One always has one or more literary characters which one finds particularly fascinating. They may remain with one during a good part of oneīs life but they also may change as oneīs literary tastes changes.
Describe a favorite character of yours and the reasons why he/she is a favorite with you.
"I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row
I try to keep a consciousness that the characters I read about are only ink and paper. I learn what I can from them and move on. But there are a few that seem unusually vivid to me. Sun Wukong, the monkey king from Journey to the West is one. I like his weird mix of innocence and arrogance, especially in the first third of the book (before he tries to reform). There's just no one like him in literature.
I also like Stubb, the second mate of the Pequod in Moby-Dick, whose philosophy (for better or worse) was:"I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, Ill go to it laughing." What was coming was death, and sure enough he laughed.
Last edited by Pompey Bum; 10-11-2016 at 02:49 PM.
Pierre Bezuhov (War and Peace). He is acts the way he is regardless of company, and is in constant search of happiness and purpose, I find him very relatable.
"History is the nightmare from which I am trying to awake"-Stephen Dedalus
Pierre was supposed to be Tolstoy writing about himself (or at least his younger self and all the mistakes he made). My favorite part of his story is when he becomes a prisoner of war and actually has to grow up. I find him very easy to relate to as well.Originally Posted by thekingrat
So Danik, how would you answer your own question?
Thanks for the interesting posts, PB and King. I read Moby Dick and War and Peace a long time ago and enjoyed both very much at the time but donīt remember the details any more.
From Moby Dick I remember of course Ishmael and Queequeg (not sure about the spelling) but neither Stubbs nor Starbuck. But I liked the vivid account you gave of Stubbs
Pierre I remember very vaguely as an ungainly but very sympathetic character.
Favorite characters come and go with the books one reads But I remember two favorite characters, which impressed me and stayed with me for a long time. One of them is Sydney Carton from A Tale of Two Cities. What I think interesting about the book besides the historical part are its double aspects and the underground and shadowy aspects that arise from it. There are two cities and there are also two protagonists. Sydney is the shadow protagonist: he has a cynical side as the talented lawyer who has to live out his permanent failure, and a sublime side which can only express itself through sacrifice. If this book was written in our days possibly the cinicism would take over and Carton wouldnīt have any chance for sacrifice or something would go terribly wrong. Set in a context where the good used to win, he succeeded.
Another character that fascinates me is Simon from Lord of the Flies by William Golding. He is again a sacrificial character, a boy whith special sensibility, who feels that things are going awry and why, so he sets out to fight the source of their fear and gets killed by his own companions who confuse him with the monster. So Simonsīs sacrifice has an ironic meaning: the boys learn though it how far they are able to go to survive.
But the Dickenīs discussion in another thread reminded me of my favorite character in Little Dorrit: Mr. Fīs aunt. She made me laugh a lot and she knew exactly where the danger to Mr. Fīs cherished memory lay, for she might be mad but she wasnīt stupid.
"I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row
Oh, the crazy aunt in Little Dorrit. Yes, she's great. I also like Miss Flite from Bleak House, the crazy lady with the caged birds (Joy, Youth, Peace, Rest, Life, Dust, Ashes, Waste, Want, Ruin, Despair, Madness, Death, Cunning, Folly, Words, Wigs, Rags, Sheepskin, Plunder, Precedent, Jargon, Gammon, and Spinach) who keeps talking about the Final Judgment. I think on the whole I prefer the minor characters in Bleak House to the major ones. That's probably true of Little Dorrit, too.
Lol! I had forgotten Miss Flite!
"I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row
There are some great minor villains in Bleak House, too, like Smallweed, a slightly crazier version of Scrooge, and Krook, who is so demonic he spontaneously combusts. Now those are characters.
John Ridd from Lorna Doone.
I like his simple incorruptable knowledge of right and wrong. He has no hidden agenda or strategy, he is an unchangeing granite block in the middle of the story, cleverer, more sophisticated men can only dash themselves to pieces against him. He wins by doing the simple honest thing. I also like the way he carries sheep about through deep snow - one under each arm.
Last edited by prendrelemick; 10-11-2016 at 01:13 PM.
ay up
I never read anything by Lorna Doone, but maybe John is a bit similar to Gabriel Oak in Far from the Madding Crowd. One of the important scenes is when he saves the sheep from a disease which fills their stomach with air.
"I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row
As for Dickens, when I first read his books I was interested in his main characters. But today what fascinates me more is the colourful often bizarre world he creates around them. For example Miss Havisham in her static decadence seems quite modern to me.
Last edited by Danik 2016; 10-11-2016 at 01:31 PM.
"I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row
A little bit perhaps, but Gabriel lived in quieter times.
Sorry, I've just noticed The book is Lorna Doone by RD Blackmore. I didn't make it very clear.
Last edited by prendrelemick; 10-11-2016 at 02:48 PM.
ay up
Itīs ok, prendre. I just looked it up and put the link here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorna_Doone
Many ups and downs in the plot indeed.
"I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row
For me, Miss Havisham IS the main character in Great Expectations !
Miss Bates in Emma for me though. Every time she starts talking, my heart lifts. You can see why Emma finds her irritating (I would) although Emma's perfect manners prevent her expressing it except at Box Hill, but Miss Bates is a deeply sympathetic character for all her silliness.
Last edited by Jackson Richardson; 10-12-2016 at 11:45 AM.
Previously JonathanB
The more I read, the more I shall covet to read. Robert Burton The Anatomy of Melancholy Partion3, Section 1, Member 1, Subsection 1
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