Thursday 2 December 2010

Shamelessly pirated Friday conundrum

Over at her place, Mrs. Litlove lists the fictional characters who she thinks would be good friends, or in a couple of instances, could do with a good friend. It's a great list.

It's such a good idea, that I'm stealing it. Contribute your fictional (not necessarily literary) favourites.

Mine.
Arthur Dent. He's bumbling, bewildered but sound on all the issues. He sees the universe as a giant plot to keep him on edge, which I think is a fair way of seeing it. He also gets Fenchurch, and has a neat line in dressing gowns.

Mark Corrigan. I'm like him, but I'm better than him in some ways. You always need inferior friends, they're good for self-esteem. All my friends are tall, thin and accomplished. The bastards. Fiction's where I'll find my posse.

Badger. Bright, tough, decisive, enjoys a roaring fire, a good pipe and a glass of something warming. Doesn't like Tory weasels.

Uncle Matthew from Anne of Green Gables. Keeps his mouth shut unless absolutely necessary, cleverer than anyone thinks.

Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. They're like Neal and Dan: ready for adventure and unconventional.

Viola from Twelfth Night. And Emma from, er, Emma. And possibly Hermione - resourceful, daring, highly intelligent and independent women who adapt the world to their requirements rather than the other way round.

Jerry Cornelius (from Michael Moorcock's books): wild, unpredictable, heroic, romantic, weird. Might be hard work.

The Moomins. Obviously.

Steve Bell's penguins. Fat, lazy, selfish, rude, iconoclastic, rebellious and untrustworthy. They'd be great. Though they'd shit all over your house.

Spock. No, McCoy. He's sardonic and I bet he carries a hip flask.

Tiffany Aching. Wise beyond her years, and cool with it. If I wanted a wilder wizard, it's got to be Merlin.

Any of John Wyndham's lantern-jawed heroes. They'd get you through a post-apocalyptic horror with grit and politeness. Chandler's Marlowe would be similarly good to have by your side when wise-cracking and a .38 are the order of the day. Smiley for the trickier moral conundrum.

Iago Prytherch - he'd puncture any pretensions you had. As would Nora and Dora from Angela Carter's Wise Children. They'd feed you gin and gossip.

I'm sure many more will occur to me, but over to you. Who would you least like to have around? For me, it's any of the hippies from On The Road, and the Famous Five etc.

7 comments:

Ewarwoowar said...

I'll have a think and give you an answer tomorrow, Friday.

The Plashing Vole said...

Oh Mr. Clever. It's been a long and wearing week.

Benjamin. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Benjamin. said...

Mine would be a very short list of literary associates:

Alec Leamas, the murdered spy who had a good heart and a confused mind in light of the Berlin War tribulations 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold' written in the 60's.

A brilliant, indestructible creation by Sam Eastland in 'Eye of the Red Tsar' one of the standout novels of the year.

Odysseus, the heroic soul who went on a journey encompassing the mythological and the perils of human nature in Homer's 'Odyssey'. Imagine the conversations with him.

Heathcliff from 'Wuthering Heights' obviously, his intriguing persona and love for one woman commands respect.

Benjamin. said...

Dammit, meant Berlin Wall of course and Pekklar from 'Eye of the Red Tsar' for those who have not read it yet, I recommend you do.

Ewarwoowar said...

Yes, well.

The answer is Holden Caulfield.

Artog said...

After quite some thought I came to the conclusion, for various reasons, I probably wouldn't want to be friends with any of my favourite characters. Except for Gandalf.