Discussion: Who are the literary characters that have stuck with you?
Most of these discussions have provided us with oodles of books to add to our collective reading lists. Today, I’d like to chat on a slightly more granular level: Who are your favorite fictional characters? Who has stuck with you long after finishing the book?
Here are the three that come immediately to mind for me, before I start thinking too hard about it:
Francie Nolan, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Samwise Gamgee, Lord of the Rings
Gus McCrae, Lonesome Dove
Your turn!
Jane Eyre (#TeamJane4Ever) — I love her so much, I can't really talk about it.
Sid Halley — Dick Francis' horse-world mysteries Odds Against, Whip Hand, Come to Grief, and Under Orders. He makes stupid/brave decisions, is often vulnerable, and has heaps of integrity.
The Count — A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I love the way he gave meaning to his days by helping others.
Natalie Marx — The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman. She's a firecracker with a fierce sense of humor and kind core. (This is a very fun book, BTW.)
The fictional version of Thomas Cromwell — Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy. Mantel's version is simultaneously kind and cunning. I know he's supposed to be a bad guy but somehow I get all swoony about the fictional Thomas Cromwell? Brains are weird.
Plum — Dietland by Serai Walker. She is just not taking anyone's sh*t anymore, and I'm here for it.
I would posit Woodrow McCall from Lonesome Dove for his inner strength, and George Smiley from John LeCarrre novels for his plodding chin up perseverance.