Lauren’s Answers! {Outlander Readalong Week 3}

Posted July 2, 2012 by Asheley in Uncategorized / 16 Comments

Welcome to Week Three
of the Outlander Read-Along everybody! 
Jess from Tangled Up in Blue has written some excellent questions!


These come from Chapters 15-21.

Asheley from Into the Hall of Books has written up the questions for Week Four. 


WEEK THREE: HERE WE GO!

1.  We FINALLY get to the scene we’ve all been waiting for. You know what I’m talking about — yay sexytimes! What were your impressions? Was it what you were expecting? Or did you want more

I was really impressed with how the scene was handled. Although it has happened all throughout history (and even still today), I cannot imagine marrying someone that I barely know! I was glad that the awkwardness between Jamie and Claire was acknowledged, and I really liked the way that they slowly opened up to each other throughout the evening. From just touching hands and beyond… 

I also loved LOVED Jamie in the entire scene. The way he took charge and coaxed Claire to open up by holding hands and talking. The way he spoke about desiring honesty between them. The way that he was eager and sweet and wanted to please Claire. I just loved that despite the fact that she was the experienced one, he really led her in many ways. Even by letting her decide how far they would go that evening. In a culture where women have little rights this is significant. It was perfectly within Jamie’s right as a husband to demand whatever he wanted, and things could have been a lot worse for Claire (though obviously if that had happened, this would be a very different kind of story). 

2. I know that some readers have been bothered thus far by the fact of Claire being married to Frank but still being involved with Jamie, despite the different time periods. Does their time as newlyweds change anyone’s opinion of that? If not, now what are you thinking of the situation?
Okay this is tricky for me. It still does bother me that Claire is married to Frank. I don’t care for love triangles (or polygamy). But thankfully, this is fiction about time travel, which enabled me to suspend my belief a fair amount, and go with the story. Plus Frank is in a completely different time period so it’s not hard to ignore him. I’m also pretty susceptible to what the author wants the reader to believe, and it’s clear that we are meant to fall in love with Jamie along with Claire – and that is certainly happening to me. We spent a few early chapters with Frank, and though he seemed to care about Claire, he was always a bit distant and lost in his scholarly world. Then we meet Jamie, get to know him, see him and Claire form a friendship, and watch how he pays attention and cares for her. Although they are from two different time periods, it was clear to me early on that Jamie and Claire are a much better match for each other. 

There is a volatility to Claire and Jamie’s relationship that is born partly from Claire’s being from a much more modern and progressive culture – in terms of women’s roles. But it’s also innate in their personalities and how they relate to each other, and I can see how it is leading to stronger passion and depth of feeling between them. Though I will admit that I didn’t get enough of Frank to really judge who he is, I didn’t see this within his relationship with Claire. 
3. What did you think about the “waterhorse” that Claire saw? Why do you think Peter was so spooked? And what do you think this means for Claire?
I’m not really sure what to think about this scene. While I was reading it, I just assumed that Claire saw the Loch Ness Monster. Honestly, I started to worry that this book was turning into fantasy. Besides the time travel, until this point the story has been pretty rooted in historical fact. 

But this question and the fact that the encounter takes up an entire chapter clearly indicate that it means something. I guess it could be symbolism for Claire being “taken” by a figurative waterhorse from one time period to another. And perhaps Peter was picking up something about Claire being different.
4.  If you were Claire and you were knowingly in the vicinity of the stones, would you have done the same thing she did?  
Although I wanted to strangle Claire when she decided to ignore Jamie and try to find the stones, in my rational mind I got why she did it. And if I was stuck in a different time period, I’d probably try to do anything that I could to get out of there and back to my life. 

Actually, I think that Claire answered this pretty well in a later chapter when she says, “This time was in many ways still unreal to me; something from a play or a fancy-dress pageant.” If I was her, I could imagine pinching myself and thinking – is this a dream? Is this place real? That helps to explain the idiotic way that she went about trying to get to the stones. Walking several miles over treacherous ground? Her plan was doomed before she started. 

And of course the romantic in me wants her to pick Jamie and stay in 18th century Scotland. Stay with Jamie, Claire!!!
5.  What do you think about Captain Randall? How do you think the family resemblance between him and Frank affects Claire and particularly her relationship with Jamie?  
I don’t like Captain Randall all. Obviously this is not a surprise to anyone. I foresee much more trouble from him to come. His type of villainy is quite scary, because you never know what he’s going to do (except that it’s not going to be good!). 

Captain Randall is a tricky character also because he is a visible reminder to Claire that she is still married to Frank. She sees him and can’t help but remember that her husband is his far future ancestor. However, it’s also confusing to watch a man who looks like your husband act in such a despicable manner. And seeing a bad version of Frank makes Jamie come across as even better of a choice.
**************************************************

Here’s the remainder of the schedule: 

July 9th
Questions for chapters 22-28 answered & questions announced for chapters 29-35 on Logan E. Turner

July 16th
Questions for chapters 29-35 answered & questions announced for chapters 36-41 on The Reading Housewives

July 23rd
Questions for chapters 36-41 answered on Gone with the Words.

The end.  


Asheley

About Asheley

Asheley is a Southern girl. She loves Carolina blue skies, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and NC craft beer. She loves all things history but prefers books over everything.

You can find her somewhere in North Carolina, daydreaming about the ocean.

Find Asheley on Litsy @intothehallofbooks!

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16 responses to “Lauren’s Answers! {Outlander Readalong Week 3}

  1. You and I think a lot alike Lauren, my answers to these questions are very similar. I like how you pointed out that Jamie and Claire's relationship has a certain amount of tension due to the fact that they are from such different times and the role of women has changed so drastically. Claire is definitely a 'modern woman' and it's going to be interesting to see just how this comes into play in their relationship in the future.

    And yes, I am in total agreement about the water horse question! I am also worried about what this veer into fantasyland means!

    • I checked out your page and we definitely had similar answers! I love the way that Claire challenges Jamie, because of her modern ideas. I hope we get more of that to come.

  2. Jac

    I think that Randall just cemented my dislike for Frank! (From the beginning, Frank drove me insane – I mean, he's FINALLY getting time with his wife and he's basically ignoring her for his hobby.)

    I agree with you on most of the questions 🙂

    -Jac @ For Love and Books

    • Yes! on what you said about Frank. He did pretty much ignore Claire to go study manuscripts – and they'd been apart for 8 years. And Randall is definitely clouding my view of Frank as well.

  3. Nice point on how Jamie led the evening purposefully to put Claire at ease. He is quite masterful at seeing what people need and taking the round about way to ease or comfort them. Love him.
    I would have done the same a Claire. Hopefully a little more successfully though. But the reader in me was "watcha thinking girl, stay with the fantabulous kilt wearing dude."

    • Yes. I love that about jamie, especially when he applies it to Claire!

      And your right, as a reader it was clear that Claire's attempt to escape was going to be a total disaster. I wanted to yell at her too!

  4. I felt the same way in the waterhorse scene. I remember thinking that I knew it was historical romance with time travel, but I didn't realize it was like THIS!! Also I was a little weirded out by Peter's behavior, but I quickly sort of forgot it as the story progressed.

    • After reading everyones responses about the waterhorse, I'm getting really worried about what that means for Claire in the future! When otherwise I would have forgotten all about it. And the fantasy thing did throw me, though someone reminded me of the fact that there was a "ghost" sighting in the beginning so I guess that's another supernatural element.

  5. Yes! I loved how Jamie wasn't all, "Let's do it!" but rather wanted to talk and get to know Claire … like he said, they had 3 days or something — PLENTY of time to get to the deed. I really like how he's not just treating it as a signed contract, but as a real marriage — which it is.

    As for the "love triangle" issue, I don't even see it as a love triangle — I mean, Frank isn't even BORN yet! 🙂

    It's funny how you mention the waterhorse being a symbol for Claire. I saw it as the Loch Ness Monster actually EXISTING! I mean, aren't all fantasies rooted in some sort of reality?

    Great answers!

    • YES to what you said about Jamie on their wedding night. I was worried for them when I started reading it, but I loved how I relaxed along with Claire during that scene. It was really well written.

      I see what you mean about the triangle, but I have a feeling that Claire will see Frank again (remember the housekeeper in the "future' telling Claire that she has two long marriages). I think Claire should just kill off Randall so there can be no Frank in the future. Wait, did I just say that?

      I thought the same thing at first about the Loch Ness Monster. At first I was like, I guess DG thinks that she's real. I've definitely watched one of those PBS specials on Loch Ness and previous sightings. SO Nessie could exist!

  6. I totally agree about Jamie. He seems to be the embodiment of what Claire really needs in a partner, even if she didn't notice anything missing with Frank. And I love that Jamie is respectful toward women in an age when he definitely didn't need to be. SWOON!

    • Definitely! Jamie is the best. I hope that Claire starts to notice that Jamie is better for her as well. Even his name is better than Frank.

  7. I REALLY loved the awkwardness between them as well! He is so perfect for Claire that I can't even think of her with Frank anymore. I also can't imagine how she must feel seeing Randall treat her the way he does when he looks so much like her husband. I think it would bother me even more because of how much he and Frank look alike.

    • I just love how DG wrote that scene, especially the awkwardness and how Jamie is so perfect for Claire. The Randall/Frank thing is confusing all around – and a smart move by the author.

  8. I think we were all kind of weirded out by the waterhorse scene, I'm really not sure I got it. And then she asked if he wanted to know the scientific name for it? Does Nessie have a scientific name? Or was it something else? I don't know!

    • I don't either! But the more peoples' responses I read, the more I'm worried about what it all means. I don't know if Nessie has a scientific name? I didn't' pay a whole lot of attention to that scene when I read it, because it didn't seem important at the time. Clearly I need to go back and examine it!

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