ONTD

[info]actually_love
8:59 pm - 06/20/2005

(even though this list came out three years ago, i still believe that it is relevant)

from Book magazine (March/April 2002)...

o1. Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925.
o2. Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, 1951.
o3. Humbert Humbert from Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, 1955.
o4. Leopold Blood from Ulysses by James Joyce, 1922.
o5. Rabbit Angstrom from Rabbit, Run by John Updike, 1960.
o6. Sherlock Holmes from The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1902.
o7. Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, 1960.
o8. Molly Bloom from Ulysses by James Joyce, 1922.
o9. Stephen Dedalus from Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, 1916.
1o. Lily Bart from The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, 1905.
11. Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote, 1958.
12. Gregor Samsa from The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, 1915.
13. The Invisible Man from Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, 1952.
14. Lolita from Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, 1955.
15. Aureliano Buendia from One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1967.
16. Clarissa Dalloway from Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, 1925.
17. Ignatius Reilly from A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, 1980.
18. George Smiley from Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John LeCarre, 1974.
19. Mrs. Ramsay from To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, 1927.
2o. Bigger Thomas from Native Son by Richard Wright, 1940.
21. Nick Adams from In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway, 1925.
22. Yossarian from Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, 1961.
23. Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, 1936.
24. Scout Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, 1960.
25. Philip Marlowe from The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, 1939.
26. Kurtz from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, 1902.
27. Stevens from Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, 1989.
28. Cosimo Piovasco di Rondo from The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino, 1957.
29. Winnie the Pooh from Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne, 1926.
3o. Oskar Matzerath from The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass, 1959.
31. Hazel Motes from Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor, 1952.
32. Alex Portnoy from Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth, 1969.
33. Binx Bolling from The Moviegoer by Walker Percy, 1961.
34. Sebastian Flyte from Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, 1945.
35. Jeeves from My Man Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse, 1919.
36. Eugene Henderson from Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow, 1959.
37. Marcel from Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust, 1913-1927.
38. Toad from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, 1908.
39. The Cat in the Hat from The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss, 1955.
4o. Peter Pan from The Little White Bird by J.M. Barrie, 1902.
41. Augustus McCrae from Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, 1985.
42. Sam Spade from The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, 1930.
43. Judge Holden from Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, 1985.
44. Willie Stark from All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren, 1946.
45. Stephen Maturin from Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian, 1969.
46. The Little Prince from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 1943.
47. Santiago from The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, 1952.
48. Jean Brodie from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark, 1961.
49. The Whiskey Priest from The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene, 1940.
5o. Neddy Merrill from The Swimmer by John Cheever, 1964.
51. Sula Peace from Sula by Toni Morrison, 1973.
52. Mersault from The Stranger by Albert Camus, 1942.
53. Jake Barnes from The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, 1926.
54. Phoebe Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, 1951.
55. Janie Crawford from Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, 1937.
56. Antonia Shimerda from My Antonia by Willa Cather, 1918.
57. Grendel from Grendel by John Gardner, 1971.
58. Gulley Jimson from The Horse's Mouth by Joyce Cary, 1944.
59. Big Brother from 1984 by George Orwell, 1949.
6o. Tom Ripley from The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, 1955.
61. Seymour Glass from Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger, 1953.
62. Dean Moriarty from On The Road by Jack Kerouac, 1957.
63. Charlotte from Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, 1952.
64. T.S. Garp from The World According to Garp by John Irving, 1978.
65. Nick and Nora Charles from The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett, 1934.
66. James Bond from Casino Royale by Ian Fleming, 1953.
67. Mr. Bridge from Mrs. Bridge by Evan S. Connell, 1959.
68. Geoffrey Firmin from Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry, 1947.
69. Benjy from The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, 1929.
7o. Charles Kinbote from Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov, 1926.
71. Mary Katherine Blackwood from We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, 1962.
72. Charles Ryder from Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, 1945.
73. Claudine from Claudine at School by Colette, 1900.
74. Florentino Ariza from Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1985.
75. George Follansbee Babbitt from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis, 1922.
76. Christopher Tietjens from Parade's End by Ford Madox Ford, 1924-1928.
77. Frankie Addams from The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCuller, 1946.
78. The Dog of Tears from Blindness by Jose Saramago, 1995.
79. Tarzan from Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1914.
8o. Nathan Zuckerman from My Life As a Man by Philip Roth, 1979.
81. Arthur "Boo" Radley from To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, 1960.
82. Henry Chinaski from Post Office by Charles Bukowski, 1971.
83. Joseph K. from The Trial by Franz Kafka, 1925.
84. Yuri Zhivago from Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, 1957.
85. Harry Potter from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling, 1998.
86. Hana from The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje, 1992.
87. Margaret Schlegel from Howards End by E.M. Forster, 1910.
88. Jim Dixon from Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis, 1954.
89. Maurice Bendrix from The End of the Affair by Graham Greene, 1951.
9o. Lennie Small from Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, 1937.
91. Mr. Biswas from A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul, 1961.
92. Alden Pyle from The Quiet American by Graham Greene, 1955.
93. Kimball "Kim" O'Hara from Kim by Rudyard Kipling, 1901.
94. Newland Archer from The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, 1920.
95. Clyde Griffiths from An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser, 1925.
96. Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne, 1926.
97. Quentin Compson from The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, 1929.
98. Charlie Marlow from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, 1902.
99. Celie from The Color Purple by Alice Walker, 1982.
o1oo. Augie March from The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow, 1953.
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Leave a Comment
[info]vero182030 21st-Jun-2005 01:05 am (UTC)
65. Nick and Nora Charles from The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett, 1934.

YESSSS!!! The first English-language novel I've read, and I loved those two characters :)
[info]thescientist__ 21st-Jun-2005 01:05 am (UTC)
they are totally missing Dorian Gray.
[info]__lovebuzzz 21st-Jun-2005 01:20 am (UTC)
Fuck yes!
[info]bailunrui 21st-Jun-2005 01:36 am (UTC)
That was written before 1900.
[info]suzycat 21st-Jun-2005 01:45 am (UTC)
Since Oscar died in either 1899 or 1900, I forget which, Dorian misses out by being a 19th century creation. Alas.
[info]more__glitter 21st-Jun-2005 04:00 am (UTC)
When I clicked on the LJ cut, I might as well have been chanting "Basil, Basil, Basil..."

Ah well. They have Jay Gatsby.
[info]yiiikes___ 21st-Jun-2005 01:06 am (UTC)
woohoo! harry potter #85!
[info]fixedzero 21st-Jun-2005 01:06 am (UTC)
I'm disappointed to see that Brave New World isn't even on the list once, but I generally agree with all the others. Mmm literature.
[info]katie18 21st-Jun-2005 01:09 am (UTC)
I agree with Brave New World not being on there.
[info]onwhai 21st-Jun-2005 01:48 am (UTC)
It's a character list, not a novel list.
[info]fixedzero 21st-Jun-2005 01:53 am (UTC)
I realize that, my comment was in reference to the fact that there's at least two characters in that book that I would have expected to see on the above list
[info]burninglikeice 21st-Jun-2005 01:51 am (UTC)
There are a lot of characters that I think should be there that aren't.

And a lot of characters there that shouldn't be.

Then again, I don't know what the criteria were for "best character" so I'm not completely sure.
[info]aprilbegins 21st-Jun-2005 01:07 am (UTC)
...and once again I'm reminded of how little I read books. But I'm fine with that. I mean heavens, keeping track of Lindsay Lohan's current weight takes up a whole day's leisure time.
[info]just_bret 21st-Jun-2005 01:15 am (UTC)
hahaha....so true. i find there arent enough hours in a day to keep track of that AND what city tomkat's currently attacking.
[info]delicate_____ 21st-Jun-2005 01:08 am (UTC)
I think The Catcher in the Rye is so over-rated.
[info]simplysweet0424 21st-Jun-2005 01:11 am (UTC)
yep. i hated it. i wanted to smack that kid.
[info]delicate_____ 21st-Jun-2005 01:13 am (UTC)
That's exactly how I felt reading it.
[info]fallonfey88 21st-Jun-2005 04:11 am (UTC)
as i told one of my english teachers, holden is a whiny little bitch. seriously who goes to various surely expensive prep schools, flunks out, is irresponsible (lacrosse team equip) and intentionally obnoxious (bothering suitemate, yelling down the hall, talking to the women in the club, etc. ) also he uses hyperbole a lot, which i think is really annoying.
[info]luktar 21st-Jun-2005 01:48 am (UTC)
i hate to sound like a snob (well, not really), BUT:

you probably weren't taught it correctly. either that or you're a moron, but i'll give you the benefit of my doubt.
[info]the_simi 21st-Jun-2005 03:12 am (UTC)
WORD.
[info]sparkoflove 21st-Jun-2005 04:08 am (UTC)
i think it's overrated, too. it wasn't horrible, but i don't think it deserves all the hype it gets.
[info]id_gurl 21st-Jun-2005 12:07 pm (UTC)
I love Catcher in the Rye, but I will happyily burn every copy in existance if it means the death of the emo-fucken, crybaby, do-nothing generation.
[info]discotraxx 21st-Jun-2005 01:09 am (UTC)
Someone explain the appeal of The Catcher in the Rye. Please?

I thought it was fucking boring.
[info]queen_exene 21st-Jun-2005 01:11 am (UTC)
i second that.
[info]just_bret 21st-Jun-2005 01:16 am (UTC)
well, it's not my favorite book, but i think the entire point is to be annoyed with holden and realize everything you hate about him is really what you hate in yourself (which mirrors holden hating everyone who is "phoney" while he himself is a huge phoney). it's basically over-dramatizing teen angst.
[info]discotraxx 21st-Jun-2005 01:19 am (UTC)
I see. So it's a book that will supposedly force you to this big self-realization and make you feel like shit. Ah. Still fucking boring, lmao.
[info]maeir 21st-Jun-2005 01:28 am (UTC)
I don't think I can explain what appeals to me about the book, at least not in a way that won't get me blasted from everyone in this community, but I did relate to it when I first read it and so I've always liked it.
Franny and Zoey or Nine Stories are better J.D. Salinger books though.
[info]burninglikeice 21st-Jun-2005 01:37 am (UTC)
I think it's one of those "you like it or you don't" books, it can't really be explained all that well.

I mean, I liked the pacing, the way it was written, and the characters, but that's just me.
[info]delicate_____ 21st-Jun-2005 01:53 am (UTC)
I thought it was, too.

I often get blasted for saying that, too.
[info]xx_t_o_m_ 21st-Jun-2005 02:00 am (UTC)
Catcher and the Rye was TORTURE.
[info]lust 21st-Jun-2005 04:35 am (UTC)
It's a "classic" that people feel they can actually relate to/understand well.

&it makes them feel good about themselves to be able to discuss a book held, for the most part, in such high regard.

[info]cogenthoughts 21st-Jun-2005 01:20 pm (UTC)
I think it depends on how old you are when you first read it. If you're an adult picking it up for the first time, I can see how it would be really annoying/boring/whathaveyou.
[info]queen_exene 21st-Jun-2005 01:11 am (UTC)
yay for igantius reilly!

[info]kissmydairyair 21st-Jun-2005 02:01 am (UTC)
he's so sickening, but i still love that lug.
[info]queen_exene 21st-Jun-2005 02:43 am (UTC)
me too. love the book.

oh fortuna.
[info]cogenthoughts 21st-Jun-2005 01:21 pm (UTC)
Fuck yeah! That is a great book. Ignatius annoys me to no end, but he's still so well written.
[info]chrs 21st-Jun-2005 01:11 am (UTC)
no one likes Jay Gatsby.

...fucking closet case.
[info]riddlev 21st-Jun-2005 01:18 am (UTC)
I fucking hated that guy.
[info]chrs 21st-Jun-2005 01:36 am (UTC)
high literary five, my friend.
[info]_winter_dreams 21st-Jun-2005 01:19 am (UTC)
I love him, that's my favorite book
[info]stamped 21st-Jun-2005 01:24 am (UTC)
Jay Gatsby is amazing.
[info]idle_nights 21st-Jun-2005 01:40 am (UTC)
I love Jay Gatsby but not as much as I love Nick.
[info]kissmydairyair 21st-Jun-2005 02:01 am (UTC)
Jay Gatsby owns.
[info]commedesgarcons 21st-Jun-2005 02:05 am (UTC)
I loved him. As a chracter he had everything to exactly show the boom and bust in its glory and tragedy. I dunno you have to put him in a time setting.
[info]emiweebee 21st-Jun-2005 02:17 am (UTC)
WORD.

I despise that book, and I am so tired of hearing about the great work of art it's supposed to be.
[info]kem721 21st-Jun-2005 02:30 am (UTC)
i agree... i did not get the mass appeal of that book
[info]me_quieres 21st-Jun-2005 04:26 am (UTC)
I love Jay Gatsby
[info]thepitapredator 21st-Jun-2005 04:39 am (UTC)
Jay was alright.

But Nick was better.
[info]karrylynn 21st-Jun-2005 07:10 pm (UTC)
Well when you write The 100% Heterosexual Best Fiction Characters Of All Time List, you be sure to leave him off.

Apparently a fucking lot of people think Jay Gatsby was a fantastic character, whether or not he was like able.
[info]bunny_tsukino 21st-Jun-2005 01:12 am (UTC)
totally agree with many, including humbert and lolita, and eeyore!
[info]venus_ice 21st-Jun-2005 01:13 am (UTC)
YAY! HARRY!
Scarlett O'Hara is too far down the list. :\
[info]just_bret 21st-Jun-2005 01:20 am (UTC)
i second.
[info]healthypanda 21st-Jun-2005 01:20 am (UTC)
Agree!! That was a great book, and I like Scarlett, even if she's a raving bitch.
[info]kissmydairyair 21st-Jun-2005 02:02 am (UTC)
well, i love that raving bitch.
[info]spusan 21st-Jun-2005 03:24 am (UTC)
Amen! It took me me the entire summer to read that book b/c I was 11 and I had to pace myself. That novel made me cry twice. TWICE! And Scarlett O'hara is such an amazing character b/c even if you don't like her, you sympathize with her. I hated her, she's a bitch! But you feel so bad, I mean, goddamnit! She was meant to be the wife of some rich plantation owner with nary a care in the world!
[info]sunlandic 21st-Jun-2005 04:02 am (UTC)
WORD
[info]nevermind6794 21st-Jun-2005 01:13 am (UTC)
I had to read Grendel for school my junior year. It's a really good book.

A friend of mine once called me Holden Caulfield because I apparently reminded him of Holden so much. He meant it as a compliment, but I'm still not completely sure whether it's a good thing or not.
[info]simplysweet0424 21st-Jun-2005 01:13 am (UTC)
. . .




thats sooooo not.
[info]nevermind6794 21st-Jun-2005 02:02 am (UTC)
supposedly it was because holden was honest and did what he wanted to do, and that's what my friend wanted to do in life. but i don't think holden was usually a very nice guy
[info]sulking 21st-Jun-2005 01:24 am (UTC)
it's a really good thing.
if i had to marry one character from literature, it'd probably be holden.
[info]myownimprov 21st-Jun-2005 01:30 am (UTC)
John Lennon's murderer wanted to be Holden Caulfield.
[info]kissmydairyair 21st-Jun-2005 02:02 am (UTC)
it means you're an ass but a loveable one.
[info]negativeoutlook 21st-Jun-2005 02:05 am (UTC)
I've gotten that a lot too actually.
[info]batsyx 21st-Jun-2005 01:13 am (UTC)
I hated The Great Gatsby.

Read the book in high school and saw 2 movie versions of the book.

Still didn't like it.
[info]delicate_____ 21st-Jun-2005 01:16 am (UTC)
I didn't like that book either...
[info]_mathlete 21st-Jun-2005 01:21 am (UTC)
yep, same
[info]spusan 21st-Jun-2005 03:26 am (UTC)
I loved it. I had tried to read it 3 times before my English teacher assigned it. But once I got into the rhythm, it's amazing.
[info]kitonangyl 21st-Jun-2005 01:13 am (UTC)
Waaaahh I didn't like Jay Gatsby very much. He was annoying. I liked Nick better.

Yay for Eeyore XD
[info]delicate_____ 21st-Jun-2005 01:17 am (UTC)
Jordan was my favorite character from that book.
[info]kitonangyl 21st-Jun-2005 01:18 am (UTC)
But she turned out to be a bitch in the end. ;-;
[info]just_bret 21st-Jun-2005 01:18 am (UTC)
yeah, that's because nick is the relatable one you're suppose to root for. gatsby is however, the more iconic one.
[info]spusan 21st-Jun-2005 03:27 am (UTC)
Nick was so mellow, he was the anti-hero one could say. Gatsby was driven by this horrible facade and once he realised it, his world was nothing.
[info]hervoice 21st-Jun-2005 03:58 am (UTC)
True, Jay annoyed the hell out of me. He reminded me of a lovesick teenager.
[info]_sunnyday 21st-Jun-2005 01:13 am (UTC)
SEYMOUR GLASS <3

I love me some Salinger, yes I do.
[info]actually_love 21st-Jun-2005 01:33 am (UTC)
hey, salinger's my favorite. mind if i add you?
[info]_sunnyday 21st-Jun-2005 01:36 am (UTC)
Go for it!
[info]luktar 21st-Jun-2005 01:49 am (UTC)
before i will add you as my friend, you must pass a simple test:

what did you think of raise high...?
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