Thursday 28 February 2008

Booking through Thursday

Who is your favorite female lead character? And why? (And yes, of course, you can name more than one . . . I always have trouble narrowing down these things to one name, why should I force you to?)

I don't know of a female character whom I could name as my perennial favourite ... there's always Elizabeth Bennett, I guess, and lots of people will think of her first. And I imagine the 'spirited' one from Little Women - Jo? - will get a few votes as well.
I get right into books I enjoy, and fall for many of the characters straight away. But it will all be over in a flash as I move on to the next book. It's hard to pick the most outstanding. So many books, so many great people to meet!
For example, while I was recently reading Barbara Pym's Excellent Women, set in post-war Britain, I thought her lead (Mildred? Winifred? I don't have the book with me right now) was a great character: strong and principled, with warmth and great wit, plus a healthy dollop of cynicism and a self-deprecating sense of humour.
Just like the character of Marie Sharpe in Virginia Ironside's No, I Don't Want to Join a Book Club, which I read just a few days ago.
I suppose my answer is that I like a certain type of female lead more than any one particular fictional female.

15 comments:

trish said...

I'm with you: there's so many books I've read, and I really get into what I'm reading at the time that I have a hard time remembering the great characters from two or three books ago. Ah, well, at least I enjoyed them for a while. :-)

Maree said...

I find some stick more than others, but usually if they're annoying rather than likable. But I'm easily irritated.

Kat said...

Hurrah for Jo March! :D Yeah, she was one of the first ones that came to mind.

gautami tripathy said...

Too many heroines, I have liked. Problem is I can't recal them Scarlett O'Hara stands out for me.

Here is my BTT post

Susan Higginbotham said...

I liked the heroine (I think it's Mildred) from Excellent Women too. I'm also fond of Jane from Pym's Jane and Prudence.

Anonymous said...

I am unfamiliar with the last two, but they sound interesting! Jo March was one of mine.

teabird said...

Lizzie, of course...

Funny: I just wrote about Prudence from Jane and Prudence!

I'm l'm here

Anonymous said...

Hummm good answer!

Anonymous said...

I hadn't thought about Jo and she was certainly very influential in who I was as a child and a teenager. In the end I went for women who had helped change who I was as an adult.

Anonymous said...

I didn't think of Jo, either, though I admired her enormously. Wondered about one of the Barbara Pym heroines, because they are so splendid. I particularly like Esther Clovis from Less than Angels.

pussreboots said...

I didn't think of either of those leads... I'm not really a fan of either book. I went with a sillier answer: Pippi.

Chrisbookarama said...

Yes, lots of great books, lots of great characters.

Anonymous said...

Hi, Les, I'm reading the blog...congratulations...finding it hard to nominate a fav. fictional character, too many real life females - Vita Sackville West from Portrait of a Marriage, oh, Vianne from Chocolat comes to mind.
Deborah

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

We're having an interesting discussion about types over at my blog, in response to this question.

I, too, gravitate toward types. In fact, the type I gravitate toward seems to have a bit of controversy surrounding her...

Maree said...

You know, after saying that I can't think of specifics, so I guess I was wrong about that. I think what I had in mind was female characters from thrillers/suspense novels, who are usually being stalked/victims of terrible crimes making incredibly bad decisions for no apparant reason. If I think of actual specifics, I'll let you know. :)