The Official ARAS Book Club

[giggin]

desraelda said:

I wouldn't desert you guys. I'm here. If you have a question, ask. I'm just really enjoying more people loving this book.

Oh..phew...I was getting a little worried there...*breathes again*

Much as I love Alan, I just can't see him as Jamie (although I wouldn't mind seeing him in a kilt).

...Oh my goodness...It's Olwen's fault I think LOL...it's her signature of Alan in the kilt, that has me visualizing him as Jaime ! Thank's Olwen...I mean...really thanks !

But, the book I'm currently reading is about a very distinguished man, about Alan's age, who loses his wife. In all the crying scenes, I see him as Alex in Snow Cake and that absolutely moving scene in the pink sweatshirt. Can I be pathetic with you?

It's just good to know I'm not the only pathetic one here....lol! Of course you can join me! The more the merrier ;D!

[hermione13snape]

Am I to assume it's a chapter a week then or can we read it how we like and comment on this so far brilliant story at random the way we do with Harry Potter?

[desraelda]

hermione13snape said:

Am I to assume it's a chapter a week then or can we read it how we like and comment on this so far brilliant story at random the way we do with Harry Potter?

Good point. A chapter a week would take us 40 weeks and I don't think anyone could take 40 weeks to read this book without galloping ahead. On the other hand, we're all used to a Harry Potter type discussion and that's a good option.

I'd like to suggest a third option. I found some discussion questions for Outlander which might help us discuss the book more in-depth. The first section is Chs 1-5. If y'all want to do that, I'll post the questions on Friday and give everyone a chance to get through the first five chapters by then.

Either the HP-type discussion or the structured discussion is fine by me.

[hermione13snape]

I wouldn't mind a questionnaire it would make me read it in more detail, and I can manage two more chapters by this Friday I am sure!

[desraelda]

hermione13snape said:

I wouldn't mind a questionnaire it would make me read it in more detail, and I can manage two more chapters by this Friday I am sure!

I just wanted to add, if we decide to go with the question type discussion, that the only rule would be that we can't jump ahead of the section. Anybody can come in at any time and go back to the previous section. No time limits on reading a section at all, just when I would post the questions for discussion, because we all have other demands on our time.

And I don't think we should have to stick directly to the questions, because one thing might lead to another and we'd have a better discussion. The questions are just a way to get started and give us some guidelines.

I also want to say, that one of the questions really made me think about something that never occurred to me and I have to go back and read that part.

[hermione13snape]

Understood Des I can understand and follow that rule!

It will only make reading the book much more fun!

[billywiggy]

Excellent idea Des!

[giggin]

That's a fantastic idea ;D! I can't wait for Friday !

[olwen]

Des You're an angel! The questions sound great.

[desraelda]

Awww shucks, guys ... Blush

Friday it is. Probably about 4pm DST. Or maybe earlier ... can't wait myself.

[cissy]

Des, you have taken an enormous load off my shoulders!!! I was so worried, having never really discussed a non-HP book before like this. Bring on those questions, and make my brain actually work!!!

[desraelda]

I'm so glad everyone is enjoying the book and really pleased that we'll be able to discuss it together. Hope you're reading away. Can't wait until tomorrow.

[desraelda]

Okay, here we go. I thought I would just post the questions for Chapter 1 today. Reading them over again, I thought it was a lot to discuss and by just doing a few questions at a time, we could keep the discussion tighter. If anyone objects, please let me know. If not, I'll post some more questions in a couple of days.

Here they are.

Chapter 1

1) What is your impression of Frank? of Claire?

2) When Claire and Frank are walking back from the Vicarage, they pass a "weathered Pictish stone that..."guarded the crossroads it had marked for a thousand years." What do you think is the significance, if any, of this stone?

3) When Frank sees a "ghost" looking at Claire's window, he suspects she might have been unfaithful to him during the war. Do you think she was? Do you think Frank was unfaithful to Claire during the war?

I'll post my own answers later.

[billywiggy]

Great questions, Des! Can't wait to see what everyone thinks.

1) What is your impression of Frank? of Claire?

Frank seems a bit bookish and cold, frankly. For just being reunited with his wife after a long absence, he seems uninterested in spending too much time with her. They don't 'seem' to really be on a second honeymoon. He seems too distracted by his studies.
Claire comes off as quite a firecracker. Very self-confident and independent. She seems even more modern than I would expect from someone of her generation - but I suppose the war made women more independent for awhile, and we're seeing that in her. I love how she swears! (woman after my own potty mouth )

2) When Claire and Frank are walking back from the Vicarage, they pass a "weathered Pictish stone that..."guarded the crossroads it had marked for a thousand years." What do you think is the significance, if any, of this stone?

Hmmm . . . passing on this one, as I've finished the book.

3) When Frank sees a "ghost" looking at Claire's window, he suspects she might have been unfaithful to him during the war. Do you think she was? Do you think Frank was unfaithful to Claire during the war?

No - I believed her when she answered that she hadn't (and also because she got so very upset), but Frank was so calm . . . led me to believe that he had been unfaithful.

[desraelda]

Great start, Billywiggy. I think we agree about Frank and Claire's personalities. Here's what I came up with.

1) What is your impression of Frank? of Claire?

Frank is a bit of an enigma. He hangs his ties neatly and evenly and gives the impression of someone who could be uptight and priggish. But that’s not the case at all. He plays a joke on Mrs. Baird by pretending to have sex with Claire so Mrs. Baird can hear them. He gets excited by his historical discoveries with Rev. Wakefield, the blood on the doorsteps and Craig Na Dun. He also may have been in dangerous undercover assignments during the War. Claire wonders what his job really was when they are spying on the Druids at Craig Na Dun. It must still be very classified stuff for him not to have told her after they were reunited.

Claire is more obvious and straightforward. She was a nurse in a field hospital dealing with life and death every day. She’s had to be both a survivor and a fighter. I think those traits were part of her personality anyway but they were intensified by the War.

Both Frank and Claire were what their War experiences had made them. They were in the thick of it in two different fields. Their relationship, I think, is more important than my impressions of them individually. Or maybe their personalities and war experiences set the stage for their relationship. I really don’t think they would have been able to stay together. They hung on to their love during the War as a way to get through it. At the time they went to Scotland, they were on an extended honeymoon prior to facing a real married life. Claire’s purchase of the vases is very significant in that regard. I don’t think she would have fit in as an Oxford Don’s wife. She would have been restless and had a hard time suppressing her “field nurse” side. A lot of people were making adjustments after the War and not all of them managed. I think Claire would have been one of them who didn’t manage. Frank had his work and Claire had Botany. How long do you think she would have been happy pressing flowers?

2) When Claire and Frank are walking back from the Vicarage, they pass a "weathered Pictish stone that...guarded the crossroads it had marked for a thousand years." What do you think is the significance, if any, of this stone?

Taken in the context of this chapter, it's just an example of the timelessness of some objects. Something that was there in the 10th Century and still there in the 20th Century.

3) When Frank sees a "ghost" looking at Claire's window, he suspects she might have been unfaithful to him during the war. Do you think she was? Do you think Frank was unfaithful to Claire during the war?

I never made this connection until I read this question. It’s only after seeing this ghost, who is looking longingly at Claire through the window, that it occurs to him she might have been unfaithful. I think Frank had a kind of deja vu or ESP moment when the ghost communicated to him a deep physical and emotional attachment to Claire. Claire hotly denies his charge, but later on, I think Ch 5, she admits she’s had a few other men besides Frank. Whether or not this was during the War isn’t made clear. But Claire was 19 when she married Frank and hadn’t had much time to have a lot of sexual experience. Remember we’re talking about the 1930's when they were married, and Claire led a nomadic life with Uncle Lamb so wasn’t settled in a place long enough to get really involved with any men. Frank being the exception, of course. So, yes, I think she was unfaithful to Frank and he was unfaithful to her. Neither of them are saints and I would be very surprised if they were able to stay faithful.

[billywiggy]

I like your observations about Frank, Des. I had forgotten that bit about him possibly being a spy. That does point to his being a rather controlled person, though - as you would have to be to spy *coughSnapecough*.

As for being unfaithful, I still think she wasn't. She mentions other men, but it seems they were trifles . . . perhaps some flirting or kissing, but I didn't get the impression it was anything more serious than that. She takes her new situation very seriously once she goes back in time, so I know she's taken her vows to her husband seriously.

[desraelda]

billywiggy said:

I like your observations about Frank, Des. I had forgotten that bit about him possibly being a spy. That does point to his being a rather controlled person, though - as you would have to be to spy *coughSnapecough*.

Yes, controlled, but at the same time, flexible enough to adapt to any unexpected situation. As I say that, I realize that's still being in control ... staying in control of a situation that suddenly changes.

As for being unfaithful, I still think she wasn't. She mentions other men, but it seems they were trifles . . . perhaps some flirting or kissing, but I didn't get the impression it was anything more serious than that. She takes her new situation very seriously once she goes back in time, so I know she's taken her vows to her husband seriously.

I had a hard time with this question. As you pointed out, she was genuinely upset that Frank should even suggest it. It wasn't until she said something about the other men that I had to concede to myself that she might have been. I think I'll just try to keep an open mind on this question for the time being.

[hermione13snape]

desraelda said:

Here they are.

Chapter 1

1) What is your impression of Frank? of Claire?

I thought that Frank was a little bit stand offish, I mean they had been separated for a very long time and you'd have thought he WOULD have spent the time after the war getting reacquainted with his wife instead of traipsing around Scotland getting to know his family tree.

As for Claire she was rather liberated but then a lot of women did become liberated after the war when they realised that they WERE worth a damn and could do what the men could, so I think that she was a good symbol of that... I think that Frank could not take it that his little woman was no longer FULLY dependant on him and therefore probably retreated into Geneology to hide it.

2) When Claire and Frank are walking back from the Vicarage, they pass a "weathered Pictish stone that..."guarded the crossroads it had marked for a thousand years." What do you think is the significance, if any, of this stone?

H'mm not sure of this one I suppose there could be because it is described in rather a lot of detail... so yeah there could be a significance but I don't know what.

3) When Frank sees a "ghost" looking at Claire's window, he suspects she might have been unfaithful to him during the war. Do you think she was? Do you think Frank was unfaithful to Claire during the war?

OOOOH Yes I am sorry but after reading further on his ancestor I believe that Frank was not so good after all, I believe he had an affair or two, and his question to Claire showed his guilt for doing it. Because he done it he was afraid she had as well! I don't think Claire was I believe that she loved her husband too much for that! She's feisty but she is loyal!

[giggin]

desraelda said:

Chapter 1

1) What is your impression of Frank? of Claire?

Frank seems like the kind of guy who doesn't know how lucky he is to have the kind of woman he has. For example...Des mentioned the part when he plays a joke on Mrs. Baird by pretending to have sex with Claire, so Mrs. Baird can hear them. My thought is...why doesn't he take this opportunity to actually...you know? The impression I got from Frank was that he did not take their relationship seriously.

Claire seemed independent yet extremely accommodating to Frank. She seems to be a very understanding, free thinking, and observant person.

2) When Claire and Frank are walking back from the Vicarage, they pass a "weathered Pictish stone that..."guarded the crossroads it had marked for a thousand years." What do you think is the significance, if any, of this stone?

I barely remembered this, but sense they were studying ancestry, I figured it would have something to do with an ancestor of one of theirs!

3) When Frank sees a "ghost" looking at Claire's window, he suspects she might have been unfaithful to him during the war. Do you think she was? Do you think Frank was unfaithful to Claire during the war?

I don't think Claire was unfaithful...after Frank and Claire had discussed it a bit...I figured it was an injured soldier who may have had a crush on her at some point, and possibly died during the war in her care. I wasn't sure...but I am really, really interested in that ghost...that's for sure ;D!


My answers are going to sound so lame after I read the whole book aren't they ?

[olwen]

desraelda said:

1) What is your impression of Frank? of Claire?

I'm still not quite sure if Frank is reserved or cold, but he isn't the type of man to get a person's pulse racing. Yet he does manage a tryst with Claire outdoors so perhaps there is emotion under that reserved exterior after all. I felt badly for Claire when Frank refused to entertain the idea of adopting. He seems to have a more closed heart.

I like Claire. I can see why DG made her a time travellor because she is very modern in speech and outlook. She has the no-nonsense approach to life many combat nurses came back with. I imagine she is extremely capable and resourceful.

desraelda said:

2) When Claire and Frank are walking back from the Vicarage, they pass a "weathered Pictish stone that..."guarded the crossroads it had marked for a thousand years." What do you think is the significance, if any, of this stone?

I know the Picts were the first inhabitants of Scotand, Ireland, Wales, etc, before the Celts arrived. I'm not sure why that stone guarded the crossroads, but it seems distinctly ancient, pre-Celtic and pre-Christian. I remember reading in later years that suicides were buried in unmmarked graves on crossroads. I'm not sure at this point what the stone's significance is. Maybe it is symbolic of the timelessness of love.

desraelda said:

3) When Frank sees a "ghost" looking at Claire's window, he suspects she might have been unfaithful to him during the war. Do you think she was? Do you think Frank was unfaithful to Claire during the war?

If they were unfaithful during the war, I imagine they'd be discreet about it and allow it to remain in the past. I think Claire was involved in mild flirtations, but was wise enough to allow them to die naturally before they could cause emotional damage. I'm not sure about Frank; I suspect he'd keep that to himself to avoid hurting Claire.
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