Book meme

From my lovely cyber-friend Kathie comes a book meme. These are simple questions, but we made them more complicated by the family conversations we kept having. My husband declared that he didn't want to be anyone but himself, as did my fifteen-year-old son. That's probably a good sign of their self-esteem, but I refuse to think the opposite of myself for having to choose from a long list to get three. As for people one would want to meet? Said fifteen-year-old thinks fictional characters are best in books, and he probably has a point. But, once again, I had to whittle the list down to three. How about characters that scare? I had a hard time with that one, but probably because I hate being scared and block those parts of books out of my mind when I am done reading.

Three characters you wish were real so you could meet them:


1. Charlotte Pitt from Anne Perry's mystery novels. Spunky, adventurous, and living in England in the late 19th century. That's three good reasons to meet and visit.

2. I have to agree with Kathie -- meeting my hobbit friends Frodo and Sam would be delightful. But I'd go ahead and have a pint with them (-:

3. Adam Dalgliesh from P.D. James's mystery stories. Poet and Scotland Yard detective, he sounds fascinating.

Three characters you would like to be.


1. The mother from The Hawk and the Dove. She is able to stand on her own as a slightly eccentric, very wise, kind but not sappy mother.

2. Brother Cadfael from the mystery series bearing his name by Ellis Peters. My husband thought I should request to be him after he survives the Crusades to become a monk, but it seems I would need to take the whole package to get the end result. We all agreed that what is attractive about his character is his contentment. I love the vocation of working the herb gardens and creating herbal remedies for people. All of that and solving mysteries, too.

3. Molly Gibson from Wives and Daughters. She is kind and loyal, interested in the natural world, forthright when needed. And she gets Roger in the end. Perfect.



Three characters who scare you.

1. St. John Rivers from Jane Eyre

2. Inspector Jauvert from Les Miserables

3. I am sure there is a Dickens character that scares me...but I can't think of one right now.

I realize now that what scares me are self-righteous folks with a passion for what is right and little or no concern for the feelings of others. Heavy on the justice, utterly lacking in mercy. Weird sci-fi creatures don't scare me, but probably because I don't have the imaginative abilities to see them as real.

Later conversations with my daughter and husband revealed some P.G. Wodehouse options. Husband would love to meet Jeeves; my daughter would love to meet Freddie Widgeon. Jeeves could solve all our problems and Freddie is always good for some laughs. Daughter also thought she'd like to meet Tom from The Hawk and The Dove, but only if he decided not to be a monk (-:

Anyone want to play? Let me know if you do.