SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless ye have read 13% of The Scottish Prisoner. (I think I'm halfway through Chapter 5 but dinna quote me on that. eReader Confusion can sometimes mess with the brain.)
First off - please forgive me - and please dinna judge me too harshly - for only having read 5 chapters. I have not pushed myself in the slightest...because I want to make this book last. Think about how the blog has been for the past 6 months or so. It's full of the usual "Monday Chat" posts and commentary about various Scottish coolness. Or Scots-loving Canadian bands in Disney World! Now...that's all well and good...but it's not so great, right?
I have decided to make this last so I'll have some decent material while waiting for MOHB (or is it MHOB? I can never remember).
Either that, or I can always go back to talking about Fergus Lamaze. Heh heh, Christie. I can hear you laughing all the way from New Jersey.
OK - so let's get to it:
It would be an understatement to say I was more than a little surprised when Jamie woke up in his bed in the stable and was ready to spank one out. (Sorry - but there is just no ladylike way to say that.) When he headed to the other stable to finish the job, I was totally worrit for him, thinking someone would see him. Well - HELLO? Did Betty see him? Did Quinn? I still dinna know...and I find the not-knowing absolutely delicious.
Speaking of Quinn, is it me or is he a larger-than-life character, right out of the gate? Even if he doesna have much of a part, he still seems like such a presence. To the point where I'm already casting him in my head. (Colin Farrell, much?)
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Kings have their destiny about them- but so do those who serve them. This is yours." Love love LOVE that quote. I've always held a grudge that Jamie was robbed of his birthright in Scotland. But he has helped/supported/fought for so many people of stature over the years...that his accomplishments dwarf those of a King or a higher member of government.
If you've ever seen the film, "Ever After"...Danielle makes the most amazing speech to Prince Henry, based on quotes she took from "Utopia" by Sir Thomas More: "
A country's character is defined by its "everyday rustics" as you call them. They are the legs you stand on and that position demands respect." Again - this is how I feel about Jamie. If it weren't for him, so many people would be up the proverbial creek in Scotland...England...America...take your pick. So even though he didna get to be the BMOC for long in Scotland - and had to leave his position as Laird O' the Ridge in America - he has done more in a support role of Kings and Government officials that he might ever have done as Laird.
This is a topic I've pondered in my own life; the question of whether the large amounts of work are worth small amounts of recognition, if big things are happening in the process. I think we can take a lot away from JAMMF's sometimes-unrecognized but always-heroic actions. We don't have to be the boss - or be in the spotlight - to get major things accomplished in this life. Sometimes we're meant to be the man
behind the curtain.
OK moving on - Lord John. Tracey is a bit concerned that I won't be thrilled with the Lord John storyline. But so far, so good...because he's always with Hal. And
I've already mentioned how I feel about Hal. I think Hal reminds me of a few people I know in life who make me laugh and get me through my day...and that's why I love his smartass, dry sense of humor so much. I also LOVE the fact that Minnie was a spy, oh yes I do. How COOL is that? Yet another strong woman in Gabaldonland. I look forward to finding out much more about her.
More quotes I loved:
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Fumbling in the box that held his possessions, he found his rosary..." That reminds me of
the Voyager montage in my head and my vision of Jamie walking with Lord John onto the Helwater estate for the first time. He's carrying his meager belongings to the sound of "Amazing Grace" which is being sung by Susan Boyle in my mind. (Don't cringe, y'all. She's Scottish. I dig her.)
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nor hell a fury like a woman scorned." DAMN STRAIGHT.
Cheese alert: I'm about to mention Duran Duran. Some of you may want to go get a cold beverage and come back. I've always loved Simon le Bon's bastardization of that line: "Hell hath no fury like a young girl's ego" from Duran Duran's "Meet El Presidente". I could do a whole blog post on instances of women being scorned from books, tv, film...but suffice to say I just love that line.
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wonderful pungent scent of the horse's warm hide." Does it get any better than this in a DG novel? No, no it does not. Something tells me Hildy, Cari and Jennifer J will read that with unflagging joy. :)
OK I'm getting punchy...so off to read.
Stay tuned...
Yesterday I "went home" and visited the Paoli Battlefield in Malvern, Pennsylvania with my children and my very dear friend, Anne. Anne and I have been friends since we met in the first grade at St. Norbert School in Paoli where Tracey and I went to grade school. Tracey, Anne, and I have discussed the fact that we don't remember ever being taught about this pivotal battle in the Revolutionary War...one so important that the American military's battle cry "Remember Paoli!" could be heard at battle well into the 1800s.
