SUMMER READINGS WITH SOME ISSUES: DO YOU EVER WANT TO LOVE A BOOK BUT SIMPLY CAN'T?

On reading Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander saga books 4/5. Torn between love and boredom.  I know, it’s always a question of personal tastes. De gustibus.

Do I love Outander, its characters and its world? If you mean the TV series, the answer is: YES! I’M TOTALLY HOOKED! If you mean the books, instead, you must know that my relationship with Gabaldon’s saga has always been quite conflictual, complicated, with many ups and downs.

In my frenzy to discover more about the fascinating world of Gabaldon 's Outlander, after watching the TV series and reading the first 3 books (I loved Voyager),  I went on reading, enthusiastically. I wanted to know more, to discover more.  However, I started experiencing growing disappointment and came to a deadlock. I had quite a few troubles with book 4, Drums of Autumn,  but it went worse and worse with book 5. I suffered and struggled all through The Fiery Cross.

I love Jamie and Claire's relationship now they are middle-aged and live in 18th century America. To have characters growing up and developing their relationship through decades is unusual and great. Through endless (mis)adventures, troubles and ordinary issues Jamie and Claire, Roger and Brianna and their friends are tested and it is rewarding for devoted readers to get to know more and enjoy more of all of them.

HOW ROMANTIC IS FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD? FROM THE BOOK TO VINTERBERG'S MOVIE (2015)

The story

Independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, and tragedy ensues, threatening the stability of the whole community. The first of his works set in Wessex, Hardy's novel of swift passion and slow courtship is imbued with his evocative descriptions of rural life and landscapes, and with unflinching honesty about sexual relationships.