📚REVIEWS <= I guess I've reviewed a fair number of books!
I've been reading Go Tell The Bees That I am Gone, by Diana Gabaldon. There are 912 pages to this book. My main problem is holding it up in bed to read it! Gabaldon explains its title meaning:
“Talking to your bees is a very old Celtic custom (known in other parts of Europe, too) that made it to the Appalachians. You always tell the bees when someone is born, dies, comes or goes — because if you don't keep them informed, they'll fly away.”
I put this book on my 65th birthday wish list, after I heard a radio interview, and when we 🎂celebrated in February, it was a gift! That said, I did not realize that it was the most recent in a series of books begun in 1991. Nor did I realize that it was a TV series!
There are nine books in the series:
- OUTLANDER (1991)
- DRAGONFLY IN AMBER
- VOYAGER
- DRUMS OF AUTUMN
- THE FIERY CROSS
- A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES
- AN ECHO IN THE BONE
- WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART’S BLOOD
- GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE (2021)
I dove into the book, and appreciated the map and the family tree in the end papers. I toyed with the notion of going back to book 1, but as I read I began to understand it. I just didn't have the energy to find book 1, and wait for it. I never jump into the middle of a series unless I can help it.
Gabaldon, on her website, assures me that I can jump in. She has even created an Outlander Companion piece, although I managed to grab the gist of it. Even Gabaldon wrote that she cannot explain the series in under 25 words! Wiki cannot manage it (28 words!):
"The Outlander series focuses on 20th-century British nurse Claire Randall, who time travels to 18th-century Scotland and finds adventure and romance with the dashing Highland warrior Jamie Fraser. The books have sold over 25 million copies worldwide as of August 2014.[5]"
I like it, but I'm not done. It's pretty heavy with death and dying, wars, and all that went on in what became the US in the good old days of yore. I have taken a break from it for now.
I made the mistake of finding book #1 in another series: Guido Brunetti novels, by Donna Leon. The next available books are numbers 5 and 9. I'm not sure what I shall do.
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@Barrie Summy
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14 comments:
Hari OM
Some twenty years back, in Sydney, a friend gifted me Gabaldon's first book. I got halfway through it and passed it on. Not at all my cuppa tea. No logic and an entirely fantastical premise. I found myself shouting at the protagonist. (If you are shouting at the pages of a book in frustration, there's something well wrong with it - or you!) It didn't help that the overly romantic American take on Scottish 'history' was teeth-gritting. Then came the telly show... &#]]
That all said, tourism in Scotland flourished as endless hordes of fainting femmes wished to visit all the places used for filming the series. Whether that will revive after COVID is yet to be discovered.
One of my frustrations with my library BorrowBox is that there are not complete sets of any of the series I am interested in (murder mystery/police procedural), though thankfully, most of them stand alone pretty well. YAM xx
E=Eternalnot
...bees are the ones that are in danger and gone.
I hear you, YAM! Some Americans do tend to have some fantasy involved in history! I wondered about that.
Now THAT's a lot of pages! I've not read the Outlander books but I hear they are quite wonderful. It should be a good read.
The number of pages would discourage me from picking it up. I have not read any of the books nor watched the television series. I have reached the conclusion that I will not read all the books available and lately I have been rereading old favorites -- which I enjoy but it does put me behind in my lifetime tally of different books read.
Jenn thanks for visiting me at my blog site :)
I've tried to read the Outlander books & to watch the series. I just wasn't able to get into the whole time travel aspect. I've read a few of the Donna Leon books & one "expert" on the series told me you don't have to read in order but it helps with the character development. I feel the same way about the Chief Inspector Gamache series written by Louise Penny.
... Mary-Lou =^[..]^=
I have a friend who has been waiting anxiously for this book. She's a huge Outlander fan and loved GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE. Thank you for the explanation of the title, btw. I read the first book in the series and really enjoyed it. Thank you for reviewing!
Happy birthday! What a nice gift. I love the title. I've heard of this series but haven't read it, but you show why it would be addictive. Enjoy!
When I first saw who the author was, the thought did cross my mind about how long the books were. A friend sent me a bunch of her books a couple of years ago but I haven't even attempted to read one yet. I will say, everyone I know that has read her, loves her books.
Thanks for reviewing.
Somewhere trilogies have evolved to series with many books to read before you get to the end. I'm a stomach sleeper so reading in bed with a heavy book still works. It is even easier with my Kindle now that many books are available in that format. - Margy
I am working on an "Annotated Arabian Nights" right now. Seems that modern people do not have a corner on brutality. I read some of the "Nights" when I was in elementary school but really cannot remember anything about them now. I am sure I was not ready for the "Nights" back than and wonder if I am now.
Thank you Jenn
Jenn - a book with 912 pages? That would take me a decade ... Good for you, jumping in even after you found out it was a series, and quite a bit in!
I have a friend who reads the Outlander series, but I had no idea there was a tv show. I have another internet friend who reads the Donna Leon books in order. Her reviews are a from the back of the books, though.
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