Outcast Paperback – October 30, 1995

ROSEMARY SUTCLIFFE, a British author who died only in 1992, created many memorable books, ostensibly in the "young adult" category. However, her prose is so sophisticated, that it defies the "young adult" category, and has always been, to the librarians of my acquaintance, anyway, the "young adults" author with the most complex sentence-structure, and the most "adult, grown-up" story-lines. (Here on Amazon, this book, 'THE OUTCAST' is listed as for people aged "10 and up"!)"THE OUTCAST" is the mesmerizing, totally involving story of Beric, who, as an infant, was the only survivor of a Roman shipwreck. He is adopted into a primitive British tribe, despite the warnings of some of the members of that tribe that adopting an "outsider" will do the tribe no good. Beric, happy and secure in his place in the tribe, reachers his teen-age years -- but bad things begin to befall the tribe, and Beric -- whose origins have never been forgotten -- is blamed for these occurences. His friends turn against him, and he is....cast out.Astonished, hurt, and alone, Beric starts out. He winds up -- as might be expected of a penniless wanderer in Roman times -- as a house-slave. Things get worse, however, and he is soon made a galley-slave. The conditions of degradation of galley slaves were never more completely and horrifically described -- except, perhaps, in the original "Ben-Hur", with which tge sadly lesser-known Ms. Sutcliff's descriptions, are on a total par. Missing from "Ben Hur", however, is any semblance of the description of Beric's oar-mate in "THE OUTCAST". It is a sensitive description of a sensiitive, and doomed young artist, and the story of how this young artist was sent to the galleys is a story-within-a-story, which could have been the basis for another novel, all by itself. Beric's story -- and that of his oar-mate -- are tales that never leave one's consciousness, (or at least, they have not left mine), once one reads them.An epic drama, so very, very well told. I loved this story as a young girl, and still love it today. It is to Ms. Sutcliff's credit that, as a young girl, I naturally preferred my historical novels to have a heroINE as the main character.But "THE OUTCAST" is irresistable in its telling and in its story. It is the ONLY book that, as a budding-feminist-without-knowing-it, I still immensely enjoyed -- even though the main protagonist was a teen-age boy, and not a teen-age girl!The ONLY reason this book may be categorized as a "young adult" novel is that the protagonist IS a teen-ager. But it is an involving, satisfying read for ALL ages, and both genders -- from precocious pre-teen, to those of the age of centenarian plus! This is a book with strong and sometimes painful scenes -- but it is still one of the most satisfying books I have ever read.A classic of the highest order, for all time, and one that should be far better known. As with most of the historical novels I have read, I imagine that "THE OUTCAST" would make one heck of an outstanding motion picture!

The novel Outcast was written by Rosemary Sutcliff. It is the story of a Roman infant who was adopted by a Celtic family after his family died in a ship wreck. He’s never fully accepted by the tribe and, as a young man, is driven out of the village as bad luck. He winds up kidnapped and sold into slavery. He is finally made a galley slave living under wretched conditions. He is whipped virtually to death, thrown overboard for dead, washes up on the British coast and is taken in by a Roman engineer. The novel is very well written. For the most part, the novel is well researched. The first half or more is basically an action story and the last one third is sort of a coming of age story of the boy-now-man dealing with life as it is rather than as it should be.Rosemary Sutcliff is an excellent writer. I am always taken by her phraseology, and her detailed and colorful descriptions of the world around her characters. One small historical inaccuracy—Romans generally didn’t use chained slaves to row their military galleys in this time period (probably sometime in late antiquity between 50-400 CE). Chained slaves weren’t used to any great extent in the west until late in the Middle Ages. Romans used a special class of sailor or marine who, if needed, could drop his oar, pick up a spear or pike and fight the enemy.The novel is probably most appropriate to young adults, although seniors will also enjoy it. The description of treatment of galley slaves can be brutal—but probably not too graphic for a young adult. The first half or more of the story moved right along. There was no bloody violence. I was disappointed by the last one quarter of the book. In my opinion the author could easily have shortened the text in which the hero has a catharsis. But I’m a guy and prefer action over emotion.I give the novel a rating of three for two reasons. First, Romans didn’t use galley slaves in the way they are portrayed in this novel. Most readers will be more familiar with Ben Hur and will overlook that small inaccuracy. My major problem was with the slowness of the last part of the novel. I had a hard time getting through that portion of the novel.

Wrenching tale with forward looking ending. Happy ending? Hope springs eternal. This is adult fare for really adept readers ...older kids...12 and up I would say...tough going for this old adult! Extraordinary vocabulary and adult themes. I Ioved the challenge and demands of this book. MS Sutcliff is obviously a student of the Roman era and the life and times of the Romans themselves and the far reaching swath of territory they ruled, regulated, remade and influenced. A real education lies in this book and her many others Cannot wait to read more. Highly recommended.

This was one of my all time favorite books when I was around twelve years old, and now rereading it as an adult I still love it. It tells the story of Beric, Roman by birth, but orphaned as a baby and adopted into a British tribe. He fights valiantly for acceptance but through no fault of his own becomes an outcast. Then his own people, the Romans, enslave him. Even when he is sent to the galleys, he retains his courage and human decency. Rosemary Sutcliff writes beautifully, and her compassion and understanding for her young hero makes this a deeply moving book. It's not a childish story. There is real suffering and real loss here. It is impossible not to empathize with Beric. We root for him to survive and triumph against all odds. The story is well plotted and absorbing. In my opinion OUTCAST is the best of the many outstanding novels by this very fine writer of historical fiction. It is simply great.

Longstanding favourite of mine. Rosemary Sutlcliffe was an excellent story teller.This book is one of my favourite books about Romano Britain. This tale of a boy who never belonged, becoming a house slave, a galley slave and eventually choosing the Eagles is sometimes heart breaking. You can almost hear the oars dipping, the Roman galleon creaking, the crack of the whip and the unforgiving beat of the drum.Rosemary Sutcliffe and Henry Treece were my go to authors for historical fiction as a child and they did not pale by comparison to Scott, Malory or Stevenson, whose books I also loved.

I must first say that I have always rated Rosemary Sutcliff *extremely* highly as an author; I loved her books when I was younger, and they are still worth re-reading now. She has a high standard of historical accuracy, not only in the material facts of Roman culture, but in the attitudes of her charaters - they are people of *their* time, not ours. Yet they never seem remote, they are alive, and real, and one cares about their fate.Beric stands in the usual tradition of Sutcliff's protagonists, who are always crippled either physically or emotionally. Perhaps that is the strength of her novels, which take the theme of the outsider finding a place for himself in a harsh world. Sutcliff's own situation, progressively finding herself increasingly crippled by Still's disease, and isolated in an era where disability was considered something shameful, may inform her creation of her heroes (for details of this author's life, read  Blue Remembered Hills: A Recollection ). Certainly, she, and we, have immense sympathy for her 'outsiders'.However, this is one of Sutcliff's grimmest tales. The sheer unremitting onslaught of adversity that she throws at Beric can seem overwhelming, and for this reason I would not recommend this story to younger children. And does it have a happy ending? Only by the standard of what has gone before - Beric finds a solution to his feelings of rootlessness, but he was still probably at his happiest in chapter 1! (Sutcliff does not deal in trite endings - no fortuitous denouements here! - her character's problems are real, not the result of misunderstandings or imaginings.)So why only 4 stars? Probably I am being harsh, and comparing Sutcliff to her own high standard. But the tone here is uniformly bleak, and unfortunately her realism in human reactions here is not matched by her usual standards of historical accuracy: she perpetuates the myth that Roman galleys were rowed by convicts or slaves (whilst incidentally providing a very good portrayal of life (and death) aboard a 16th century Mediterranean galley - these were powered by convicts and slaves!)So, a very good read, and not to be missed - but for Sutcliff at the peak of her powers, try  The Lantern Bearers (Eagle of the Ninth)  or  The Mark of the Horse Lord . Blue Remembered Hills: A RecollectionThe Lantern Bearers (Eagle of the Ninth)The Mark of the Horse Lord

I am a huge fan of Rosemary Sutcliff and would utterly recommend her to anyone looking for books to buy for children, I have read many of her books to my Grandson and I am not sure who enjoyed them more, for children there is almost always a young man or woman who is often on the cusp of adulthood and not quite fitting in, and for adults there is also the lyrical description of the countryside, oh and there are dogs....

This is a great novel. Like other books by Rosemary Sutcliff, it gives the reader a vivid experience of life in the historical period, is well plotted, well, structured, and well written. It's easy to root for this young man whose lives we share, first in a Celtic tribe, then as slave in a wealthy Roman family.But it's close to heart-breaking several times. The adversities and injustices this young man faces are grim.It's perhaps Rosemary Sutcliff's grimmest book, and I would not recommend it for children. For adults and older teenagers, yes, but only if you're prepared for a sad, grim story. Although things end well, there's so much sadness, it may be too much for readers looking for an exciting escapist historical tale.

She is so worht reading. Such simple prose. Such a heart. Should be required reading! Perhaps I go to far, but she has a way of making her characters admirable!