I mentioned the other day that, as a child, I didn’t like the Hardy Boys. Frank and Joe Hardy reminded me of the popular kids who did their best to make my life miserable. The Three Investigators, on the other hand, were an overweight former child actor, an athlete with a cowardly streak, and a nerd in leg braces. My kind of people. I liked them, and felt that if they’d been real, they would have liked me.
The same feeling made me fall in love with Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time and its first two sequels. Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin were real to me. I could identify with something in each of them. I read those books dozens of times.
The fiction I’m most drawn to today follows the same pattern. Characters are the most important part of a story for me. Give me memorable characters whom I want to spend more time with and I’ll forgive the occasional rough spot in the plot, factual errors, or even a weak ending.
My favorite characters these days? Myron Bolitar (Harlan Coben’s sports agent series), Elvis Cole (star of most of Robert Crais
What are your favorite literary characters?
1 response so far ↓
1 Heather // Apr 9, 2008 at 9:50 am
I’d have to think some more about my favorite literary characters, but I had not thought about A Wrinkle In Time, since I was young. It filled my heart with warmth to remember how much I loved it. Now I need to go get a copy. Thanks Sam!
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