but then, Jack Randall's need to totally subjugate and crush Jamie seems to me to be the absolute darkest possible thing any human soul could want......you know, like the Koch Bros et al.......I'm not actually kidding there....they have no need of money, so clearly crushing as much of humanity as possible via financial strangulation and deprivation of an increasing number of basic human needs is a sport to them and their cohorts... I see Jack Randall as a symbol for them. Such incredibly hideous life forms have always existed among the human race, and still do; it is just the methods they use that alter a bit with time, technology, and the particular civilization...methods that are more subtle....and do seem to include a desire to have the victims adoring them as well.........
The darkest parts were psychological, in my opinion...and that truly is the central point of this...and Jamie's responses over time throughout the books. I think the TV version did an excellent job portraying this, and most of the violence was implied, not explicitly shown.
As I've read the books, I realize how truly comfortable humanity is (in this country) these days, compared to human existence in other periods of history. None of the violence I have read in the books seemed gratuitous, but rather, simply the unavoidable reality of living in those times and those places. It makes me realize how fortunate I am to have been born in the time and place that I was.
If anyone else has read the books and recalls what Sam Heughan is referring to, could you please PM me? I'm way too far into book 5 to go back and flip through book 2. The last 300-400 pages of any of the Outlander Books is just too exciting for me to ever put down. This must be what a crack addict feels like. Diana's writing is exquisite. Her knowledge of so many things...various cultures, history, medicinal practices, horticulture, and so many other tidbits she has in her books continues to amaze me. And if I could stop reading long enough to google some definitions, I would have added a large number of words to my vocab...not so many as to be overwhelming, but more, intriguing...guess I'll do that on a re-read. I never re-read, but I can see me doing it with these books. They are spectacular.
The first time it was on my tv, I was hurriedly preparing to leave for a family emergency, while my hubby and a friend watched it in the other room. I kept hearing sounds of horror from them...rushed into living room to see...OMG it was 2 men kissing! Come on, this is 2015! Given that I knew the story line, having read the books, and they did not, when they started with this extreme response to that, I suppose that made me toss aside their other reactions later.... there were similar responses from them for other things as well on the TV screen, which showed actually very little, but intimated much more.
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