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oLahav said:

Is there any character you’ve met in a book and thought to yourself “wow, I wish this dude was real”?

Maybe you’ve read about somebody fictional and thought “how could the author make such a genuine, real character?”

Ever felt like a certain character in a book is incredibly, unbelievably well written?

Are there any characters you can associate with so well you had to check whether the author was spying on you, since this character says exactly what you’d like to say?

Please share your personal favourite fictional literary characters. can’t wait for your views!

serjo said:

The character described in book that I admire most is not fictional although the writer had to imagine everything about him and made a research that lasted half of her life. The book is “Adrianos’s memoirs” from Marguerite Yourcenar. It’s impressive how could she write a book about a Roman emperor as if she was him!! The book is magnificent! You feel the personality of the “character” strongly!

windwind said:

Again I will refer to “Rebecca”. The main (and nameless)character is such a tribute to all the shy, reclusive, gentle people out there. She’s always dreaming of being popular and out going-of being the opposite of what she is. Aticus in “To Kill a Mockingbird” is someone I would like to aspire to be, but is a bit unrealistic I’m afraid in that he is Superman. Dorothea in “Trying Never Alone” caught my attention because although a much hated character, she does have the courage to change her comfortable life just for a sense of adventure. I wish I had half her courage but not, of course the meanness.

oLahav said:

These are great examples!

Personally, I’ve never been able to relate to a character in a book. I’m probably too weird for any character to really reflect me.

However, I do have a certain type of character which I really enjoy reading. Characters like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh or Marvin from the Hitchhiker’s Guide are the sort of highly depressive, British, sarcastic types who in spite of their dark outlook are usually used for comic purposes. I always enjoy reading about these character because I like to believe that even though I’m sometimes sad and always pessimistic, I can make people laugh.

windwind said:

There is something very nice about Winnie the Pooh. He is in my opinion very much like Harry Potter. Both are surrounded by all kinds of characters but they themselves can’t be catagorized… they are honest and true, nice and get alone with every body else. Sort of above it all.

windwind said:

There is something very nice about Winnie the Pooh. He is in my opinion very much like Harry Potter. Both are surrounded by all kinds of characters but they themselves can’t be catagorized… they are honest and true, nice and get alone with every body else. Sort of above it all.

oLahav said in response to:

Talking about Winnie the Pooh, I have a theory that all of the characters (in the Disney version especially) suffer from psychological disorders.

Pooh has a clear eating disorder, Eeyore suffers from manic depression, Rabbit is a classic obsessive-compulsive, Piglet has a self-image problem, and Tigger is purely insane. Interesting thought, isn’t it?

oLahav said:

@windwind- I also have to agree with your idea about Aticus, he is a moral superman. I don’t know how realistic that is, because there has to be some bad in everybody, but yes, he is a great character to aspire to become.

windwind said:

I don’t know about Pooh’s eating disorder. I think he’s the “normal” one there, about the others well, I have to agree to a certain point:)

windwind said:

I don’t know about Pooh’s eating disorder. I think he’s the “normal” one there, about the others well, I have to agree to a certain point:)

chandra_avinash said:

Another interesting bit of trivia – each of Cameron Crowe’s movies have a reference to Atticus Finch. For instance, Almost Famous starts with a mom telling her son about Atticus Finch, etc.

There’s a character in The Glass Bead Game, by the name of Alexander. He’s described for like a paragraph or so – pure/sheer awesomeness exudes. As for the character himself, well, he’s this monk who is heavily into meditation and as sharp as The Brainiac, and so on. Hesse creates these superhuman characters and then crowns one among them as the most superior one.

chandra_avinash said:

Sort of obtuse, but Severus Snape is awesome. What say?

oLahav said:

See, the thing about Snape… I liked him up to the end of the 5th book. He was a solid character that looked mean but was really mysterious in ways, and had a habit of being in the exact place Harry didn’t want him to be. And he hated Harry, which was great because everybody else loved him even though he wasn’t that great, in my opinion, so Snape was one of the most sane characters there.

But I did not like what happened afterwards. The whole big “is Snape evil?” debate took away from his dark but sane character. In the spotlight he became pae and less interesting, in my opinion. The whole half-blood prince thing was ok, but a bit off.

SPOILER WARNING NOW: and the back story which came at the end of the last book… not my thing. It’s way too cutesy and romantic, but also painful, which I don’t like. So he was in love with Harry’s mom but caused her to die because she didn’t love him back, and then decided to her get the guy who killed her while protecting her son… sounds noble, and I guess it adds a level of complexity explaining why Snape hated Harry and all that.

Again, it destroys my initial image of a purely mean, bitter guy who just gets in the way. I liked the earlier Snape better, sorry. I can see why people would like the later Snape, he is well-built and fairly round and complex, just not my thing.

chandra_avinash said in response to:

Ah, if you liked the earlier Snape, then do you like the annoying, crazy teacher – the one that the Weasley twins rout? I can’t remember her name….she comes in to replace Dumbledore if I recall correctly….

Pritha said:

Hey that was Dolores Umbridge.I dont think anybody can like her even if she was maintained bad till the end of the book.She had an evil countenance and was also not a favourite with Dumbledore.So she’s definitively a hateful character.And anyway how can a frog like looking person be a favourite.

Pritha said:

There is something interesting about Snape though.The end was way too touching and it surely justified why Dumbledore would always support him.He had a malicious touch but his way of unwantingly helping Harry surely aapeals to his fan.

oLahav said in response to:

I liked Umbridge as a character… she was very well done. Just enough humour mixed in with frightening moments. She was really scary at times… she wasn’t on the dark side though, just because she was stupid. She is a hateful character, sure, but she’s like a character you love to hate.

lucyinthesky said in response to:

I definitely love Atticus Finch. He is the ultimate hero – moral compass, father figure, all that jazz. And in the movie, Gregory Peck portrays him perfectly. The speech he makes in court is very inspiring.

Apparently when Harper Lee first came onto the set for the movie, she had a breakdown because she thought Gregory Peck looked so much like her father:

‘The first scene that Gregory Peck shot showed him returning home from his character’s law office while his children ran to greet him. Harper Lee was a guest on the set that day, and Peck noticed her crying after the scene was filmed. “Why are you crying?” Peck asked. Peck had looked just like her late father, the model for Atticus, Lee explained; Peck even had a little round pot belly like her father’s. “That’s not a pot belly, Harper,” Peck told her, “That’s great acting.”’

windwind said:

That was very interesting to read, I didn’t know that.

What I liked about Atticus is his total fairness and unbaised approach to absolutely everyone! He respected everyone’s opinion, even Mrs. Dubios who was a real bigot. He admired her for her courage. It’s so easy ti identify with and admire the ones who think like you, it takes a great man to see beyond his believes to the beauty of the other.

lucyinthesky said in response to:

Well said, windwind!

windwind said:

Thanks.

(said windwind modestly).

xmonkee said:

Anasurimbor Kellhus – The Prince of Nothing. ‘nuff said.