<p>I’ve always thought Leslie Howard was woefully miscast as Ashley. He was way too old. I’ve read that HE thought he was too old, but somehow his studio forced him to do the part. Vivien Leigh was perfect, though - as were Clark Gable and Olivia DeHaviland.</p>
<p>My beef with Diana Gabaldon is that I don’t feel like she respects her readers. She gets us to fall in love with Claire and Jaime and their family, and then she goes off into all sorts of directions, whatever catches her fancy. The beginning of whichever book starts at a big Scottish campout in NC was the absolute worst. 300 pages to cover a single day. Long, boring, detailed descriptions of dozens of people we never see or hear from again. Are her editors afraid to say “NO” to her? I totally agree with the poster who said that she just “stopped” writing the last book. She built up a bunch of story lines to a big crescendo and then just blew off the climactic scenes and left every single one of them hanging. Her pacing leaves a lot to be desired - it’s very uneven. If I have to read long, detailed descriptions of a ton of minor conversations involving minor characters and red herrings, then I want good, juicy descriptions of the big climactic scenes. But nope - just a quick rundown of what happened. And in the last book it’s like she ran out of allotted pages or just got tired of writing and quit. Nevertheless, I will probably read the new book. I’m too deeply into it to back out now - even if I do feel like she’s thumbing her nose at us, saying “I can write whatever I want because I’m the author, nyah nyah nyah.”</p>
<p>I never knew who to picture as Jaime, but I’d always pictured Juliana Marguiles as Claire. And Dallas Bryce Howard as Brianna.</p>
<p>Laflum - I agree about the author. I’ve read a few interviews with her and there’s an arrogance in her tone - enough that I can picture her thumbing her nose at her readers. Even so, the plot is compelling enough for me to continue reading. </p>
<p>My take is that she got super-lucky with the Jamie/Claire core story but then had no idea what to do with them. The books seem to me to just increasing stumble from one place to another with no thought-out sense of where things are going. In contrast, say, to J.K. Rowling who knew exactly where every step of all seven of the Harry Potter books was going to go. (Not that there weren’t tangents, but the overall story was well-thought-out.)</p>
<p>^^^^Oh, yes. Scarlett was certainly sexually repressed…though Rhett drew her out a bit…</p>
<p>I think Gabaldon’s work is rife with problems. BUT…the Jamie/Claire relationship is so compelling, it draws us back, and the time travel element was brilliant. </p>
<p>As much as I agree with much of the criticism, I will certainly read the final installment, and if I have to sign up for Starz to see the film, I’ll probably do it. DH won’t be on board, so I’ll have to think on that one…:)</p>
<p>I adore historical fiction but I have such a hard time finding authors like Gabaldon or Follett that can actually write. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them.</p>
<p>My H has just finished We, the Drowned by Carsten Jensen, and he said you had to stick with it but it pays off.
Have you read Let the Great World Spin, by Colum Mccann?
He also stuck with the Outlander series more than I did.
I havent read the last one.
He reads a lot more than I do though.</p>
<p>When I saw GWTW I was a kid, so all of them were old to me. Remember Scarlet’s second husband, Frank, and their daughter Ella? Neither does anyone else. :D</p>
<p>I agree with Lafalum’s assessment of Gabaldon.</p>
<p>Five favorite writers of historical fiction:</p>
<p>Dorothy Dunnett. I recommend her Lymond series. It is important to read them in the correct order.</p>
<p>Mary Renault. Ancient Greece. My favorite of her books is The Last of the Wine.</p>
<p>Patrick O’Brian. The Aubrey-Maturin series. Start with Master and Commander.</p>
<p>Pat Barker. she writes about the WWI period. Start with Regeneration.</p>
<p>Cecilia Holland. She writes about many periods and places. They’re all good.</p>
<p>I always thought Laura Prepon would have made a great Brianna. She’s very tall, and seems rather big boned like Brianna is so often described in the books. </p>
<p>Amesie - exactly! I don’t think she realized she’d have a multi-book series on her hands. I feel like she needs wars to create drama, and since the rising in Scotland was over she shipped Jaime and Claire off to the American Revolution. And enough with picking on Roger! She should have named him Job.</p>
<p>Laura Prepon looks perfect for Brianna, Nrdsb4.</p>
<p>I agree that Gabaldon can be quite verbose when writing and sometimes the sex can be a little romance novelish, but I am an Outlander addict and love the story, the history, and the characters. I am happy to overlook any of her writing flaws to read the next book and will happily watch the STARZ series. </p>
<p>I’ve followed Gabaldon’s facebook page for a while now and she seems to enjoy interacting with her fans. She’s a talented writer who does an incredible amount of research to keep the history in her novels accurate. I love that I get to read a great story and learn a little history at the same time. I live in North Carolina and many Highland Scotts immigrated to North Carolina in the 1700s. We have more people with Scottish ancestry than any other state, so it really was a logical place to take Jamie and Claire’s story. …My name is BUandBC and I am an Outlander addict. :)</p>
<p>The casting has been pretty good so far (at least by appearance). I could care less about the 50 Shades movie, but I squeal like a teenager when I get a post with a new picture on my FB page.</p>
<p>I loved Outlander on audio book. Now, I am listening to Dragonfly in Amber. Slow start, I am afraid, but is picking up now that the story back in the 1700’s.</p>
Remember Scarlet’s second husband, Frank, and their daughter Ella? Neither does anyone else. :D</p>![http://www.tvfiles.net/photo/Laura%20Prepon/Laura-Prepon-3.jpg[/url]](http://www.tvfiles.net/photo/Laura%20Prepon/Laura-Prepon-3.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
