SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have read VOYAGER.
So lately I've been reading bits and pieces of Voyager while waiting in my car at the school parking lot in the frigid temps. And I have a few things to say.
1) Ever been reading Outlander and all the sudden - Jamie makes a comment - and you hear it in your head like Mike Myers in "So I Married an Axe Murderer"? And then you have a good, hearty laugh to yourself because it's so completely and utterly ridiculous? Because I do.
2) I have never been THAT big a fan of Bree (lordddddd the bitchiness) but I think a novella from her perspective - during the time her mother was gone in Voyager, while she was doing her own research and planning her trip to the past - would be verra, verra cool. This came about because Claire told Jamie that Bree knew about him.. and he was somewhat verklempt... and I wondered what was going through Bree's mind once she accepted the fact that Jamie was her father. She found the info about the fire.... and started planning her trip to the past... And while I realize she loved Frank as her one and only Father, don't you think there was a part of her that was proud as hell to be the daughter of THE Jamie Fraser? A man who lived in a cave for 7 years and gave himself up (for all intents and purposes) in order to get money to the people of Lallybroch? I would just love to get inside her brain at that point of her life. She must have been very taken by the mere idea of him - which would have been so romantic since he was 200 years old (give or take - I'm not being literal).
3) How friggin HYSTERICAL is it when Claire is on the bed in the brothel - totally wrapped up in blankets - hears a knock on the door - expects to see someone who is about 5 feet tall - sees no one - and then discovers that Mr. Willoughby is crawling toward her on his hands and knees? How effing HYSTERICAL would that scene be on film? Oh my god I almost tinkle whilst thinking about it. (Did I just put "tinkle" and "whilst" right next to each other in a sentence? Yes, yes I did.)
4) OK so duh - I KNEW something was up in Voyager when everyone gave funny looks and said odd things about Claire being back (Ian in the brothel, for example). But holy crap - I am just realizing that Mr. Willoughby kept saying "FIRST wife! FIRST wife!" Ho. Ly. CRAP - HOW did I MISS that??? I mean - I noticed it - but it didn't give me any kind of revelation, like it clearly SHOULD have now that I read back. HOW did I NOT say "Oh my god - Jamie is MARRIT!!!!!" What a moron I am! Are you a moron, too? Please say "yes". I'd feel a lot better.
Whoa, I'm a moron, too. Feel better?
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing, the things you pick up on re-reading?? :-) The "First Wife" business is something you would never have noticed on the first reading, no matter how carefully you read.
ReplyDeleteKaren
YES Sara - THANK you! :)
ReplyDeleteKaren - thanks because that made me feel better too...but why? Why did I NOT pick it up the first time? When you reread, it's so ridiculously obvious that Mr. Willoughby is referring to Laoghaire being Jamie's current wife. Maybe I didn't think much of it because a) Mr. Willoughby doesn't have the best grasp of the English language - so you think by "first" he really just means "long ago". And also - CLAIRE doesn't seem to notice/mind/catch on... so I guess maybe my brain wouldn't let me think much of it either.
Wow it's like a brain teaser. I think I need a nap. I've exhausted myself! ;)
I definitely didn't pick up on that either the first time. Voyager was the one book that I think I flew through so stinking fast on the first read. From the moment I started it and through the reunion and then the non-stop action I was just a speed demon reading. On my reread I actually don't think I picked up on it then either - I don't remember thinking about it??
ReplyDeletewell I heard it but, I don't know, I guess I just thought it was a customary thing he was saying - like "good wife" or "noble wife" or something like that. Like a title!!!
ReplyDeleteAnother country heard from: First Wife TOTALLY went right over my head. Even when I went back and read, like, 50 pages again looking for clues (my favorite: Jamie's near-spit take when Claire says something like "I'd want to be with you even if I heard you were a drunkard and practicing bigamy"), I completely overlooked the First Wife stuff. It just sounded very title-y, as bretam says.
ReplyDeleteLOL I realized I never got a chance to say this at chat the other (tho I started to about 7 times--LOL), but that's always been something I'm curious to ask DG about--I know she says that she writes in chunks and doesn't follow an outline, blah blah blah--but did she go back through the manuscript at some point and insert those little hints? Or did they just happen organically?
I think it didn't occur to us (I'm a moron too!) because we never would have dreamed that Jamie would have been married and NOT TOLD Claire when she returned. It makes sense in the end, but we didn't expect our wonderful Jamie to LIE! (lie of omission, anyway)
ReplyDeleteOh...and I totally hear Mike Myer's scottish accent from that movie too! Too funny :-) Great blog!!
ReplyDeleteYes I'm a moron. I read it but never saw it coming!! It being Laighaire (however the heck you spell her name). I'm still pissed at Jaime for that one.
ReplyDeleteHere at MOP, we spell it W-E-E H-O. ;-)
ReplyDeleteDid anyone suspect Jamie of marrying Lagohaire? Or did everyone else throw the book and say, "No effing way!!!" like me, inciting the response, "You know it's just a book right?" from their husbands?
ReplyDeleteYou're not alone, I wouldn't be inviting Bree over for any family BBQ's either.
I <3 Mike Myers and his Axe Murderer accent!! In that accent, we often say, "we have a piper down" at random life moments, like when something spills, the child falls asleep, a dog falls off of the sofa, etc.
Speaking of Outlander accents in movies, I hear "Mmmphm" said in the "Slingblade" voice.
O.M.G. (said "Oh. Emm. Gee.") I love you guys. Not only do we say "We have a piper doon!" at random moments, but we also say "negatory, negatory good buddy"... and "HEAD! PANTS! NOW!" as well as "Heeeelllllloooooo". Love that movie soooo much.
ReplyDeleteI think I have to blog my thoughts on Jamie marrying LegHair. Too much for one little comment box. ;)
Hi, Sara!!! (waving madly!)
ReplyDeleteI totally did not see the whole Jamie is married to someone else thing either! When Marsali walked in the room and said "Daddy?", I think I screamed, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! I was planning on finishing that chapter and going to bed. LOL!! I was up for another two hours reading!
Totally didn't see it either. It was the whole Chinese culture thing, and watching "The Joy Luck Club" too many times. I was just thinking it was a title of honor.
ReplyDeleteOn the re-read I realized how many times people almost slipped up. Both Ian's and Fergus said things and I just didn't see it! It's like the "Sixth Sense" all over again:)
~Beth
I missed the clues too...and didn't get to sleep until AFTER the penicillin!
ReplyDeleteI did not miss the clues and the like because I don't mind spoilers so I had read ahead. I knew he married LegHair. But I didn't know why or how, or about the girls. I still screamed at the "Daddy" part. Every time he would say first wife I would cringe knowing what was comming. I hate that Jamie didn't tell her right away but I feel bad for him too. He didn't like LegHair and he was so scared that Claire would leave again. Can you imangine the love of your life comming back and then leaving again because of something you did. And he didn't know that LegHair tried to kill Clarie.
ReplyDeleteMollyK
I can only think of Mike Myers doing the Scottish accent as "Fat Bastard" in Austin Powers! LOL
ReplyDeleteSPOILER....
ReplyDeleteDon't ask me why but I would like to see a flashback of how things were between Jamie & LegHair when they did live together. Jamie explains to Claire how he came to marry her but I think it would be interesting to see Jamie's point of view given LegHair didn't respond to him physically. Do ya think it was because he must have been calling Claire in his sleep? Does anyone remember in which book Jamie tells Claire about how it was between him & LegHair - didn't she shy away from him??? When he was with Geneva, she confessed she loved him...granted it was only one night & so forth but I am so curious as to how Diana would play out a scene with Jamie & LegHair...
Are you all forgetting Claire's reaction--after they are reunited--when Jamie attempts to have sex with her and is vigorously rebuffed with what might be construed a sympathetic remark by Claire about Miz L's response to the same treatment?
ReplyDeleteSomehow, I always felt the two of them--Jamie and Claire--to be callously selfish toward those others who, at some point, feel lovingly toward them. Both are ruthless takers.....albeit caretakers of others.
Correct me if I am wrong but didn't LegHair always hate doing you know what with Jamie because she had "The Sight" and would see Claire standing over them. She thought Claire was haunting her. Or am I not right. I don't remember where I read that or if I just dreamed it.
ReplyDeleteMollyK
Wasn't it Jenny that had the "sight" and saw Claire at the wedding? I didn't catch the first wife thing either. Thought it was just the Chinese way of saying wife. I thought Jamie picked up Willoughby at the docks in Edinburgh. Would Jamie or anyone at that point have any reason to reveal that Jamie was married. Mr. W never met Lowhore or her daughters. Jamie didn't wear a wedding ring and didn't even go by his real name. Pretty secretive all around. I got the impression that only Fergus and Ian knew and don't think that they would discuss _anything_ with Mr.W let alone Jamie's personal life. Sooo, I am thinking that Mr.W didn't know 'nothin except that Jamie's number one and only wife has shown up. ???
ReplyDeleteSeriously all - go back and read it. Whip out your Voyagers right now (I'll wait. LOL!!) and take a look. That's my whole point. I never gave it a second thought while reading it. But now that I'm rereading it, it's crystal clear.
ReplyDeleteSanderson, you make a good point: HOW did Mr. Willoughby know? But when your reread it, it sure as hell seems like he did. I'll have to pick out some exact quotes to run by everyone.
I'm thinking this would be a good question for "Herself"??
Yup!!! I missed the clues, too...the looks between Jamie, Young Ian & Ian after the fire. Ian responding to Jamie, What about...Jamie interupting - hiding it all from Claire. Well, to tell ya all the truth I didn't quite like Jamie much when Claire returned. Running about leaving her (after not seeing her for EVER) & all. Yet, I'm glad he got his act together to be Jamie again. Makes me wonder if truly he is a better man with Claire...afterall he always is amazed when she says how wonderfully good he is...
ReplyDeleteI live in a house with two holes in the wall - one a Voyager sized hole and one an Echo sized hole (-;
ReplyDeleteI didn't see it coming either....exactly. I knew something was wrong, but I kept thinking it was going to be one of the whores or that madam.
I have 2 thoughts: I think the First Wife can be taken more than one way. Being the First Son and heir, doesn't necessarily mean there is a second son. Maybe First Wife can be used the same way.
ReplyDeleteBut I still feel like a moron.
Secondly, I'm okay with the Laoghaire situation, even though she's an idiot. I like knowing he married her because he thought they could help each other, rather than just sleeping with a whore all the time. His intentions were honorable. But (there's always a but), it does piss me off that Claire ran away when she found out, even though he had told her over and over and over that he wanted her to stay. I could go on, but I won't. ;-)
Okay, so I too thought the "first wife" thing was a title. AND the first time I read Voyager I screamed when I read he had married LegHair. I was actually really pissed at Jamie for several chapters. I also didn't think Claire should have gotten over it so quickly. When I was originally reading it I actually didn't think she should go back. Let himself figure it out on his own! But I did get over it myself and forgave him all his transgressions. LegHair-not so much. I can't believe she got all that $ out of him like foreva! Geesh! Sometimes I get tired of his noble thing. I mean, come on! And yes, my husband reminds me all the time that they are not real. I'm trying to read some other books now and I am in Jamie and Claire withdrawal.
ReplyDeleteI was so blindsided and pissed by Jamie's marriage to Leg-hair that I actually put down Voyager and didn't pick up the series again for 2 years. Of course I had to start over again, but until I did, everytime I looked at the book, sitting on my bookshelf, I would get pissed all over again. It's amazing, and a testament to DG's writing, that it could produce such a strong, emotional reaction in me.
ReplyDeleteOf course, once I started the series over, exactly one year ago today, it only took me about a month to finish all 7 books. And I've been living in the Outlander-universe since.
Voyager is my favorite book in some ways because you get to see so much of Jamie's point of view, and see him in such despair, while still having to carry on because so many people depend on him. He can't believe his luck that Claire has come back to him, and it's like his very life depends on not losing her, that I can totally see why he hid the fact of marrying Laoghaire. In my mind, that makes the suspense of him hiding it all much more, though I AM a moron and didn't see it on the first read. But I'm not the kind of reader whonhas to try to figure the mysteries out as soon as I can.
ReplyDeleteI just love Voyager for the sadness all through the first par, where Jamie is established as a man and a leader, compared to being more boyish in the first two books. Right now I'm experimenting with reading them out of order, just to see what I can pick up that I didn't see the first time around (I'm on like the seventh or eighth time around, what happened to my life????)
I love Voyager! I just finished my second read(listen) thru of it and it's still my favorite.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you with the first wife. I totally missed that first time around. Listening to it again it SOOO obvious! I have no idea how I missed it!
AND I would LOVE to see a book thru the eyes of Bree!
hi carol
ReplyDeletei too am a moron :-)
i caught that jamie kept interupting people when they were trying to say something but only understood why when marsali burst in on jamie and claire but missed the "first wife thing".
and thank you for the baby congratulations
:-)
hi guys! i just started dragonfly and i was sou pissed at diana for making claire be 20 years away form jamie that i read on wikipedia the plot summary of both dragon and voyager... when i found out that jamie had married laoghaire i was SOU PISSED!!! i can't stand it, and i just can't pick up the book anymore, i can't make myself read it anymore. i mean, i LOVED outlander, their love is sou intense and perfect in so many ways, i mean, i did get pretty mad when he hit her estou punish her for not obeying him, but i did get over it some 10 chapters later or sou, hahaha, but i just can't get over the fact that he gets married, and not only he gets married, but on top of it, to most irritating, stupid, ridiculous girl ever. I can't stop being mad at diana, jamie, laog whatever... but specially at jamie, i mean, HOW COULD HE DO THAT!! i'm freaking pissed i can't read anymore of it. i started chapter 4 of dragon and couldn't go further. it all seems like a now. Can somebody make me feel better, cause my heart really aches! like, im really upset, hahah! God i can't accept it! it hurts too much, it's such a betrayal. Someone PLEASE, i BEGG, HELP ME!
ReplyDeleteWell, take a step back first. Most of Dragonfly in Amber is about Claire and Jamie together. And it takes them to the very brink of Culloden and explains how Claire again is in the future. As to her life in the future, think, here she is again in Scotland, looking for clues of what happened, and suddenly there you are reading in the middle of the night, and something hits you, a possibility. And that possibility is so important and shattering that you will not be able to sleep until you have seen what Claire finds and does in the first part of Voyager.
ReplyDelete