Characters

MarianneM · Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 374 Location: Houston, Texas

There are a few favorite characters in the genre who seem so real to me that I want to know them, and continue to know them. They are so consistently written that I never have that momentary jolt one gets when a character steps out of -- well, 'character.'

Part of this is because the author shows me the little things, the "defects of his virtues" which make him, or her, more real. Take Jack Sheridan of Robyn Carr's Virgin River series, for instance. What a marvelous hero he is.... a much decorated Marine, a man of modesty and great charm, sexy and strong and just a good man all the way around.

But he leaps off the page when you begin to know his quirks, his humanity. He's a bit of a hound with women, but is careful to be fair and not lead them on. He's a neat freak about his bar and his apartment, keeps everything shipshape -- and uses Downy on his laundry. He looks after the people in his little town, the old, the infirm. If he's going to drive to another town for supplies, he contacts those folks who are fragile or older and gets lists of what they need. When he sees the heroine for the first time, he's just knocked endways by the attraction. So first he fixes up the tumble-down cabin in the woods for her, and then he honorably goes to the next town where his occasional lady-friend lives and breaks off the relationship. And this is before he begins his relationship with the heroine, or even knows whether he has a chance with her. That's honorable, and kind.

At one point Melinda, the heroine, says in exasperation, "Jack, you're such a Mother Hen about people." He is, and I love that, but it's the "defect of his virtue" of alpha protectiveness, so it makes him all the more real. His Marines, the men he has commanded in all of his deployments, are very important to him. When Mike, one of his soldiers, is shot and gravely injured in Los Angeles, he drives down from the little town to be with him, and sits with him every night for a week, while Mike is still in a coma, talking to him, being there for him until he comes out of the coma.

All these quirks and qualities make Jack very real to me -- not a cardboard hero but a man I'd love to know.

That's good writing, friends ... really good writing. And it's why I've read this series and re-read it more than twice. It's like a visit with friends you know and cherish, and they're never boring.

MarianneM

Anne Hume · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 152 Location: Hong Kong

Skrabs · Joined: 16 Apr 2008 Posts: 387 Location: Australia

Dunnett was a master. I love how she made Lymond so individual and fully realised and yet hardly any of the scenes in the books are from his point of view! I had to pack all of my books away recently and store them and I made sure the Lymond Chronicles were put in plastic boxes and not cardboard just in case they got damaged. Very Happy

I re-read at least once a year and once I'm done he lingers in my head for ages (in a non-creepy manner). Even though I know its coming that scene in Pawn in Frankincense is the most heartbreaking thing I think I've ever read - I actually just teared up writing this.

I feel almost bad admitting this but the Gabaldon series is something I just cannot get into. I tried Outlander several years ago and I think I returned it to the library without finishing it. So I tried again last year and made myself read it and... it was okay. Jamie and Claire are so beloved but I just thought them both unremarkable. (ducking for cover). And whilst I'm being blasphemous I've never gotten the appeal of Eve and Roarke but then I struggle with most of Robert's novels.