On the I, Claudius appreciation thread, Miss Mapp said something that really caught my attention:
I absolutely agree about Miss Mapp’s two choices and the cheekbone problem. But I have one more role model, who’s my real favorite - Ilisidi in C.J. Cherryh’s Foreigner series.
For those of you who don’t know it, C.J. Cherryh’s Foreigner series is a wonderful group of science fiction books. There are five now, another coming out in November, and Cherryh has a contract for three more.
I hope I’m not breaking any board rule, but I have to give a little plot summary to explain who Ilisidi is. Please forgive me if I transgress. This isn’t really a spoiler, it’s basic background.
A group of spacefaring humans have been marooned on an alien planet for a couple of centuries, and they are confined to a single island. One of the humans is appointed ambassador/translator to the aliens (the “atevi”). The protagonist, Bren, currently fills this ambassador/translator role. And one of the atevi he interacts with is Ilisidi, the grandmother of the current shogun-like ruler (there are numerous resemblances to feudal Japan in atevi culture and history).
Rumor has it that Ilisidi murdered her son, the current ruler’s father (or maybe the ruler did it). Ilisidi is ruthless and intriguing and infinitely cunning, she has a sense of humor and she’s absolutely wonderful. I want to be just like her when I grow up.
Does anybody else here know and love Ilisidi? Have you any other fictional role models for later life? Is this just something women think about - how about you men?
Dr. Anton Phibes: Cultured, intelligent, a true romantic, and willing to spend to spend decades setting up a cruel and gruesome revenge for the slightest perceived wrong done to him or those he cares about.
Carry on.
Alexis Zorba, from Zorba The Greek, in the later years when he send letters to The Boss. Still happy, finding joy in living his life his own way, still charming enough to love and marry a 25-year old pretty Slav girl, and not give a damn what anyone else thinks about it.
Bu t I’d settle for being Ned Atkins, Robert Ruark’s grandfather (not fictional, but probably “enhanced” in the writer’s memory) from his memoir, The Old Man And The Boy. Wise but not pompous, cranky but not pushy, educated but coarse, aware of his limits as he ages but not bitter about it, and able to enjoy passing on what he knows with out wearing out his welcome.
“I am an old boar coon. I’m too old and sot in my ways to learn a mess of new teachin’. I have seen the elephant and heard the owl. I don’t do nothin’ I do except for a reason. The reason may not suit other people, but it suits me fine, because I have tried it all and made two mistakes for every mistake I didn’t make. I am what you might call a momument to trial and error.”
I’d like to be like Dr. Hannibal Lecter, without the actual murdering and cannibalism. He’s a super-genius, he’s polite, has good tastes in music and such (no pun intended), and has extreme patience. Also, he can make the most out of boring situations (i.e. his “Memory Palace” in the book Hannibal).
And he doesn’t take crap from anyone.
I’ve also wanted to be like Jenny Fields in The World According to Garp. I’ve always admired her.