Thursday, March 06, 2008
BTT: Hero?
Who is your favorite Male lead character? And why?
So asks this week's Booking Through Thursday.
And you know what? I don't relate to the men in fiction the way I relate to the women. Maybe it's because I can put myself into a woman's shoes and wish to be her. But I've never wished to be a man.
There are lots of great men out there in fiction, too. Marcia Muller's Hy Ripinski comes to mind. Lestat did great things to my teenage mind, but Brad Pitt topped that in the movie. (I know! Have you ever heard me say such a thing before?)
Good men are made greater by the women around them. I swear it. Go on. Name some great fictional men and look for their women. Jamie Fraser? He's got Claire. Mr. Darcy? He's got what's-her-name (Hey, I have yet to read Austen). Max and Sebastien have Victoria. Huck Finn? Becky Thatcher.
My latest review, St. Barts Breakdown has two: the memory of Ginny for Mick Sever and Danny Murtz's personal assistant, Nancy. Murtz is a heck of a great male character; you should enter the contest if there's still time and you haven't done so yet.
Even my own Mitchell Voss has the unstoppable Kerri. And Trevor? He's got a horde of women, many of whom are reading this very post and possibly blushing...
Maybe Beowulf doesn't have a good woman around. Then again, I don't think Beowulf showered. That might have something to do with it.
So asks this week's Booking Through Thursday.
And you know what? I don't relate to the men in fiction the way I relate to the women. Maybe it's because I can put myself into a woman's shoes and wish to be her. But I've never wished to be a man.
There are lots of great men out there in fiction, too. Marcia Muller's Hy Ripinski comes to mind. Lestat did great things to my teenage mind, but Brad Pitt topped that in the movie. (I know! Have you ever heard me say such a thing before?)
Good men are made greater by the women around them. I swear it. Go on. Name some great fictional men and look for their women. Jamie Fraser? He's got Claire. Mr. Darcy? He's got what's-her-name (Hey, I have yet to read Austen). Max and Sebastien have Victoria. Huck Finn? Becky Thatcher.
My latest review, St. Barts Breakdown has two: the memory of Ginny for Mick Sever and Danny Murtz's personal assistant, Nancy. Murtz is a heck of a great male character; you should enter the contest if there's still time and you haven't done so yet.
Even my own Mitchell Voss has the unstoppable Kerri. And Trevor? He's got a horde of women, many of whom are reading this very post and possibly blushing...
Maybe Beowulf doesn't have a good woman around. Then again, I don't think Beowulf showered. That might have something to do with it.
Labels: Booking Through Thursday, books, St. Barts Breakdown
Comments:
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Hahaha!! Good point about the men. Ahh, if only Scarlet could have gotten past herself, Rhett could have been that much better. :D
I think you right, that good men are made greatet by their women being around them. Jamie weren't be so strong if he didn't have Claire is good example :)
Great list of choice. Happy BTTs and have a good Thursday
Julia-Yen
Great list of choice. Happy BTTs and have a good Thursday
Julia-Yen
It's a funny thing, but I'm having trouble coming up with fictional men who I adore like I do my favorite fictional women.
Heathcliff was an angsty narcissist. Candide was a lot of fun but way too naive. Jude Fawley and Ethan Frome were hopeless cases and should've been put on Prozac. And no man was worthy of Becky Sharp.
Odysseus, perhaps? I hate it that he cheated on poor faithful Penelope, but if we judge him by the standards of his time, he was pretty awesome. Besides, I suppose one can't hold it against the guy that he succumbed to the wiles of women with supernatural powers.
There's Jean Valjean. He's got most of the right stuff, but he's almost a little too goody-goody by the end.
Huck Finn? I'd love to know who he grew up to be!
Sydney Carton? He was a bad boy who did the right thing in the end. It's a sexy literary device, except that he ended up dead. There's nothing sexy about dead.
I agree with Trish that Rhett Butler had enormous potential-- intelligent, charming, sexy, got the whole bad boy thing going on but with a secret sentimental streak a mile wide. But in the end he was a little too reserved and stuck on himself.
Hm...maybe instead of worrying where the strong yet realistic women are, we should be worrying about the men!
Heathcliff was an angsty narcissist. Candide was a lot of fun but way too naive. Jude Fawley and Ethan Frome were hopeless cases and should've been put on Prozac. And no man was worthy of Becky Sharp.
Odysseus, perhaps? I hate it that he cheated on poor faithful Penelope, but if we judge him by the standards of his time, he was pretty awesome. Besides, I suppose one can't hold it against the guy that he succumbed to the wiles of women with supernatural powers.
There's Jean Valjean. He's got most of the right stuff, but he's almost a little too goody-goody by the end.
Huck Finn? I'd love to know who he grew up to be!
Sydney Carton? He was a bad boy who did the right thing in the end. It's a sexy literary device, except that he ended up dead. There's nothing sexy about dead.
I agree with Trish that Rhett Butler had enormous potential-- intelligent, charming, sexy, got the whole bad boy thing going on but with a secret sentimental streak a mile wide. But in the end he was a little too reserved and stuck on himself.
Hm...maybe instead of worrying where the strong yet realistic women are, we should be worrying about the men!
SUSE! As a writer, you MUST read your Austen! ;) Try Pride and Prejudice -- fab read! And, ahhhhhh, Emma!
FYI Mr. Darcy had Lizzie (or Elizabeth) Bennett. Just thought you'd like to know. I only know that 'cause we just watched Pride & Prejudice on PBS 2 weeks ago. :)
Bridget
Bridget
# posted by 
: March 06, 2008 7:29 PM
: March 06, 2008 7:29 PM
I'm not gonna get around to BTT today, but I love your take on the question! You're absolutely right that many of the great men in fiction are great by virtue of the strong women in their lives! :)
# posted by : March 06, 2008 9:17 PM
: March 06, 2008 9:17 PM
Haha. You should check out my post about Dirk Pitt. He improves as the series continues only because his girl friend knocks some sense into him. LOL!!!
LOL - Beowulf never showered!! As for great men with AMAZING woman behind them... I give you Mr. Wylie ;)
(Thank the GODS he will never read this - heehee)
(Thank the GODS he will never read this - heehee)
I can put myself into a woman's shoes and wish to be her. But I've never wished to be a man.
A-"men"!!
(I should'a thought about Beowulf! I luv that story!!)
A-"men"!!
(I should'a thought about Beowulf! I luv that story!!)
I can put myself into a woman's shoes and wish to be her. But I've never wished to be a man.
A-"men"!!
(I should'a thought about Beowulf! I luv that story!!)
A-"men"!!
(I should'a thought about Beowulf! I luv that story!!)
I suppose female characters leave a lasting impact on us.
I do like what you write here.
Here is my BTT post!
I do like what you write here.
Here is my BTT post!
# posted by : March 07, 2008 8:55 AM
: March 07, 2008 8:55 AM
You're so right about having a favorite female character that I'd want to be - but it's different with the male characters - that's more of a "who would I want to be WITH" thing...
Happy Friday :-)
Happy Friday :-)
Great post. I was going through my favorite mysteries, and several have great male characters (William Monk, Thomas Pitt, Radcliff Emerson- to name a few).
Re Beowulf- what you really need to worry about is the bad breath. :)
Re Beowulf- what you really need to worry about is the bad breath. :)
I don't know about heroes and such. I get what you're saying, but I think the average guy (or gal) putting one foot in front of the other, day in and day out trying to make a difference in his or her little corner of the world... those are the real heroes. Life is hard, it takes guts to persevere.
Michele sent me
Michele sent me
I'm sure if I read Gone with the Wind I'll like Rhett ... but for now I can't get past the face of Clark Gable - eeeeugh! So not my type.
Thanks for calling by, Susan.
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Thanks for calling by, Susan.
# posted by : March 08, 2008 3:38 PM
: March 08, 2008 3:38 PM << Home
