really watching someone else's life or just someone fictional's. The plot also had a few twists, which I won't reveal, and some of them were a bit heart-breaking.
About the characters. I loved them. They were so alive. You know the feeling when you just know someone. You know their favourite colour or how they like their sandwiches (<= What?), how they react to certain things or any little detail of them. Outlander also made this possible. For me, characters are the main thing in books, and if the book doesn't have characters fit for the plot, then I usually don't like it. But strong Claire, just, was born for this book (okay, Gabaldon wrote her for the book...) Gabaldon was able to capture her so perfectly and make her alive. Make her breathe.
As for Jamie... *Googly eyes* He's just something. Though I knew next to nothing about Scots before Outlander, I think he's the stereotypical Scot being atypical Scot at the same time. I don't know if that makes any sense to you, but Jamie is a character that's hard to explain. He's got so many sides to him, so many things that are worth mentioning. But above all, the thing that made me love Jamie was his ability of sacrefice. He put himself at risk for everyone he cared or didn't think deserved something. Like when he took the beating or freed the young lad from the post, or the countless times he saved Claire. His compassion, charms, good looks, Scottish accent...
Also the minor characters were so carefully planned and told, that they really felt like real people, not just the usual, 'you're just a side-character I won't use my time in developing you' -thing. Thankfully, because even the smallest charcters matter in a book.
And finally, about the surroundings. Imagine the most beautiful Scottish landscape, then make it ten times more beautiful and add one Jamie to it. That's about it.
Summary:
★★★★★
Positive: Everything, so beautifully written. Loved every part of it. Most the complex characters.
Negative: Nothing, but if you read it in a form of a physical book, try to get as big book (hardback) as possible because reading from a teeny tiny edition just stresses you out.
Recommeding this to everybody. Even if it's not your usual genre, just read it! It's definetly worth it!
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