Reading the Outlander saga, and/or watching the series, may have considerable side effects! Here’s a twenty-two-point list of the most frequent.
1. Plan a trip to Scotland. There’s unfortunately no collected data from Diana Gabaldon’s pre-TV series twenty million book readers, many of whom visited Scotland between 1991 and 2013, but if the Tourism department would investigate the reason for holiday trips in airports and railway stations, including “because of Outlander” in the shortlist of answers, there’s quite a probability that a considerable percentage would choose it. We do have evidence about the TV series’ effects on Scottish tourism. Figures from the Moffat Centre’s Visitor Attraction Monitor (the UK's largest university-based consultancy and research center for tourism) actually confirm the tangible effect the series has had – at certain venues up to a 92% rise in visitors! Outlander tours are provided by a lot of Scottish travel agencies, especially since 2014: not only the classic Edinburgh Castle and Culloden Moor tours, but also Doune Castle (which is Castle Leoch in the TV series, and has had the 92% increase in visitors), Midhope Castle (Lallybroch), Blackness Castle (Fort William), Drummond Castle Gardens (Versailles gardens), Glencorse Old Kirk (the church where Claire and Jamie were married)... And of course, Scotland is lovely, full of natural beauty and history, excellent food and beer and whisky, and the most welcoming and friendly people. So basically, you travel to Scotland for Outlander in the first place, and then you'll return – for Scotland itself. 2. Become crazy about circles of stones (which can be related to point 1), and end up on a visit to Clava Cairns in Scotland or at circles of stones around the world. You’ll search circles of stones, visit them, touch them frowning and trembling, take pictures in front of them as if you were fifteen years old. You'll also start to find circles of stones in other movies/series – for instance, in the Disney animated feature Brave, the lead character (Merida, a red-haired Scottish princess who's the spitting image of Brianna!) happens to end up in a magical circle of stones... and Outlander fans jump on their chair! 3. Develop a soft spot for the Scottish accent, startling every time you detect it in someone's way of speaking. Start to use Scottish words in your own daily life. Why use “yes” when you can say ”aye”, and imagine hearing it in Jamie’s voice? The most daring fans even try to study the Gaedhlig! 4. Start research on ancestry, especially looking for Scottish great-great-great-grandfathers or mothers. The MacKenzie clan, the Fraser clan – you’re going to dream of being part of it. Literally. 5. Become an expert in 1700s English-Scottish history. Raise your hand if you knew something about the Scottish clan system, the frictions between Scots and the English during the seventeenth - eighteenth centuries, or the Jacobite Rising. If you’ve got your hand up, you must be a Scot, or an historian. Well, now – thanks to Diana Gabaldon and Ron Moore – Bonnie Prince Charlie is definitely as famous as the biggest historic figures. At least among Outlander fans! 6. ... And an expert in 1700s American history, particularly the American Revolutionary War. This, if you’ve already read books four to eight. Only-series fans will start to develop this proficiency from next September on, when Season 4 airs, bringing the viewers to North Carolina, in the unsettled years just before the war. 7. Appreciate the twentieth century’s tools and facilities much more. Bringing the readers/viewers deeply inside the daily life of the eighteenth century, it’s inevitable they’ll (we’ll) start wondering: what if I had no water (let alone hot water!) immediately available? No soap? No refrigerator? And so on. After that, you may not find the community pool’s water so cold, after all!
8. Raise the benchmark (if single) regarding a future partner. Let’s admit it: James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser is a piece of work. But among all his qualities, something’s really extraordinary: the way he treats women, Claire first of all. He is respectful. Attentive. Devoted. He always makes sure of his wife being comfortable before starting any conversation. He pays attention to details: if she’s fed, if she’s having her period, if she’s tired. During their intimacy he cares for her pleasure, always putting it before his own. He even learns not to beat her, in a century when it was absolutely normal to! He reveres her professional skills and encourages her to work. This is how any partner should behave. This is what Outlander teaches. We could blame it for having spoiled us, pushing us to set the bar far too high for ordinary people. But honestly – I think not. We all know we’ll have to forego something, for nobody’s perfect, not even JAMMF. But if our bar is that high, we’ll turn down the selfish, childish, small-minded suitors. 9. Have more sex. Outlander, both in the literary and TV versions, definitely is a turn-on. One of Diana Gabaldon's gifts is to be able to write passion scenes wonderfully, not pornographic at all, not even always graphic (sometimes – yes, graphic. Thank you, Diana.) but so hot. And the series, especially in Season 1, has the same gift. “Are you watching your Scottish soft porn again?” some husbands ask. But hey, Outlander fans’ partners are doubtless benefitting from the side effects of this sexy mood: and quite a lot of interesting lovemaking did actually spring from a book reading or series watching session!
10. Have better sex. It’s not just a matter of how often. It’s also a matter of – how. Let’s just say that Outlander gives a lot of ideas, providing quite an assorted overview of what, where, and how things can be done between two lovers. It’s not unusual to read online on forums and groups, confidences regarding this kind of side effect: people who used to be shy about oral sex, or being naked in front of their lovers, or having sex in the open air... and are not any more after Outlander!
11. Reconsider marriage as a cool, sexy condition. Novels are usually about people falling in love and the plot follows this approach: two people get closer and closer, and then they finally declare themselves to the other, and sometimes have sex and/or get married. The end. Some other times the novel starts when a marriage is in the way and something happens, most of the time a betrayal. The married life is often described as boring, monotonous, mind (and body!) numbing. Outlander’s main love story is special because it’s the story of a happy marriage. Husband and wife living together, facing adversities together, enjoying the company of each other in every way. As Diana Gabaldon writes at the end of Written in My Own Heart’s Blood (book eight), “We stood quite still for some time, my cheek against his chest and his face against my hair, drawing strength from each other for whatever might come. Being married.” Claire and Jamie are role models of what a long-lasting marriage relationship should be, to keep husband and wife together. This also means that a lot of middle-aged couples happen to have rediscovered their intimacy thanks to the books and/or the TV series – and that's great! 12. Realize that sex in one's fifties and sixties – and even after! – can be amazing. Yes, great love and sex are possible even after having entered middle age: from Voyager and Season 3 Claire and Jamie are there to prove it. They have a strong, deep physical bond, and have sex very often – to the point where Claire, well into her sixties, starts to struggle if she hasn’t bedded him in a week or so. They also have great pillow talk about their bodies changing and getting older, their hair getting grey, the shape of Claire’s breasts changing, their knees and joints aching. The bottom line is that being gazed at with loving eyes seems to be the one and only antidote to ageing. 13. Care less about money. We're accustomed to judge ourselves and the people around us by how much we earn, what we possess. Sadly sometimes, even unintentionally, we measure potential partners on this parameter: we still use the expression “he/she is a very good catch”, often meaning the person concerned is wealthy. Traditional novels are full of utterly rich and charming lead characters. And then, we stumble on the most beautiful love story ever written, and both the lovers – especially the male – are eminently penniless. Even if Jamie Fraser is – for very short periods of time, in fact – a laird and landowner, he's invariably broke. When he lives large it's usually because he's working for somebody (his uncle Jared Fraser in Dragonfly in Amber) or he's accidentally found some valuables (the gems in Drums of Autumn, the ingots in Echo in the Bone). But he has education, and strength, and charisma. What's money, compared to this?
14. Deal better with physical impairment. At least two of the supporting characters of Outlander are crippled: Ian senior, chosen and married and beloved by Jamie’s sister Jenny, even if he’s lost a leg in France; and Fergus, with a stump in lieu of his left hand that does not prevent him becoming Marsali’s everlasting love – she’ll follow him across an ocean! Even the main character of the saga, Jamie, has his back disfigured by scars, a thick bayonet scar up his left thigh, and, after Echo in the Bone, nine fingers instead of ten, Claire having removed his damaged right fourth finger after a battle. Gabaldon’s world is full of visibly wounded characters: Roger and his damaged throat, the scar perfectly visible on his neck; the one-armed Duncan Innes marrying Jocasta; Bobby Higgins with a brand on his cheek marking him as a murderer, and a damaged eye. Despite their handicaps, these characters don’t lose their standing, the possibility of love and being loved, desire and being desired. What may have appalled before reading Outlander, then, becomes easier to look at, after. As Jamie says in The Fiery Cross after a rather hot private moment with Claire in River Run’s gardens – “Come to think of it, Duncan has still got the one good hand. Ye might mention that to my aunt, if ye think it will help.” 15. Start to study botanics and herbal medicine. With all the medical stuff we can afford in ten minutes in our time, we’ve completely lost the knowledge about what Mother Nature provides for our health. So Outlander fans may be interested in starting a journey with Claire, discovering what plants and flowers can be useful for. 16. Develop an aversion toward lavender. Soap, moisture, conditioner, potpourri: after having read the last one hundred and fifty pages of Outlander (book one), and/or seen the Season 1 finale, it’s nearly impossible to smell that scent without thinking immediately of Black Jack Randall’s perverse behavior. 17. Swoon when you see a man in kilt (if interested in men). You used to consider the typical Scottish male skirt as something next to ridiculous, didn't you? And maybe joke about “Who knows what a Scot wears under it?” After Outlander, though, you'll find the kilt not only practical and versatile but also incredibly elegant, and hot (at least, what's under it). And you may want to try to convince your partner to wear it – some of them actually accept! 18. Become an Outlander dealer – or, better, an evangelist. Let the world know how amazing Outlander is – convincing people, one by one! A lot of us would definitely be entitled to ask for a fee from the publishing house and/or the TV channel, right? For, how many Outlander books and DVDs have we borrowed and made gifts of, or warmly suggested; how many times have we spoken enthusiastically about the “most beautiful love story ever”? Side effect of this side effect – you end up reconsidering some of your friendships. Sadly, it happens: you suggest Outlander to a friend, sure that she/he will thank you forever, and shebang! – they don’t like it. Worse, they dare to diminish it. And you can’t help yourself wondering, “Is it possible to be friends with someone who clearly doesn’t understand worth a damn?” The answer is – yes. Just, do not speak about literature or cinema/TV any more. Never. Ever. 19. Push your friends to read the book in English. This is just for non-English speakers, obviously. The fact is that Diana Gabaldon has not been lucky with translations. In French and Spanish her books (at least the first ones) are shortened, and we’re talking about huge cuts, sometimes nearly 20% of the book cut out – without even making it clear to the readers on the cover (sometimes even lying on said covers, selling horribly shortened versions as “full text” editions!). Plus, when they’re shortened they’re almost always censored: most parts of the hot scenes are cut out. Even when the translations are unabridged, as it happens in Italian for example, they’re often bad – Diana Gabaldon’s fresh, wonderful way of writing becomes heavy, wordy, pedantic. But not everybody has the skills to read in English, of course. So we foreign fans are forced to use Outlander’s sloppily translated books, now and again – usually adding “but, you know, the original version’s so much better.” 20. Become a serial re-reader and re-watcher. Even if, before, you hadn’t ever read the same book twice. Even if, before, you found it boring to watch a movie that you’d already seen. Outlander’s addicting. (Yes, mostly Season 1. Season 1 never let us down. And yes, most of all “The Wedding” episode. That’s better than an antidepressant). 21. Struggle to find other series worth watching. After having experienced Outlander, the world is not the same. “What now?” is the typical question, after having seen episode 13 of Season 3. Ok, you have the re-watch option (see previous point). But at a certain point you’ll feel the need to get out of the Outlander loop. Maybe your partner or family will ask you to watch something else. So, what? The first choice could be Game of Thrones, if you haven’t watched it yet. No particular reason, it’s just another extra well-known, high-budget series – ah, and Tobias Menzies is in it, in a minor role. But in the end... it hasn’t much to do with Outlander. More similar to it is Poldark: same century setting, same land (Cornwall instead of Scotland), a troubled love story. But let's admit it, in Cornwall there are no kilts, no wild Highlanders, no JAMMF. You could watch Vikings: a lot of battles and love and drama there, too. Another choice is to follow the producer, and then there’s the six seasons of Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica (Moore speaks a lot about Battlestar in his Outlander’s podcasts!). Entirely a different genre, but really amazing. The thing is: Outlander’s kind of unique. It’s over the top. 22. Struggle to find other books worth reading. Well, compared to the series (just three seasons so far, forty-two episodes), it will take you a bit more to be completely done with the books. There are eight main books, more or less 10,000 pages to read. Then there’s the Lord John spin-off, with three novels (among which the extraordinary The Scottish Prisoner). Then there are the novellas. And if you’re really obsessed, even the Outlandish Companion, a reference book in two volumes. After all this Gabaldon, you may be ready to return to the normal world and have a look on the shelf: there are books that can measure up to Outlander, actually. Not many, but – there are! ;-) If you’re struggling to find them, just go back to the basics: Charles Dickens and Alexandre Dumas, to name just two. Some fans try to explore the kilt romance line – romantic novels set in Scotland, even with Jamie and Claire mentioned here and there. That’s not without disadvantage: the risk of being disappointed is around the corner. Or you could have a look at a list of the Top 100 Women Writers, or the 20th century’s top one hundred novels. But no matter what you find, sooner or later you’ll feel the need to reopen one of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander books. There's no way of avoiding it. © insideoutlander [English version proofread by Kath at www.gofoolproof.com] More articles in English? 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