It's Not So Much a Book as a Way of Life

(Caution!!  There is at least one link in this post that is NSFW!  or small children, or the faint of heart.)

So, here we are, 18 or 19 posts and three months into this blogging experiment.  And it seems to be going pretty well.  Only, we've over looked one teeny tiny little thing.  Well, maybe not that little.  More like big.  That big thing is a novel called Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon.  Outlander is a historical, science fiction, romance, action adventure novel that weighs in at a hefty 688 pages, and 2 1/2 pounds in the hardback version.  Oh, did I mention it has (so far) six sequels?  And they're all longer than the original?  And there are three (soon to be four) shorter auxiliary novels that focus on one of the supporting characters?  And two complementary short stories?  And two novellas? And one (soon to be two) guides to help you keep straight all the who's, what's, where's, and when's?  And a graphic novel?  So, it's not so much a novel as a way of life. 

Okay, so we haven't really told you anything that makes you want to actually read this epic?  Allow me to give you a VERY brief synopsis of the story line.  Essentially what we have is a WWII British battlefield nurse who gets transported back to the 18th century thanks to a circle of standing stones in Scotland.  There is some confusion about where she is and how she got there, but basically she ends up married to a 22 year old Scottish virgin who cuts quite the handsome figure in his kilt.  This all takes place in the run up to the Battle of Culloden, which destroyed the Scottish Highland way of life, and the clan system that sustained it.  There is a little bit of back and forth to the twentieth century, but the focus of the last several sequels is basically the ever expanding circle of family that Jamie (the Scottish virgin) and Claire (the nurse) gather around themselves as their lives progress over the next thirty years.  There is quite a bit of swashbuckling, a pleasing amount of history (including cameos by actual historical figures), lots of really well done character development, some laugh out loud twists and turns, and just enough steamy. . . . mmphmm to keep you turning page after page.

(There may or may not also exist a small homemade movie in which we spent many hours casting just the right celebrity to play each character of this beloved masterpiece, but you won't be seeing that here.)

One of us was introduced to the masterpiece by her mother, who was an avid consumer of audio books, and liked really loooonnnnnnggg audio books.  This one of us regrets that it took us a couple of years to recommend it to the other half of the brain, but believe me when I tell you that it was a meeting of the minds (well, mind in our case).

This might qualify as the best book I've ever read (apologies to Pride and Prejudice), and I heartily recommend it to anyone I think might love it as much as I do, but I have to confess, I don't recommend it to everyone I know.  I think I might actually be a little heartbroken if someone I recommended it to didn't like it.  This is not a "beach read", it's not chick lit, or fluff.  It's hard core.  It's a commitment, and like most good commitments, it will repay you a thousand fold if you have the tenacity to see it through.

In case you have several weeks alone in a small igloo booked for this winter, or are planning a round the world plane trip and don't yet own an iPod, or if you're okay with basically ignoring your husband while you make your way through everything, here are the books, in order that they should be read.  But please don't blame us if you open Outlander in November, and close An Echo in the Bone in March, and don't remember how you got there.

Original Canon:

• Outlander
• Dragonfly in Amber
• Voyager
• Drums of Autumn
• The Fiery Cross
• A Breath of Snow and Ashes
• An Echo in the Bone
• also the tentatively titled Written with my Own Heart's Blood, slated for publication sometime in late 2012 (toooo long, toooo long!)

• The Exile, which is the graphic novel, and is basically a retelling of the events at the beginning of Outlander, from a different point of view.  A point of view that includes several buff, naked Scottish behinds.

Auxillary Canon:

These books are ancillary to the main body of work, but as the later sequels progress, they really do add some fascinating insight and backstory to several of the more important minor characters.

• Lord John and the Private Matter
• Lord John and the Hand of Devils
• Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade
• Lord John and the Scottish Prisoner, to be released November 29th, that's roughly 80 days from now, but who's counting.  Oh, wait, I am.

• "Lord John and the Custom of the Army", published as part of an anthology called Warriors, edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
• "Lord John and the Plague of Zombies", part of different Martin/Dozois compilation called Down These Strange Streets

• "A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows", also part of a Martin/Dozois collection, Songs of Love and Death, this one does not deal with Lord John, but rather with the parents of one of the four main characters in Outlander, and helps solves some mysteries, although it leaves new ones wide open.

• "The Space Between", to be published (at an as yet unknown date) in an anthology called The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination edited by John Joseph Adams.  This one involves the offspring of the primary family group in Outlander. 

• The Outlandish Companion - a helpful guide to characters, the impenetrable Gaelic language, DG's writing process, and fascinating trivia about the books
• The Outlandish Companion, Vol. II - same as above but covering the more recent publications.  This one does not have a publication date yet.

• And a Prequel, which doesn't have a title, or any other information other than that it exists in the authors mind, and is apparently part of her current book contract, so eventually (!!) we will get some insight into where our favorite characters came from.  

That's 20 books, and I would guess we're verging on 15,000 pages of writing (okay, I know, because I looked it up on Amazon, and that doesn't include unpublished works for which there is not yet a page count.).  And every one of them worth it.  This might take you a year, it might take you five years, you might race through it in 6 months, but you won't regret it.  And believe me, and the millions of other readers who have made this series such a success, you will reread these again and again.

A.H. and A.V.

The Best of the West (Wing): Part Two

The West Wing.  Oh, the West Wing.  Unapologetically liberal, it was such a soothing presence in the dark days of the early 2000’s.  (Let's be honest, it's a soothing presence, no matter what.  Almost nothing makes me happier than popping in one of my DVDs.)  And no one embodied that liberal mindset like Communications Director Toby Zeigler.  Played to gruff, surly perfection by Richard Schiff, Toby was the one you could count on to say what everyone else was thinking.  Whether he was being blisteringly sarcastic ("I don't know, Josh, but while we're looking, can you tell me a little more about the President's secret plan to fight inflation?") or just gruffly dismissive, he was always spot on.  He knew he was the smartest guy in a room full of smart guys  and he wasn’t going to put up with any bullshit. 

Underneath that brusque exterior there are so many layers. The first generation son of immigrant Jews, he struggled with his father’s past as a member of Murder, Inc.  He doesn’t appear to be very emotional, but he bought his ex-wife a house in a last ditch attempt to woo her (also, let's please remember when Toby was talking to his children for the first time at the hospital right after they're born).  He was often the last person holding their ground in an argument, and the first person willing to disagree with the President.   And yet, he held himself and others to a higher standard because of what they did and where they worked.  His disdain for President Bartlett's choice to replace John Hoynes as V.P., a man named Bob Russell, but more commonly and condescendingly known as Bingo Bob, was evident when he wrote a scathing speech praising the main's soaring ineptitude and unmatched mediocrity (and really, what's better than Toby and Will's reaction when Bingo Bob confronts them about their speech?). 

He was sad and moody, but he loved language and used it beautifully, he could be sentimental, arranging a military funeral at Arlington National Cemetery for a homeless veteran found dead while wearing an old coat of Toby’s that had been donated to charity (this makes me cry every time I see it, especially when he's walking with Mrs. Landingham at Arlington).  He developed a crush on the United States poet laureate, a blonde sylph of a woman who disagreed with him on many levels, but whose poetry touched him.  And he loved his children, who, by the way, come with hats(!), and asked the first woman Chief Justice to sign a copy of the Constitution to his infant daughter (one of my favorite scenes!).

Toby did not show emotion easily, but you could always tell he loved those that he loved with his whole heart.  The emotion in his voice and on his face when he find Josh Lyman shot in the abdomen in the season finale of season one is heart wrenching (do we know why Richard Schiff didn't win an Emmy JUST for this scene alone?!).  He is annoyed with his father, a convicted felon after all, for coming to the White House, but displays a touching tenderness beneath the annoyance and anger.  He was protective of his best friends, Josh, CJ, Sam, and loyal to a fault.  When Will Bailey left his job as speechwriter to the President to go work for Bingo Bob Russell, Toby's feeling of betrayal was almost palpable.  He also had a quirky, and often sarcastic sense of humor that made him relatable, even when he was at his most prickly (and who better to point out sarcasm in others than one as sarcastic as Toby: "Sarcasm's a disturbing thing coming from a woman of your age, Mrs. Landingham.").  He clearly took great joy in ribbing the President about his obsessive interest in Thanksgiving turkeys, asking the President for advice on the right blend of herbs and seasonings for his holiday bird, even thought the President knows Toby has no intention of cooking a Thanksgiving turkey (one of the Best Toby Scenes EVER).

Like a lot of us, Toby isn't easily defined as one thing or another, he doesn't fit in a tidy little box.  But I think I can say that while Toby Ziegler is my favorite West Wing character for a lot of reasons, but it primarily boils down to one storyline in the last season of the series.   Basically, there is an accident aboard the International Space Station, there are no shuttles available to rescue the astronauts aboard, except for a secret military shuttle whose existence has been closely guarded.  The military does not want it to be public knowledge, and the decision is made not to use it in a rescue attempt.  Toby is aware of it through his brother, who was a mission specialist prior to his death, and leaks it to a reporter.  Once it is widely known, the military’s hand is forced and the astronauts are brought home safely. 

Toby revealed classified information.  I either don’t remember or never knew the precise charges against him (at the very least, wasn't one of the charges treason?), but they would have resulted in five years in prison had the President not pardoned him.  What I do know is that I admire someone willing to spend half a decade in prison for their principles.  And  I would like to think that the men and women who actually do our government’s work at the highest levels have the same sense of integrity and principle that Toby does. 

Toby Ziegler wasn’t an easy man to like, but I’d like to think I could have been his friend.  Or at least his intern (watch out for those White House interns...).

To wrap up, here's a clip (sorry, it's a little long, but worth it!), that demonstrates quite a few of Toby's better traits, and features his ex-wife, Andy.  He manages to be decisive, brusque, and slightly frightened of her all at the same time.   This is one of my favorite speeches of Toby's, enjoy.

A.H.

The Best of the West (Wing): Part One

I didn’t start watching “The West Wing” until a couple of years after the show actually ended its run on TV.  A friend let my dad borrow all seven seasons on DVD, and after some protesting (due to a misguided attempt at extra credit points in a college government class for watching one episode, not occurring to me then that it would’ve been a lot better if I’d seen the show from the beginning), I gave in and started watching it.  I was drawn in by the witty banter of the characters (thank you, Aaron Sorkin), and by the end of the pilot episode, I was hooked.

My favorite “The West Wing” character is Josh Lyman, played by Bradley Whitford.  (Sidebar: while this post isn’t actually about Bradley Whitford, let’s just take a moment to reflect on what an amazing actor he is… ready, set, GO… I have two letters for you: E and R.  If you’ve never seen the episode of “ER” called “Love’s Labor Lost” from season 1, go watch it immediately.)

(Don’t screw around with her about this either, believe me when I tell you that she is VERY serious about both Bradley Whitford and E.R., put them together and she just. Won’t. shut. Up. About it.)

I think my favorite thing about Josh Lyman is that he’s such a “real” character (yes, yes, that does seem like an oxymoron).  I mean, the man is the White House Deputy Chief of Staff, but he still manages to act like a dork most of the time.  In fact, even though he DOES act like a dork most of the time, the dorky things he does are real enough to be plausible that someone could actually do them.  Here are just a few of my favorite dorky Josh moments:

1.    “Take This Sabbath Day” (season 1, episode 14): Josh goes to a bachelor party, gets wasted, goes back to his office at the White House and passes out.  Donna finds him and wakes him up, reminding him sharply that he has a meeting with Joey Lucas.  She also notes that this clothes look like he’s been sleeping in a dumpster, so she takes them to a 1-hour dry cleaner.  Unfortunately, Josh has nothing to wear in the meantime, so he’s forced to wear bright yellow rain gear throughout this meeting.

(Also, you can almost SEE how bad he must smell, one of those hangovers where the unmetabolized alcohol is just oozing from his pores.  It’s not Josh’s finest moment.  But it might be one of Donna’s.)

2.    “The U.S. Poet Laureate” (season 3, episode 16): Josh finds a website dedicated to himself, called lemon-lyman.com.  Despite Donna’s protests and valid reasons why he shouldn’t, Josh finds himself compelled to comment on the message boards on the website, prompting the Evil Dictator of a moderator to comment further on what an idiot he is.  CJ ends up finding out about this (because she is, after all, the White House Press Secretary), and proceeds to verbally thrash Josh for being a moron.  

(Hee-hee.  The is an excellent lesson for all of us on why it’s useless to respond to internet trolls, whether you are a well known public figure, or just a regular reader of the comments on CNN.com news stories.  You just can’t win with these freaks.)
 
3.    “Inauguration: Part  2 – Over There” (season 4, episode 14): After realizing that Donna was, in fact, not the one who gave a nasty quote to a reporter about loyalty in the White House, Josh gets Toby, Charlie, Danny, and Will (all dressed in tuxedos for one of many Inaugural Balls) to go to Donna’s apartment to get her out.  Donna, being all dressed up for the balls herself, is hiding because she’s embarrassed about the quote (which was actually given by her boyfriend).  Josh and his band of merry men start throwing snowballs at Donna’s windows to get her attention since she’s not answering her phone or their yells from down below.   Finally, Donna comes down, everything is worked out, and in a touching display of chivalry, Josh takes off his coat to put around Donna’s shoulders (she is wearing an evening gown in DC in January, after all).

Let’s also take into account that I think Josh is pretty sexy (again, though, in a nerdy kind of way).  Yes, Sam Seaborn (played by Rob Lowe) is sexy in a chiseled jaw, seeeexy kind of way, but there’s just something about Josh (maybe it’s the name, since I married a Josh…).

(Oh, Rob Lowe’s chiseled jaw, mmmmmm, it’s so. . . . . . . . . chiseled.  Also, I’d like to go on the record, that though we share a brain, we do NOT share an attraction to Bradley Whitford’s dorkiness.)

Josh is also a character with serious issues, too.  In “What Kind of Day Has It Been,” the season finale of season 1, gunmen open fire into the rope line as President Bartlet and his staff are walking back to their limos.  Josh, among others, is shot and seriously wounded, only to be found by Toby (which, despite the fact that it’s a very short scene when he finds Josh, it’s one of my all-time favorite “The West Wing” moments…Toby’s voice cracks as he starts calling for help after finding Josh and realizing he’s wounded, and it’s such a sad and scary moment all in one) at the beginning of the season two premiere (“In the Shadow of Two Gunmen (Part 1)”).  He undergoes MAJOR surgery while the rest of the cast worries and waits to hear news of his recovery.

(Keep tissues nearby if you are watching this episode for the first time, it’s a tearjerker.)

Later on in season 2 (“Noel”), Josh starts seeing a shrink for treatment of PTSD.  The acting in this episode reminds me a LOT of the episode of “ER” that I mentioned earlier, and again, the acting abilities of Bradley Whitford are amazing – shown off by the fact that he won an Emmy for season two of “The West Wing.”
I really could go on and on about how much I love the character of Josh Lyman, but I’ll stop now because you’re probably all thinking I’m nuts anyway (which I’m very much okay with).  To close, here’s a clip of a great (non-dorky) Josh Lyman scene.  I could listen to him talk about government and politics (and yes, even Islamic extremism {because this episode, “Isaac and Ishmael,” which was the season premiere of season 3, which aired just a few weeks after September 11, 2001}) all day long, but for now, here’s a 3 ½ minute clip.

A.V.

Wilkommen!

Think of this blog as a multimedia record of what it's like to share one brain between two people.   Because we agree on many things and yet disagree on many things, opinions expressed here only represent half of us at any given point in time.  We'll leave it to you to figure out which half is which.

A.H.