Character

      32 Comments on Character
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Characters

Being an avid reader, I’ve had strong feelings toward and about various fictional characters throughout my lifetime. Some I’ve loathed (Parker Pyne was not one of Agatha Christie’s finer creations), some I’ve had conflicted feelings about (Travis McGee is not a Bad Guy but sometimes he’s not a very good guy, Matthew Scudder skates the ambiguous edges that divide morality and justice), others I’ve mostly liked despite their obvious flaws (Hercule Poirot, Adam Dalgliesh, Jo March, Georgiana Rannoch), and a few — a very tiny few — I have absolutely delighted in.

Favorite Character

In 2017, when I started cataloging the books I finished on Goodreads, I read Terry Pratchett for the first time.

The book — which I picked up at a used book store on clearance in the mystery section1 — was Thud!

The primary character was Samuel Vimes.

Vimes is a police man. He married ‘up’ and is therefore also a Titled Gentleman. (Which he tries to forget.) And where he does his policing is in the city of Ankh-Morpork. (Which is essentially London, only on another planet and in a slightly differently-warped time.)

His primary redeeming quality is that he is a curmudgeon. He doesn’t like trolls. But he doesn’t like goblins or wizards or unlicensed thieves or too-forward seamstresses or the Mac Nafee either. He is delightfully un-prejudiced. He dislikes everyone equally.

And he’s honest.

In a way that only someone who works with dishonest people day in and day out can possibly be.

He’s good at being grumpy, he’s reliable in a crisis, and he despises politics. He’s doubtful of everything yet manages to give others the benefit of the doubt. Despite his personal doubts regarding his ability to be a decent father, he does an okay job. (And he knows all the words to his son’s favorite bedtime story Where’s My Cow? which is actually a key feature in the conclusion of the book.)

And he has been — for the past 4+ years — my favorite fictional character.

.

My theme for this year’s A-to-Z Challenge is Twenty(-six) Questions. The question I’ve answered above and invite you to do below is:

Who is your favorite fictional character?

1This was a happy accident. Pratchett is usually shelved with Sci-Fi and Fantasy. (I don’t even look at those shelves normally.) The story is, indeed, a mystery — so it’s not as though it was mis-shelved — and because it was such a fantastically told mystery (‘fantastic’ in more ways than one), it became my first bite of glutting Pratchett’s Discworld series, which is now probably my favorite series of all time.

32 thoughts on “Character”

  1. Linda Curry

    You’ve found me another book to put on my list. With all the reading of blogs this month as well as writing I’ll be lucky to read my Book Club book for the end of the month.

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    1. Mrs Fever Post author

      I don’t think that’s corny at all! Atticus Finch had morality and reason in a time when his peers did not. Plus he was a pretty good dad. 🙂

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  6. Tasha

    Favourite fictional character – oh heavens – um … I’ve always been rather fond of Polgara from the Belgariad, but I have to admit, I’m much more likely to become overly attached to characters from TV and film than books. Draco Malfoy is a favourite too, but mostly the extrapolations from fanfiction, rather than the actual books. And Dracula is awesome, but mostly from movies rather than his original incarnation. There are so many! 😆
    Tasha
    Tasha’s Thinkings: YouTube – What They Don’t Tell You (and free fiction)
    Tasha recently posted…C is for Content #YouTube #AtoZChallengeMy Profile

    Reply ↓
    1. Mrs Fever Post author

      I was wondering if anyone would choose a TV or movie character!

      I actually *just* read Dracula — the original Bram Stoker — in October and found it a delightful horror. I can’t say I enjoyed the count so much as all the characters who go about catching him.

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  7. Deborah Weber

    Vimes sounds like a character I’d like, so I’ll definitely be checking out the series. My current favorite character is a detective also, although it’s definitely a not-exactly-welcomed side-line. I discovered Timothy Hallinan’s series of Junior Bender mysteries this year, and I’m happily reading my way through them. Junior is a LA thief by trade, and his world is filled with an array of interesting characters giving him the opportunity to showcase his clever, courageous and honorable side. Bonus points because I learn something interesting in each book – about art, or movie-making, or any manner of things. A mini side education amidst a fun romp of mystery.

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  8. Julie

    If I don’t like any of the characters I struggle to read a book. I haven’t read any Terry Pratchett books but this guy sounds like my type of character. I’ve recently been reading some Ruth Galloway books. She’s a no nonsense archeologist whose got herself hooked up with a detective (in many ways). I do like crime fiction and go for ones where the character appeals. Great question and answer. Link to the Ruth Galloway author page: https://ellygriffiths.co.uk/my-books/the-ruth-galloway-novels/

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    1. Mrs Fever Post author

      All good authors! I really like Sayers’ Gaudy Night. It’s sort of her crowning glory, I think. Harriet Vane becomes human in that book. *laugh*

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  11. Molly

    Ohhh so many but I have always had a fondness for Scarlett. Feisty, determined, pushes the boundaries of what is acceptable when it comes to being a women.

    Molly

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  13. windy

    I’d have to think for a long time to find my very favorite character, so I’ll just say that in sometimes the children in novels have made me laugh over the years when things are told from their point of view with their age appropriate vocabulary ……. Tom Sawyer is hilarious. I loved Scout…… Of course, those I read way back in middle school.

    Recently, I’d say I loved the main character, Hannie, from The Book of Lost Friends, and all the sisters (children) in Poisonwood Bible.

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    1. Mrs Fever Post author

      From your descriptions, I’m going to have to read The Poisonwood Bible. It’s on my list of “look for”s next time I go book shopping. 🙂

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  15. Mary Wood

    It seems to me that if a character evokes strong feelings in you, even negative ones, then this indicates that the author was so experienced that he was able to convey the charisma of this character and, thus, practically revive him in the reader’s imagination. After all, in life we are surrounded not only by beautiful-hearted people.

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