Thursday, July 22, 2010

Top Ten Picks: Favorite Male Literary Characters


Random Ramblings Top Ten Picks topic this week is Favorite Male Literary characters. I am going to try my best not to duplicate my Literary Crushes list. (Which is why there will be no Captain Wentworth, Gilbert Blythe, Henry Tilney, John Thornton, etc.)


Don Quixote from Don Quixote. Miguel de Cervantes. My review. I enjoyed both Don Quixote and Sancho Panzo. I loved these two so much that this chunkster was a delight to read. I won't lie, it took me almost two months to read, but, it was a great two months. It was a journey that I loved taking.


The creature from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. My review. This novel is one of my favorites. Yes, favorites. For me, it is a comfort read. For me, it is all about the meaning of life, what it means to be human, what it means to feel. Yes, the 'creature' mainly feels miserable. But. The fact that he feels at all. Well, it speaks to me. My favorite part of this novel are the sections narrated by the creature, the sections where the creature speaks to his creator, Victor Frankenstein.


Death. From The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. My review. I loved everything about Death in this amazing book by Markus Zusak. The book was truly wonderful and completely unforgettable.


Ender/Andrew Wiggin from Ender's Game and Speaker of the Dead by Orson Scott Card. I love this character. I love this series. I love how Ender has matured into Andrew. I loved seeing how much he's grown...changed. He is wise. But his wisdom doesn't make him less human, it makes him more human. I love how this novel is about taking broken things, messy things, ugly things--and making them whole, making sense of the chaos, making them beautiful.

Rhett Butler from Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell. My review. Rhett is such a strong character in Gone With The Wind. He steals so many scenes in Margaret Mitchell's classic. He does. Most of the scenes that I love and adore (and read over and over and over again) star Rhett.


Matthew from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. I love, love, love Matthew. I do. I love his shyness. I love his stubbornness. I love his devotion. I love his tenderness. Which is why his death makes me cry no matter how many times I read the novel.


Almanzo Wilder from Long Winter, These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I love the Little House books. I do. I love The Long Winter especially. It makes me cold. It makes me hungry. It makes me desperately hungry. It makes me feel. I love Almanzo because he is a hero.


Spencer Martin from Suite Scarlett and Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson. I love Scarlett's older brother, Spencer.


Marcelo from Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork. I loved Marcelo's voice. I loved his observations. I loved his interactions, his conversations. I loved that his special interest was God, religion. I loved his intelligence; his way of digesting the world and discerning for himself right from wrong. I loved his strength, his character. Here is a man with heart and soul, with substance.


Gramps from Rash by Pete Hautman. He's cranky, but he's fun. He adds a bit of humor and common sense to this futuristic novel.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

10 comments:

Julie P said...

What a great list, Becky! I loved the Little House books....

Cathy said...

What a wonderful list... especially Almanzo!

gautami tripathy said...

Death and Rhett Butler seem to be everyone's favourite!

Read my Top Ten Picks!

Stephanie said...

I am listening to The Book Thief right now. Wow you have some good ones. Rhett Butler was my first literary crush!!

Andi said...

Excellent list! I think Death tooootally deserves to be on the list. When I was mentally picking my top 10 I did not included him, and I slap my forehead in disgust that I could've overlooked him. Silly me!

La Coccinelle said...

Hmmm... Death seems to keep turning up on these lists. I really need to read that book!

RivkaBelle said...

I reread the entire Little House series this winter, and finally figured out why none of the boys I knew growing up were ever interesting enough for me: They weren't ALMANZO! haha ... but seriously. Who *wouldn't* want to be with boy who risks everything to save everyone, and can gentle wild horses just talking to them???

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Wonder list! We have a few of the same (here's mine... http://ow.ly/2ghsc). I was so close to putting Matthew on my list. He's such a great character.

di said...

Rhettt <3

Jillian said...

I absolutely loved Ender! He was such a fantastic character! And of course.. I'm glad to see that someone agrees with me when it comes to the character of Death. His portrayal was just beyond words.