I came across a list of the 100 Best Characters in Fiction Since 1900. It was compiled in 2002 by the now defunct Book Magazine, from the choices of 55 authors, actors, literary agents, and editors.
Among them are crime fiction greats like Philip Marlowe and Sherlock Holmes, Sam Spade and Tom Ripley. Nick and Nora Charles share the accolade with newbie Harry Potter.
But Harry Potter is one of the few characters to grace the list who was “born” in the last quarter century.
What’s happened in the last thirty-some years that makes this true? Is literature - crime fiction or not - in decline? Are all the greats - writers and characters - in our glorious past?
Possibly you don’t have as much time to read now as you once did, making recently published reads even harder to get to. Is your To Be Read pile as high as mine? Are you still catching up with books you bought in 1993 at Omaha’s Bouchercon XXIII?
There must be a book published in the 21st Century that you’ve managed to get through. There has to be a character or two whose literary birth certificates would sport a two-thousand something - a character who will surely find a home on the Best Characters Since 2000 list.
If so, what makes these fresh, these novel, if you will, characters some of the best? What do 21st century readers find compelling in a character?
And if you can’t think of anyone of the belles-lettres who’s knocked your bibliophilistic socks off recently, why not? What, if anything, are the turn-of-the-century crime babies missing?
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I think there’s a common prejudice or bias for things that have stood the test of time. Some people will look at new fiction, a new author, and new book with a healthy skepticism, simply because it’s new.
Don’t they understand that what is new today will one day be old? And when it is old, it will still be the same story, the same character, but *suddenly* it will be respected because it’s old!
Or are they afraid to back a character that might just not end up standing the test of time?
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James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux is very high on my list of characters for all time. Probably a lot of that is the way Burke writes - I cannot describe just what it is that makes his prose so captivating, but it just sinkx its teeth into me and doesn’t let go until the end - and then leaves me wanting more. His other characters are no less significant, but the recovering alcoholic Dave is among the most real that I’ve ever encountered.
by Bob Rudolph
on December 6th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
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On second thought, Harry Bosch deserves mention here - along with Hillerman’s indian reservation police characters.
I will not now talk about the TeeVee, because there are some great characters there - but all too many didn’t last all that long. Roswell comes to mind….
by Bob Rudolph
on December 6th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
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I’ve carried a torch for Travis McGee for 30+ years.
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These are all great guys but I’m wondering about the freshest babies out there. I really got smitten with Troy Cook’s Tara in 47 Rules of Highly Effective Bank Robbers. And then there’s Cornelia Read’s Madeline Dare - whom I like, I think, just because I like Cornelia and Field of Darkness is just a wee tad bit autobiographical.
Any other fresh blood out there?
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Great blog topic, Regina. And I’ve been thinking all day. The one character I see so many people get excited about–referring to the character even more than the author has got to be Stephanie Plum. Readers get so excited about her and talk as if they know her.
by Laura
on December 6th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
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As I read your blog, Regina, two characters came to mind, Deborah Knott and Kinsey Millhone. And I agree with Laura that Stephanie Plum has really struck a cord with readers.
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I was waiting to hear from all the legions of Evanovich fans. I’ve heard good things about Kinsey as well - guess I have to take the plunge!
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The funny thing, Regina, is I have only read one or two of the Evanovich books. I’m basing my comment on the people I listen to at the bookstore.
And an interesting note is that my hands-down favorite character IN the Evanovich books is a side character named Lula. SHE is one of the fun characters I’ve ever read. I’m actually disappointed when she leaves a scene.
by Laura
on December 6th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
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Some side characters really steal the show, don’t they? One of my police in Taking the Village is a favorite - to write and to read - he’s just such a…a…a character.
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