A revised list, from a post I did a while back. My favorite characters from fiction. I am limiting my choices to just novels - and leaving out such amazing characters as Hamlet, or Stanley Kowalski.
Here is how I choose:
My criteria? Characters who seem to live. Characters who seem to be emissaries from the real world - and not made up by an author.
Like Madame Defarge in Tale of Two Cities. I read that book in high school and I remember some of the descriptions of her almost word for word. She is, to me, unforgettable. Great creation.
The same with Queequeg in Moby Dick. The opening chapters of the book when Ishmael meets Queequeg - and then there's the strangely homoerotic moment when they lie in bed together and Ishmael wakes up, and Queequeg is hugging him in his sleep ... fascinating. I love Queequeg. He, to me, is a character who lives, beyond the pages of that book. He is alive.
I chose other characters because, in a direct way, they had an impact on how I lived my life, and who I have become. That's how Harriet the Spy is for me. That's how Jo March from Little Women is for me, and that is definitely how Scout Finch and Charlotte the spider are for me. You can NEVER convince me that these characters only live between the covers of their respective books. They have been, at various times, like little guardian angels to me.
I guess that, above all, was my criteria: a character who transcends his or her own genre, who steps up off the flat page, and lives. Lives on, long after you finish the book. Like Cathy in East of Eden. Or The Grand Inquisitor in Brothers Karamazov.
Anyway. PLEASE add your own in the comments.
And just a small note: There should be NO SHAME attached to your favorite fictional characters, and you should assume NO JUDGMENT from me or from anyone else when you put them down. If your favorite fictional character is a feisty brunette damsel in distress in your favorite bodice-ripping romance novel, put it the hell down in the comments here, and BE PROUD.
Okay. So here's my list.
Sheila's Favorite Fictional Characters.
Harriet, from Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh. Hands down, my favorite fictional character EVER written. I believe I have covered this.
Jane Eyre. from Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte the spider. from Charlotte's Web, by EB White
Queequeg from Moby Dick, by Herman Melville
Hester the Molester, from Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving (I love Owen, too, but Hester's my favorite one in that book)
Anne Shirley, from the Anne series, by LM Montgomery
Emily Byrd Starr, from the Emily series, by LM Montgomery
Miss Havisham. from Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens
Ramona Quimby. from the Ramona series, by Beverly Cleary
Yossarian. From Catch-22, by Joseph Heller.
Milo. From Catch-22, by Joseph Heller.
The Grand Inquisitor. From Brothers Karamazov, by Dostoevsky. (my rambling thoughts upon completing that book)
Bud White. from LA Confidential, by James Ellroy (can't resist)
Mr. Darcy. From Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen. (there was a kind of annoying po-mo article about the character - which I rambled about here.)
Phoebe Caulfield, Holden's sister. From Catcher in the Rye, by Salinger
Porfiry Petrovitch, the detective in Crime and Punishment, by Dostoevsky.
Olympia, from Geek Love, by Katherine Dunn
Huck Finn. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
Leopold Bloom. Ulysses, by James Joyce.
Molly Bloom. Ulysses, by James Joyce (a really really fun Bloomsday celebration I attended ... where everyone knew the last "paragraph" of Molly's monologue by heart. Amazing fun)
Alice. from Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll. (a cool excerpt from a biography of Lewis Carroll)
Huck Finn, from Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
Stephen Dedalus. from Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, by James Joyce
Fagin. from Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens
Jo March. from Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
Madame Defarge. from Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens
Atticus Finch. from To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Scout Finch. from To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Boo Radley. from To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Cathy. from East of Eden, by John Steinbeck (just the thought of her makes me shiver)
Quoyle, from The Shipping News, by Annie Proulx
Villanelle. from The Passion, by Jeanette Winterson (Villanelle is a web-footed cross-dressing redheaded daughter of a Venetian boatmen, during the time of the Napoleonic wars. Unbelievably great character)
Sam Clay and Joe Kavalier, from The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon
Charles Wallace, from Madeleine L'Engle's Time trilogy
Posted by sheilaJohn Clark (a.k.a. Mr. Clark) from Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan novels.
Badass.
Posted by: Alex Nunez at January 16, 2006 2:46 PMFrom the pulp fiction genre:
Travis McGee from series of books by John D. McDonald
Spenser frrom series of books by Robert B. Parker
Posted by: JFH at January 16, 2006 3:17 PMFrom childhood fiction (that is not counting the ones you've already mentioned):
Claudia, from From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
Posted by: JFH at January 16, 2006 3:22 PMwhole ensemble of Generation X - Tales for an Accelerated Culture by douglas coupland
harry potter
kavalier & klay
ethan frome
cap'n ahab
freddy the pig
ralph s. mouse
harold (but i don't care for his purple crayon)
Posted by: brendan at January 16, 2006 3:24 PMIn addition to several you've already mentioned--
Lad, a Dog in the Albert Peyson Terhune books, who was more human than a lot of humans.
Kay Scarpetta, the Patricia Cornwall character
Nancy Drew
Ayla, Jean Auel's heroine who invented the wheel, domesticated animals and discovered orgasm all before her 20th birthday--whatta gal!
Nan Astly, from Sarah Walters' "Tipping the Velvet"
Posted by: Bev at January 16, 2006 3:39 PMYoda.
Posted by: Emily at January 16, 2006 4:03 PMJon Aversin from Dragonsbane, by Barbara Hambley. The only living person to ever slay a dragon, and his services are needed once again.
He doesn't want to do it, he wears glasses, he has aches and pains, he feels guilty about slaying the first one ("The most beautiful thing I've ever seen"), can't cook, loves to read, and is basically a farmer.
Posted by: Jon F. at January 16, 2006 4:43 PMFirst, a partial (inevitably, I'll remember more later) collection of runners-up, in no particular order.
Lt. Richard Sharpe, from Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series.
Harry Flashman, from George Macdonald Fraser's Flashman Papers.
Nathaniel Dickstein, from Ken Follett's Triple.
Atticus and Scout Finch.
Arkady Renko, from Martin Cruz Smith's novels, particularly Gorky Park and Polar Star.
Natalie Jastrow, Pamela Tudsbury, Leslie Slote, Alistair Tudsbury, Byron Henry, Madeline Henry, and Palmer Kirby from Herman Wouk's The Winds of War/War and Remembrance.
Nicholai Hel and Benat le Cagot, from Trevanian's Shibumi.
Captain Krenn tai-Rustazh, Security Chief Maktai, and Dr. Emmanuel Tagore from The Final Reflection by John M. Ford, head and shoulders the best (perhaps the only worthwhile) Star Trek novel ever published.
Huw Morgan, Gwilym Morgan, Angharad Morgan, and Minister Gruffydd from How Green Was My Valley.
Carruthers and Arthur Davies from Erskine Childers' Riddle of the Sands.
Charlie Webb from Sam Llewellyn's Shadow of the Sands, a retelling of the previous.
Horatio Hornblower.
John Blackthorne, Kasigi Yabu, and Yoshi Toronaga from James Clavell's Shogun.
Frodo Baggins, Sam Gamgee, Theoden of Rohan, Legolas, Gimli Gloin's son, Bilbo Baggins, Boromir son of Denethor.
Number two, all time:
Faramir son of Denethor.
Number one, all time:
Captain Victor Henry, Winds of War/War and Remembrance.
Posted by: Ken at January 16, 2006 4:48 PMFaramir should be on my list too.
Posted by: red at January 16, 2006 4:51 PMJenny Fields(Garp's mother)
Stuart Little
Jellybean(Even Cowgirls get the Blues)
Owen Meaney
Dolly Talbo(The Grass Harp)
Holly Golightly
Lady Marsden(Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All)
Luke Wingo(The Prince of Tides)
*repeats*
Kavelier and Clay
Olympia(Geek Love)
Oh my God, you totally rock with the Dolly reference ... who is better than Dolly???
Posted by: red at January 16, 2006 5:47 PMHarriet Vane and Peter Wimsey in Dorothy L. Sayers mysteries.
Morag Gunn in The Diviners by Margaret Lawrence - I wasn't sure about the book as a whole, but the character stuck with me.
Bigwig and Hazel in Watership Down.
Nenna in Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald.
There are more! But I can't remember...
Thanks for the question!
Posted by: kathy at January 16, 2006 5:51 PMI think it's awesome that animal characters have made it onto this list multiple times. Stuart Little, Charlotte, Hazel and Bigwig - beautiful!!
Posted by: red at January 16, 2006 5:54 PMDolly breaks my heart
Posted by: mitchell at January 16, 2006 6:05 PMGreat great character. That whole story kills me.
Posted by: red at January 16, 2006 6:06 PMElphaba in Wicked
Posted by: Betsy at January 16, 2006 6:08 PMI love lists.
OWEN MEANY, from A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
HUMBERT HUMBERT, from Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
SARAH MILES, from The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
MILKMAN, from Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
SOOKIE STACKHOUSE, from the Dead Until Dark series by Charlaine Harris
BENJAMIN SACKS, from Leviathan by Paul Auster
ARTURO THE AQUA BOY, from Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
PETER, from Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
MELONY, from The Cider House Rules by John Irving * (Melony and Hester the Molester from Owen Meany definitely seem like literary cousins to me. The Melony character wasn't in the movie adaptation of Cider House, and I missed her, especially after seeing Jillian Armenante's awesome interpretation of the character in the stage version of Cider House.)
the unnamed NARRATOR, from Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson
JONATHAN HARKER, from Dracula by Bram Stoker
SEMYON ZAKHAROVITCH MARMELADOV, from Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky
DANNY, from Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
DOT, from Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
ARCHIE JONES, from White Teeth by Zadie Smith
SAMAD IQBAL, from White Teeth by Zadie Smith
ALEXANDER, from Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
Posted by: Erik at January 16, 2006 6:09 PMErik - wow. We're kind of kindred spirits judging from that list. Another Geek Love fan, huh? And I loved Melony as well in Cider House - which I think is Irving's best book. Well, that and Garp.
Also - another Winterson fan? Have you read her other stuff?
Posted by: red at January 16, 2006 6:18 PMSince I was a young girl, I've adored Wilber from Charlette's Web. I love the story, the movie...cannot WAIT to read it to/with my child/children someday.
Posted by: Laura at January 16, 2006 6:18 PMLaura - Wilbur is an absolutely awesome character. To quote Charlotte - he is SOME PIG!!
That book makes me cry.
Posted by: red at January 16, 2006 6:18 PMI really meant Charlotte. Brain cramp.
Posted by: Laura at January 16, 2006 6:19 PMGus McCrae from Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry
Harry Bosch from numeous novels, by Michael Connelly
Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, from numerous novels by Robert Crais
Bill Denbrough from It, by Stephen King
Skink from Double Whammy, by Carl Hiassen
Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling
Bucky Bleichert from The Black Dahlia, by James Ellroy
Tom Ripley from The Ripley novels, by Patricia Highsmith
Posted by: Jeff at January 16, 2006 6:19 PMBets - Based on our conversation last night, I went out and bought the Wicked soundtrack and have been listening to it all day. It is so so great.
Posted by: red at January 16, 2006 6:19 PMJeff - how much do I love that you love Luna??
Posted by: red at January 16, 2006 6:20 PMSheila, the only Winterson book I've read is Written on the Body, and I've read it twice. The Powerbook is sitting on my bedside table to be read after I finish the two I'm in the middle of right now. (I'm almost done with Evan Handler's autobiography Time On Fire, and halfway through Club Dead by Charlaine Harris, which is the third in her vampire series, and pulpy but oh so good, and if the Golden Globes weren't on tonight, I'd finish it tonight, because it's a fast read.) After reading your description of Villanelle from The Passion, I'm totally stoked to read that one.
And I absolutely agree with you about the Irving books. I think I've read Cider House three times and certain moments kill me every time, just turn me into a blubbering mess.
And I don't understand people who don't love Geek Love.
Posted by: Erik at January 16, 2006 6:26 PMErik - oh, you GOTTA read Passion - In my mind, it is her best. Just breathtaking. Sexing the Cherry is really good too - that takes place in Elizabethan England. She's so talented.
And yeah - Geek Love is kind of a litmus test for me. :)
Posted by: red at January 16, 2006 6:30 PMSheila, have you read Possession by A.S. Byatt? Such a great book. And if you haven't read The End of the Affair, you must must must. I have this old tattered copy that I have lent out to about 15 people, and it always comes back to me a little older and a little more tattered, but I'm always happy to have shared it with one more person.
Posted by: Erik at January 16, 2006 6:34 PMErik - ohhh, you're sweet! I have read it - wonderful book. And Possession? Don't even get me started. I have rarely had such an exhilarating reading experience as that one. It speaks to me ... Not to sound like an asshole, but I live in my head too - like Maud and Roland. I'm cerebral. I live in my head ... and to fall in love when you live totally in your head ... is sometimes ... not so fun. It hurts. I loved the book on so many levels - but it was that particular level that really GOT to me.
Posted by: red at January 16, 2006 6:37 PMI know. Exactly. What you mean.
Posted by: Erik at January 16, 2006 6:47 PMSheil - I think you can guess that the book and play have some major differences, but I love them both. Track 11 when she sings, "So if you care to find me, look to the western sky" gets me every time. And...I'm still a wreck!
Posted by: Betsy at January 16, 2006 6:54 PMBets - that moment gets me too! Her VOICE and what she's saying! Goosebumps!!!!
Posted by: red at January 16, 2006 6:55 PMDefinitely Nancy Drew. Although, when I was a kid, I used to change what Hannah Gruen had fixed for dinner if it was a dish I didn't like. (hmm.. Hannah made a nice poached salmon...yuck.. I don't like fish. Let's change it to chicken a la King. Much better..) Also, Kay Scarpetta from Patricia Cornwell's series is awesome. And I totally approve of her food choices. Although, now that I think about it, I have had issues with her drinks of scotch. I have tried to like it, but just don't. So sometimes SOMETIMES I change it to wine. But usually I let her have her scotch.
Posted by: Just1Beth at January 16, 2006 8:24 PMGeorge Smiley and Connie Sachs from several Le Carre.
Flem Snopes - Faulkner
Mr Micawber
Treebeard.
Posted by: Dave W at January 17, 2006 6:55 AMDearest: I'm way out of my league with some of your correspondants here, and have no idea of who many of these characters are, although Yoda struck a responsive chord. Finally someone listed a Faulkner character--my choice would be Joe August, and to date myself further, I would add Jay Gatsby. Your list was superb. love, dad
Posted by: dad at January 17, 2006 10:02 AMPEREGRIN TOOK RULES
Billy Boyd was right - its all about the Took!
LOL LOL!!!
Posted by: Sharon Ferguson at January 17, 2006 11:00 AMOh, and Jack Aubrey - the "Aubreiad."
Ged from The Earthsea Trilogy - Ursula LeGuin
Tanar from The Earthsea Trilogy - Urula LeGuin
Sydney Carton from A Tale of Two Cities
Eleanor Vance - The Haunting Hill of Hill House
Eilonwy from The Book of Three - Lloyd Alexander
And I'm so thrilled that there is another Sookie Stackhouse fan!!! Although I really prefer Eric!! LOL
Posted by: Sharon Ferguson at January 17, 2006 11:11 AMTold you I'd come up with some others ;-) ...and Treebeard is a great choice--well played, Dave W.
The Continental Op, from Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest. Name? Who needs a name?
Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin.
Saint Alexander Hergensheimer, Jerry Farnsworth, Saint Peter (as rendered by the author) and Sister Mary Patricia, from Robert Heinlein's Job: A Comedy of Justice.
Thomas Covenant and the Giant Saltheart Foamfollower, from Stephen R. Donaldson's The Chronicles of Covenant the Unbeliever.
Sheesh.
Posted by: Ken at January 17, 2006 12:04 PMI have no idea what most of you are talking about. I love the enthusiasm though!
Dad - how could I have forgotten Jay Gatsby???
Posted by: red at January 17, 2006 12:08 PMI'm a little behind the times and I am sure that everyone has moved on from this by now, but I had to add in a few...
Ponyboy from The Outsiders
John from the Pigman
Jesse from Bridge to Terabithia
Mr. Peck from A Day No Pigs Would Die
Phineas from A Separate Peace
Betsy from the Betsy books
McMurphy from cuckoo's nest
Scout from to Kill a mockingbird
jake from the Sun Also Rises
Lenny from Of Mice and Men
Sarah from Sarah Plain and Tall
Fudge from tales of a fourth grade nothing
and of course, Yossarian
sorry about all of the teen literature...
Posted by: jean at January 17, 2006 3:37 PMMycroft Holmes (not the Conan Doyle one) from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Podkayne, fromPodkayne of Mars
Bertie Wooster and Jeeves (for entirely different reasons), from the Wodehouse novels
Saltheart Foamfollower and Hile Troy, from The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever
Paksennarion, from The Deed of Paksenarrion
Talia, from The Heralds of Valdemar
Many others, of course, but I can't bring them to mind right now.
Jean - oh my God, John from The Pigman. He is one of the best characters ever written.
And Phineas! sniff!!!
Teen lit is my favorite genre, I think.
Posted by: red at January 17, 2006 5:19 PMsheila - Really and truly, I am in love with Phinny - the way His easy movement is described, his golden skin, etc. beautiful.
Posted by: jean at January 19, 2006 12:02 PM