Plus, the only thing on my mind is the fact that I got a signature from Rick Riordan, and I just want to sit in bed for a few days and reread Percy Jackson. I'm mildly embarrassed, because when I meet people I really respect or admire, I get really red and speak incoherently, so he probably thinks I'm an idiot. I don't care. I have his signature. By the way, what is it with famous people having dramatically loopy signatures? I guess you have to work on that when you become famous. He's really nice, but most authors are. Public relations, doncha know. Either way, very exciting stuff.
Instead, I think I'll just throw this out there for discussion. I've been thinking (since reading Percy Jackson), about my favorite literary characters. Percy broke my top ten list. So, I'm going to put mine out there (in no particular order) as I give my brain a reprieve from demanding, difficult Megara.
1) Jane Eyre from "Jane Eyre"
2) Aravis from "The Chronicles of Narnia"
3) Percy Jackson from "Percy Jackson and the Olympians"
4) Albus Dumbledore from "Harry Potter"
5) Scarlett O'Hara from "Gone With the Wind"
6) Ella from "Ella Enchanted"
7) Gemma from "A Great and Terrible Beauty"
8) Pan from "The Great God Pan"
9) Henry from "The Time Traveler's Wife"
10) Augustine St. Clare from "Uncle Tom's Cabin"
These are the ones I can come up with right now. I know I'm going to think of another one two seconds after I post this. Mind you, these are not my favorite books, necessarily. These are characters that are charismatic and stand alone without plots. Most of them are main characters, but a few are not.
Honestly, I think it's a huge accomplishment when the main character (especially from first person) stands out the most, because it's easy to make them a narrator-esque person that gets lost in all of the other personalities. Like "Twilight." The Cullens are standouts in that series. Bella is not interesting. Sorry, Stephenie Meyer, but Bella doesn't catch my interest. She's not a bad character; she's just rather bland.
Ditto with Harry Potter. I would call it the Harry and Bella syndrome, where I find the side characters immensely more intriguing.
Let's contrast with the strongest two characters on this list, hands down: Ella and Percy. I'm not hating on the classics, it is just enormously impressive to me when a character that narrates is the strongest character in the story. Ella and Percy do not let others (no matter how charismatic the supporting cast is) overshadow them. They shine consistently the whole way through. Good for them!
That's my list for now. Like I said, I could probably think of more if I sit here for a while. What are your favorite ten literary characters?
Heathcliff Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights) and Scarlett O'Hara are at the top of my list. They've got so much personality, they don't really need their respective books to exist.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the Harry and Bella syndrome. Frodo Baggins is at the top of that list for me. Also, Aang from Avatar (not literary, but still). I don't necessarily think that a character has to have attitude to be interesting, but I can't abide by self-pity or emo behavior. Harry, Bella, and Frodo are my go-to examples for narrators I detest.