Now A Confession
My deep, dark secret: I have never read a thing by Diana Gabaldon. Never. I’ve been told her books are amazing. I’ve heard Gabaldon speak. She told me her books are amazing. I’m sure she wouldn’t lie to me. The good news for Gabaldon is that I appear to be the only person on the planet never to have read Gabaldon. According to an article in the Detroit Free Press:
Gabaldon is the J.K. Rowling of romance publishing. Her latest novel, "A Breath of Snow and Ashes," was burning up the presale charts before its late September release. There were spoilers on Web sites. There were dress-up release parties, as fans celebrated the next 1,000 pages in the saga of Claire Beauchamp, a World War II nurse who gets unstuck in the 18th Century.
Okay, I have to say that seems a bit, shall we say, over the top (think: waiting in line for three weeks for opening night of Lord of the Rings - that kind of over the top). There are quite a few writers I adore and have adored forever. Some write romance. Some don’t. None inspire me to wear costumes. Really, none. For example, I’ve read everything Jayne Ann Krentz has ever written. I ran through the backlist in a rabid she-needs-medicine way that only a serious fan can do. But, dress-up parties? Ummm, no. For JAK I’d probably have to wear whatever a slim vegetarian librarian from Seattle would wear. No idea what that would be.
So, what’s different about Gabaldon’s fans? I wonder if it’s the fantasy/time travel portions of her writing. Maybe that fan base is more apt to have this type of loyalty. I honestly have no idea. Just think it’s interesting…and, yeah, a little scary but in a good-for-Gabaldon kind of way.
October 22nd, 2005 at 10:17 am
Make that two! I tried to read Outlander and couldn’t get past the first few pages. Not my thing at all.
I don’t understand the sci-fi/fantasy dressing up (as I said, not my thing), but if Margaret Mitchell ever came back from the dead, I’d dress up like Scarlett for her. Um, actually, I have dressed up like Scarlett. ::blush::
October 22nd, 2005 at 11:09 am
Hk and TracyS, make that 3! I too have never been able to get through the first one. Like TracyS it’s just not my sort of book, even though friends think I’m crazy for not readng them. But then again, their the ones who think there’s something wrong with me because I haven’t read Harry Potter yet…..
At my bookstore, they wanted us to dress up for HP releases. Uh, no. I compromised with a HP baseball hat, but dressing up for books, characters, movies or whatever just isn’t my thing.
October 22nd, 2005 at 11:39 am
Hey, I wont be left out, make that FOUR!!
I’ve heard the hype, and even picked up some of her stuff to browse through, but having read the blurbs, I can’t imagine enjoying them.
I’m only ever going to read books that sound interesting to me personally. Hype automatically kills a book for me.
I’ve got Dan Brown’s The DVC, but honestly, I can’t be arsed starting it. I’ve also got Jenny Crusie’s Bet Me, but that’s another one that I’m putting off reading.
I’ve already been let down by MJ Rose’s the Halo Effect, I can live without the crushing disappointment that a lot of big name authors bring to my reading experience.
October 22nd, 2005 at 3:11 pm
I’ve heard her speak. I truly enjoyed it. She’s funny, clever, and quite intelligent. I do have her first book in my TBR pile, but that’s as close as I’ve come to reading it. :-/
October 22nd, 2005 at 3:43 pm
I’ve heard her speak and will hear her again in a month or two at the Smithsonian program (that’s where I heard her last time around as well). She’s worth the price of admission if for no other reason than for her take on writing what you want, not just what’s “in” at the moment.
But, I do have to say that I find the dress-up for the release date thing a bit odd. That’s not something I normally associate with romance novels.
October 22nd, 2005 at 4:28 pm
Uh, is this five?
Haven’t read her, and I’m usually all over time travel stuff. But, I could never muster up the energy to pick up her series.
Does she think of them as romance novels? I’ve heard/read somewhere that she calls them science fiction, not romance. I’m not sure if she’s slamming romance or just trying to find a truer genre fit for her work, though.
October 22nd, 2005 at 7:38 pm
I read Outlander in two days the year it came out. My first edition hardcover is autographed. I might just have to eBay it, bwahaha!
But seriously. The book blew me away. However, I only read the one because I didn’t care about the further adventures. Yes, I bought them. One day I’ll read them. Before I do, I’ll reread Outlander. One of my fave ROMANCES of all time, because that one was a romance!
October 23rd, 2005 at 5:25 am
I never got past the first two chapters of the first Jamie/Claire book. I know people loved it, but I didn’t. Nothing grabbed me, and too many things annoyed me - and life’s too short to read books you’re not enjoying.
But that’s just me. Nothing against Gabaldon, but her writing didn’t work for me.
October 24th, 2005 at 10:17 am
I’m like Alison. I read the first one - devoured it, actually - and really figured I’d be in for all of her books because I found the first one so riveting. But I never managed to get through any others, and since enough time has passed, I can’t even remember why I loved it so much. I’ve contemplated rereading it to see if I could recapture that fire, but I have too many other TBRs that I’d rather read.
I confess to going to a midnight Harry Potter party at our local B&N, and I did try on the free-giveaway goofy plastic Harry glasses my daughter snagged so she could see how funny I looked. Does that count as dressing up? I hope not!