Literary Party Games

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Simon on April 21, 2011 at 8:36am

 

I always liked the K characters of Kafka's stories and novels--they had such restraint and resolve.  Although calling them "favorites" seems bordering on creepy since they were often also doomed. 

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Permalink Reply by Jason Neal on April 21, 2011 at 9:42am

Well, if you think that's creepy, my pick is Lolita's Humbert Humbert.  He's a cruel and manipulative pervert, a killer, and probably more than a little insane.  Yet he's also somehow weirdly irresistible....  It's his language, to be sure, not his (ir)rationality.  His perspective of the world is unforgivable, but the way he articulates that perspective is absolutely delightful, which makes for such a truly bizarre and captivating reading experience.

(For anyone who's interested, I recently ran across this very short essay about Lolita by Martin Amis, which I think summarizes the crazy genius of the novel about as well possible.)

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Permalink Reply by Craig Lancaster on April 21, 2011 at 8:45am

Jick McCaskill. Doig allows us to see him as a boy ("English Creek") and as an older man ("Ride With Me, Mariah Montana") and does a wonderful job of moving him from wide-eyed innocent to wizened codger while still drawing him with a consistency of character and nature.

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Permalink Reply by Ken Egan on April 21, 2011 at 9:46am

Can I cheat and name more than one?  A bunch of Faulkner characters: Quentin Compson, Jason Compson, Ab Snopes, and Thomas Sutpen. 

 

And there's that American madman, Ahab.

 

And how can I resist Holden Caulfield?

 

Not very good at this game. . . .

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Permalink Reply by Jason Neal on April 25, 2011 at 11:57am

I forgot all about Holden Caulfield when considering my choices.  I would agree he's pretty irresistible; his voice is so full of identifiable emotion on every page....

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Permalink Reply by Geoff Badenoch on April 21, 2011 at 2:02pm

Today I am thinking Augustus McCrae in Larry McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove." He seems to be such an assured, reflective  character with a clear, yet relaxed, view of life; what is acceptable, what is not and a ready opinion about just about everything.  His best line?

"A man who wouldn't cheat for a poke don't want one bad enough."

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Permalink Reply by Jason Neal on April 21, 2011 at 4:55pm

Robert Duvall famously (and, it appears after a little web searching, repeatedly) said of his role in the TV movie of Lonesome Dove, "Now I can retire. I've done something. Let the English play Hamlet. I'll play Augustus McCrae."

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Permalink Reply by Geoff Badenoch on April 21, 2011 at 5:34pm

It's one of the best dramatizations of a book put on screen.  And so true to the book!

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Permalink Reply by Kim Anderson on April 21, 2011 at 8:04pm

Rabbit Angstrom--Updike's Rabbit books

Huck Finn

Emma

Meg in Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, because I was that girl.

 

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Permalink Reply by Jason Neal on April 25, 2011 at 11:53am

Rabbit Angstrom is a pretty lovable schlub, I have to admit.  I've only read the Rabbit, Run but do intend to read the other books as well.

 

Do you like Richard Ford's books about Frank Bascombe?  Bascombe always struck me as some kind of literary descendent of Rabbit Angstrom....

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Permalink Reply by Kim Anderson on April 25, 2011 at 4:46pm

I know what you mean about Bascombe re Angstrom, Jason. And yet much as I love the Rabbit books (and you've heard me rant on about them often enough), I really don't get Ford's appeal. Updike's and Ford's concerns and characters are so similar so often. I guess for me it's a case of feeling a beating heart at the center of one author's work and not the other. That's sacrilege, I know.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Neal on April 25, 2011 at 7:14pm

I think I know what you mean.  When I think now about Independence Day, it strikes me as an impressive novel--capturing the qualities of Bascombe's life with a level of detail and honesty that I think does make it exceptional.  But I also remember that when I was actually reading the book I didn't find it very compelling--maybe because it lacked a quirkiness and humor that are usually necessary to really draw me into a story.

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