Good books with character development and hope

[ucdawg12]

lol sorry in advance if this is a strange request.

i am a college sophmore and my awareness of character development has really matured lately, and i want to read a lot more of it. most of the character development i have experienced has been through tv, (well i am a television student ;) ) but i have also read a few books lately that have had good character development in them as well, and i found them quite enjoyable. Ender's Game and Native Son are the books that come to mind.

I am not really a big reader, but I think it is because of my inability to find the right books. Those two books I mentioned were very easy reads for me but I would say I was lucky to stumble upon them (Native Son was for my writing class and ender's game i was really lucky in stumbling upon) but I do not know where I can find more like them.

I am actually thinking that all good books probably have good character development which is why this might seem a strange request, so I guess I should include themes of hope in the books I want to read. I find depressing\discouraging books hard to get interested in unless I can really connect with the characters right off the bat, and they have to be really good characters for that to happen. I just find inspirational stories to be much more powerful than the depressing ones.

I am wondering if anyone can help me out and possibly recommend some books to me that contain hope and good character development, and maybe for future reference, any way I can find these books on my own without having to disturb a community. There are so many books out there and I just don't trust "professional" reviewers for any medium but I find that a somewhat united opinion often works best for me...

Thanks

[doshiro07]

Hey. I'm new to this forum. this is my first post... I was looking for who coined the phrase "ignorance is bliss" and I found this.

Anyway, The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat has character development. I'm a senior in high school, and I was writing a paper about that book for school. The character changes a lot. Hope that helps.

[bazarov]

Anything from Dostoevsky (especially Crime and Punishment) or Tolstoy, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Patrick Sueskind - Parfem.

[Scheherazade]

To Kill A Mockingbird.

[TodHackett]

John Irving's strong on character, and fun to read besides. Vonnegut's _Mother Night_, Ellison's _Invisible Man_, Arthur Miller's _Focus_ and West's _Miss Lonelyhearts_ are good stories about identity and the ways it can be threatened or understood in modern society. Though I'm afraid they're not really long on "hope".

Take a look at Masters' _Spoon River Anthology_-- it's basically a collection of short (10-20 line) character glosses. As you read it, though, you find little secrets, cabals and trysts; stories about relationships and how they were formed or broken. It's like a 19th century soap opera, but much better.

Bazarov is right about Dostoevsky... esp. _The Brothers Karamozov_. There's also an American author-- David James Duncan-- who wrote a book called _The Brothers K_. It's loosely based on Dostoevsky's work, but HIGHLY Americanized (one of the main themes is baseball) and set in the 1960s. It's sad at times-- heartbreaking even-- but ultimately hopeful.

Also, let me put a word in for Ann Patchet(sp?)'s _Bel Canto_. AND, as a "television student", you should look into Palahniuk's _Survivor_.

Cheers, and happy reading!

[Mark F.]

Try something by James M Cain, like "The Postman Always Rings Twice". It's very easy to read as it's written in a very direct and hard-boiled style and as it's a first person narrative you're really with the character throughout the story. Also Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" might be the right kind of classic novel for you.

[Whifflingpin]

Go Saddle the Sea - Joan Aiken

Giles Goat-Boy - John Barth

Henderson the Rain King - Saul Bellow

The House of the Four Winds - John Buchan

MF - Anthony Burgess

John Halifax, Gentleman - Mrs Craik

Tulku - Peter Dickinson

The Other Wind - Ursula le Guin

Atomised - Michel Houellebeqc

The Bone People - Keri Hulme

The Story of Pi - Yan Martel

Foxfire - Joyce Carol Oates

Don Quixote USA - Richard Powell

The Kingdom of Fanes - Amanda Prantera

Bonjour Tristesse - Francoise Sagan

Henry IV part II - Will Shakespeare

Two Little Savages - Ernest SetonThompson

Gut Symmetries - Jeanette Winterston

Voss - Patrick White

Candide - Voltaire


That's twenty books that "contain hope and good character development."

Apart from that, and the fact that they were written originally in English or French, they are pretty varied, I think.

Some would be classed as "Children's," which is inevitable, given the subject. Others might be quite hard going.

Some old or dated, others modern.

Not more than one from any author, and not necessarily the best from each. I hope that there are some authors in the list that are new to you.

Not even the tip of the iceberg, though, just a droplet on the tip of the iceberg - happy reading.

.

[ucdawg12]

Wow, thanks for all the recommendations, I will take a look at these books :)

[veronique8]

ANY of John Buchan's books are EXCELLENT for the categories of honor, virtue, goodness, and patriotism. Most of the books have recurring characters so it is important to read them chronologically based on the year written. Start with "The 39 Steps", "Greenmantle"," Mr. Steadfast", "The 3 Hostages".

[applepie]

Someplace to be Flying by de Lint is very enjoyable

[bluevictim]

Death Comes for the Archbishop, by Willa Cather. This is one of my favorite novels by Cather, and indeed one of my favorite novels in general. It follows the life of a French Catholic priest in the early days of the American Southwest. Despite the ominous sounding title, this really is a very uplifting book.

The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint Exupery. This is another favorite book of mine. It is about a fictitious prince from another planet that visits Earth. It is usually considered a children's book, but I still really enjoy it.

David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens. This is probably my favorite novel by Dickens. I think it is more positive in outlook than, for example, A Tale of Two Cities or Great Expectations.

Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo. Definitely a classic. I think it is more hopeful than the ambiguous The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and The Toilers of the Sea.

Light in August, by William Faulkner. I think this is one of the more accessible Faulkner novels. It is more gloomy than the novels I listed above, but I think it ends on a hopeful note.

Just to stir the pot a little, I'm surprised that previous posters would consider Voltaire's Candide or Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray hopeful. Those two books would definitely be in the "cynical" bin, to me.

[JBI]

Tmul Shilshom (translated as Only Yesterday) By Shmuel Yosef Agnon. Though, I don't recommend this to an inexperienced reader.

[PeterL]

When you get right down to it, the main character, at least, in any good novel develops through the novel. If you run into a novel in which the main character doesn't develop, then you probably are reading a novel that isn't very good.

[NickAdams]

Light in August, by William Faulkner. I think this is one of the more accessible Faulkner novels. It is more gloomy than the novels I listed above, but I think it ends on a hopeful note.

I agree.:thumbs_up

[Dublo7]

Of Mice and Men - Steinbeck.

I thought of this as soon as I read the thread title. It's "hopeful" throughout the novel, but...

[ballb]

Try The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell