Let’s make a list of fiction books that do characters really well. Tell us a little about the character that stuck with you as well as the genre and the name (or names) of the books they appeared in.
3 Likes
So many…
Stella and Miss Havisham in Great Expectations…
1 Like
Hmm, I listed about 20 strong female characters in a blog post, but perhaps my favourite pair of characters of all time would be Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin, in all of Peter O’Donnell’s stories. (Not the romances he wrote under the pen name Madeleine Brent, which are all enormous fun even for someone like me who doesn’t read romances.)
3 Likes
I love Anne Rice’s Lestat de Lioncourt, and Diana Gabaldon’s Jamie Fraser. One of my all-time favorite books is Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, so I am fascinated by Heathcliff and Cathy. Sharyn McCrumb has a character in her Ballad novels called Nora Bonesteel who is an unforgettable character. There are just so many characters I love. That’s why I reread my favorite books. It’s like revisiting my favorite people.
4 Likes
Jonathan Safran Foer’s Oskar Schell stayed with me for a solid decade. His lingo became a natural part of how I spoke
And I think about Ged/Sparrowhawk all the time (K Le Guin)
1 Like
Jamie and Claire Fraser from the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. I love this historical fiction because it has a little fantasy with time travel, and a love story. The characters are memorable because they have distinct personalities, but the everyday chemistry between the two in dialog actions, and choices is what makes it shine. These characters make me feel like best friends moved away when a book ends.
2 Likes
Could you paste the link to your blog post? I’m interested to read it. Thank you!
Everyone has posted great ones. I think my favorite is Harry Dresden from the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. It is first person pov urban fantasy (my favorite genre) but the characters have their own foibles and agendas, make mistakes, and fumble their way through the unforeseen consequences, learning and adapting as they do.