Today's Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl is "Book Characters I’d Love to Be Besties With." I'm going to focus specifically on characters from classic books for my list, to correlate with the It's So Classic Blog Party.
I can't decide on an order of preference for these, so I'm listing them alphabetically.
1. Anne Elliot from Persuasion by Jane Austen. Anne is a lot like me -- quiet, shy, helpful, stubborn, thoughtful. I think we would get along quite well in a quiet way.
2. Anne Shirley from the Anne of Green Gables books by Lucy Maud Montgomery -- she's chatty and bookish, imaginative and cheerful, and I've wanted to be her friend since I was eight years old.
3. Bagheera from The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling -- who doesn't want to be friends with a wise, snarky black panther that talks?
4. Catherine Morland from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen -- Catherine tries to hard to be a good friend, and I want to step into her story and show her that Eleanor Tilney is not the only person who can be a good friend back.
5. Edmund Dantes from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas -- he just needs a friend, y'all. Someone to help him see that vengeance is going to hurt him as much as it hurts those he's taking revenge on.
6. Jane Eyre from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte -- she's so friendless and alone for so much of the book, and I would love to hang out with her and give her someone to confide in.
7. John Watson from the Sherlock Holmes canon by A. Conan Doyle -- Watson is one of the best friends anyone could ask for, and I want him to be mine.
8. Jo March from Little Women, Little Men, and Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott -- life would never be boring with Jo March for a friend! We could encourage each other in our writing pursuits and trade momming tips.
9. Sherlock Holmes from the Sherlock Holmes canon by A. Conan Doyle -- he only has one actual friend, and as wonderful as Watson is, it might be really good for Holmes to have more than just one friend to rely on.
10. Valancy Stirling from The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery -- she spends so much of her life being lonely, when she's such an interesting person! I think we would have fun going to movies together and discussing books, or tramping around in the woods.
How about you? Are any of these characters ones you'd also like to be friends with?
Awww...so nice of you to befriend Sherlock because HE needs a friend. I think you're right. Made me start thinking of a similar Top Ten - characters who could use a besty: Holden Caulfield, Emma Bovary, Frankenstein's monster...
ReplyDeleteJoseph, you'll notice several of my choices are like that, characters I think could use a friend, so I'll volunteer :-) That would make for a good list!
DeleteAnne Shirley would make for a wonderful friend. I've often wished I could invite her over for tea and ask for her advice. :)
ReplyDeleteMy TTT.
Lydia, I know, wouldn't she be just a delicious friend to have come over for coffee or to talk over a book or something?
DeleteI'll check out your TTT soon!
Both of the Anne's! Jo March! Edmund! Sherlock! Oh, so many grand characters on this list. :) Again, glad to keep seeing all the reminders to read The Blue Castle, too!
ReplyDeleteRissi, I know, I love them so much.
DeleteJUST READ IT ALREADY!!!!!!!
Oh, what a sweet list of BFF characters! I would have guessed at most of them, but not all. OF those my BFF choices would be Anne Shirley and Jane Eyre. I'm glad I'm your friend, as well as your mom!!!
ReplyDeleteMom, which ones would you not have guessed? I'm so curious now.
DeleteThis is what I love about classics, I know all of these characters except one!! Oh, I would love to be friends with Anne Elliot, Anne Shirley, and Watson! Fun idea!
ReplyDeleteMC, yes, it does make for a good shared-knowledge base, eh? Which of these did you not know? My guess is Valancy...
DeleteYou are correct! I'm counting that I know Edmund from the movie (whereas I've read all of the others), but I know nothing about The Blue Castle!
DeleteThe Blue Castle is entrancing. I've reviewed it twice, here and here, if you want to know more about it. I adore it.
DeleteI would totally like to be friends with all of these characters too *except* for Anne Shirley bc I think she'd annoy me too much. :P But YES to all the others.
ReplyDeleteEva, awww, really? Even adult Anne in her 30s with a passel of kids?
Delete:-)
Ooh, I love that you combined these! Also, Anne Elliot is SUCH an underrated character from classic literature--at least, in the conversations I've had with people about classic literature. Love, love, love her. And Anne Shirley. And Jane Eyre. OH, AND JO, AND WATSON, okay I'm slowing down because at this point, upon further inspection of your list, I AGREE WITH ALL OF THESE and don't want to parrot back your entire list at you. Dang! Great picks, though, for real.
ReplyDeleteJessica Elizabeth, yes, more people need to love Anne Elliot.
Delete:-) Glad you agree with my picks!
Great list! I'd totally want to be friends with Catherine Morland...and with Valancy, too. :D
ReplyDeleteLark, thanks! They would both be heaps of fun, wouldn't they?
DeleteThe only one I've read so far, sadly, is Jane Eyre, and I wasn't a huge fan of that. 🙈 I really want to read Sherlock Holmes, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, and Little Women. Great list! :)
ReplyDeleteMy TTT
Veronika, sorry you weren't a huge fan of Jane Eyre. I know it doesn't please everyone. Definitely try out some Sherlock Holmes, Jane Austen, and Little Women!
DeleteI'll check out your TTT soon.
Imagine having all of them in a room at once! Or maybe not. I think 14 seconds of Anne Shirley would drive Holmes insane. ;)
ReplyDeleteI think myself and Elizabeth Bennett would have a good time; I'd probably also like Emma Woodhouse, even though she's "flawed."
Holmes... definitely. Except he doesn't really "do" friendships other than Watson. But I'd be content just to hang around and irritate him. Ha ha.
Charity, um, no, maybe not all at once. But in pairs? Sherlock Holmes and Bagheera, for instance, might be a fascinating combo. Anne Elliot and Watson might be very agreeable.
DeleteEmma Woodhouse drives me crazy with her constant meddling and honestly, of all Austen's heroines, she's my least-favorite. Except in the Paltrow movie, where she's softened and sweetened, and then I love her.
I'm a recovering meddler :P so I have always had a soft spot for Emma. Ha, ha. But yeah, the Paltrow version is the best -- it makes both her and Mr. Knightley more likable. Jeremy Northam makes him softly corrective, instead of obnoxious.
DeleteCharity, exactly. I can like their Emma and Mr. Knightley. I want to be their friends. I do not have that with the book.
DeleteBagheera - that is such a great choice! I love him to pieces, especially in the classic Disney animation.
ReplyDeleteSherlock Holmes, yes...he was on my friends list when I was a kid and still is. :)
Marian, yes, the animated Disney version of Bagheera is so delicious. I always hear his voice in my head when I read the books.
DeleteHolmes is such a comforting friend to have, isn't he? So capable.
I've only read a little over half of these books, but I know nearly all of the characters and have to say I love your choices.
ReplyDelete(I really love your quilt background)
MB: keturahskorner.blogspot.com
PB: thegirlwhodoesntexist.com
Thanks, Keturah! Yeah, I found this background at the start of summer and like it so much, I'm keeping it for fall too :-)
DeleteFabulous list! It's fun to see Bagheera among your choices; brings back Childhood Days, what. :D
ReplyDeleteOlivia, yeeeeees. I adore black cats, and Bagheera is like the ultimate black cat friend :-)
Delete