This month’s issue of Book magazine lists “The 100 Best Characters in Fiction.” While I disagree with some of their choices–I’m not sure why they ranked Jay Gatsby number one, for starters–it got me started thinking about literary characters I’m especially fond of. Who are your favorite literary characters? Why do you like them so much? I’ll start.
Scout, from To Kill a Mockingbird. She’s wonderful, so tough and funny. The thought of her dressed up as a ham for her school play never fails to make me giggle.
Tony Fremont, from Margaret Atwood’s The Robber Bride . I really identify with her. We’re short historian who like spelling things backwards. Plus, she’s only one of the main characters I don’t ever want to shake until her teeth rattle.
Phillip Marlowe, from the Raymond Chandler books. Well, really, how can you not love him? The classic, hard-bitten, noir detective.
Well, I have to mention Bean from Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card. No doubt THE youngest and smartest kid to ever get into Battle School. A military genius that outranks Ender Wiggin at times, and he’s only five! Plus, he understands how the world works far better than most of the kids in Battle School.
Winston Smith from 1984 by George Orwell. I sometimes relate to him; where I feel I’m the only one in a crowd of robotic drones who questions authority.
Roland of Gilead from the Dark Tower saga by Stephen King. Also, I love Randal Flagg’s character. One of those villans you love to hate.
My personal favorite literary character has always been Sherlock Holmes. A. C. Doyle seemingly created a real, living human being out of whole cloth. Holmes was a genius, yet he was also arrogant, a show-off, and over-confident. He was a good friend, but selfish. Patient but tortured. Artistic yet scientific. He lived a real life, and his characterization never faultered. He comes to life before my eyes every time I read one of the stories or novels.
Doyle didn’t want to be remembered for Sherlock Holmes, but I’ve always considered his excellent characterization to be an extremely worthy literary accomplishment.
Wow, for a character with no lines of dialog, and only appears in person in the last few pages of the book, Boo Radley sure made a lasting impression to the voters. Wish we can all do that with our short lives.
Miles Vorkosigan the protagonist from Lois Bujold’s series. It may not be “hard” sci-fi, but I’ve rarely met a hero who inspired me to root for them as hard as I do Miles.
In no particular order: Quiller, Adam Hall. Bernard Sampson, Len Deighton. Arkady Renko, Matin Cruz Smith. Signy Mallory, C.J Cherryh. Bill, the Galactic Hero, Harry Harrison. Don Quixote, Cervantes. Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain. Redchief, O’henry(?). Kidd, John Sanford. Bob Lee Swagger, Stephen Hunter. Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle. Tom Ripley, Patricia Highsmith. Hannibal Lector, Thomas Harris. Louis Woo, Larry Niven. Speaker to Animals. Larry Niven. Hell Tanner, who the hell wrote Damnation Alley?
What was the criteria? What made them best or important? Literary merit, social commentary, coolness, WHAT?
What do the Cat In The Hat and Boo Radley have in common with Phillip Marlowe?
T.S. Garp from The World According to Garp. In my opinion this is one of the best books and characters I have ever read. Throughout the book I always found myself being able to relate with him. Granted he was one of the strangest characters I have ever read but at the same time one of the most down to earth individuals I can think of.
Yeah, I wondered about their selection criteria, too, carnivorousplant. I wish they had explained it. There were lots of characters from the same books, too. Holden Caulfield, I could see, but his little sister? I dunno…
Is this the same Randall Flagg from The Stand? And also Eyes of the Dragon? If so, is Flagg some sort of time traveler? This is something I’ve been wondering for a long time.
It is indeed. It’s not exactly Time Travel (although I’m sure he can do that, too), but Flagg travels in different dimensions. The when and where in Eyes of the Dragon is the same as Roand’s. The Stand is a different dimension. There are many in the Stephen King universe. In fact, a great book to read is called The Stephen King Universe which describes all this much better than I.
