- Wool: My favorite character from Wool has to be Holston. I know he ends up dying before the book is half over, but his love for Alyson (his wife, if you don't remember) is so meaningful. Plus, without Holston's efforts in finding the truth, the truth never would have been found.
- The Odyssey: Will people be mad if I say my favorite character from The Odyssey is Polythemus? Honestly, I hated everyone in this epic. I do not approve of many of the actions taken by Odysseus, Penelope was ugh, Telemachus was basically a sheep, and Athena was an obnoxious master manipulator. Then there's Polythemus, a cyclops who has his wine and cheese stolen and, rightfully, gets angry. Then he gets blinded. Poor guy.
- O' Brother Where Art Thou: Okay, so O' Brother isn't a novel (neither is The Odyssey. Oops) but we did spend some significant time watching / talking about it. My favorite character has to be Everett. I mean come on, he is super funny and witty and smart on his feet. Delmar is a close second.
- As I Lay Dying: Darl is my fave. I don't care if he's seen as crazy or anything like that, and I don't think he's a fool like his father. I think he's insightful. Maybe it's because the book started out from his point of view; maybe it's the quirky way he describes things. I don't know. I'm just drawn to Darl.
- The Memory of Running: I'm going to have to say that my favorite character from TMOR is Smithy. I kinda want to say my favorite is the dude who got killed in Vietnam when Smithy peed into the swap, but I felt like that wasn't sufficient. I really like the way Smithy perseveres on his bike ride across the US. I would have biked from Rhode Island and maybe made it to the place where Smithy fished when he was younger. There's no way I could go from Rhode Island to LA. No chance in hell. Mad props to Smithy.
- Room: Omg Leo. Leo! AKA Steppa. I love Steppa so much; I don't care that he potentially smells like weed or whatever, what matters to me is that Steppa is really, really good with Jack. He teaches Jack not to play with fire, and explains the water purifying process, and that it's okay to mess things up (as seen when they are playing with LEGOs). I know that Ma doesn't seem to like Steppa, but he is a great person.
Okay everyone, that was it :)
Holston is an interesting choice as a favorite character from Wool. He's someone that doesn't necessarily come to the front of my mind. I have very mixed feelings about Polyphemus. I feel bad for him, but also, he does eat like half the crew which is pretty unnecessary. He can find something else to eat.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I don't really like Leo. His initial ideas on Jack were that he should never have been born. While I agree that he changes this wanting, I still think that that was pretty dark of him, so I've never really been fond of him.
ReplyDeleteShaleen, I think you may be conflating Leo ("Steppa") with Ma's father (who flies in from Australia), and who is deeply unnerved by Jack and can barely bring himself to look at him. (In his defense, which I'm only willing to defend to a point, the sight of Jack is a living reminder of his daughter's rape, and it's understandable that that makes him uncomfortable.) But in contrast, Leo seems to take everything in stride, and he and Jack develop a great rapport--really, the first male "father figure" in Jack's life to do so. He gets along okay with Paul, but he really digs Leo. So do I.
DeleteSteppa is another interesting choice in a way, since I would envision Ma as being the main protagonist through her use of cunning intelligence and ability to take risks while Jack could also be considered the main hero.
ReplyDeleteI like that Leo has become everyone's favorite character in the book (myself included). Jack and Ma would be obvious favorites as most of the book pertains to them, but Leo is able to make himself into a loveable character in the little while that we know him.
ReplyDeleteDarl is an interesting choice for AILD. My favorite character in that book was Cash because he understands things in a deeper way (not really evident I guess until he talks about everyone's sanity being like a seesaw; not clearly one way or the other until something heavy tips it. I really liked that chapter). I didn't really like Darl because he's so knowing and he makes Jewel and Dewey Dell feel worse about Addie's death, although he is a strong character.
ReplyDeleteI also love Leo! I think that Ma will come around to him -- he's a much better welcome-er than Ma's dad is, and he seems much less disturbed by Jack and Ma as they are now.
Although I wouldn't say this makes Polyphemus my favorite character, I have to agree with your assessment of the other characters in the Odyssey. I really tried to like Odysseus. He's pretty cool, until you see him getting into all this trouble that he either caused or could have prevented. A lot of heroes have those moments, where you see them making bad choices and just want to rip your hair out, but Odysseus had so many and it wasn't like he got better about it by the end of the book. Also, Telemachus was obnoxious and I agree that he was basically a sheep.
ReplyDeleteI also liked Darl from As I Lay Dying, but my favorite character there was definitely Jewel. He was just really awesome.
I also really liked Steppa! I mean, it took me a little while to finally start liking him, probably up until right after he steps on Jack's foot to put out the fire on his sock. He's really cool, and he seemed to know how far he could go and where not to go. He was the one who ended up calming down Jack after that huge blowout between him and Grandma. He knew exactly what to do, and handled the situation perfectly. I wish Ma would get to know him better, because he really helped Jack when he needed it.
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