Booking Through Thursday: Quirky: 01/31/08

Booking Through Thursday

This week's question is suggested by (blogless) JMutford:

Sometimes I find eccentric characters quirky and fun, other times I find them too unbelievable and annoying. What are some of the more outrageous characters you've read, and how do you feel about them?

I love quirky characters. They help liven things up. They linger after the book is done and often times make the book fun to reread.

Here is a list of quirky characters that come immediately to mind:

• James Bolivar di Griz aka "The Stainless Steel Rat." He's been around since 1961 but I first fell for him in 1987 with The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted.
• Hamlet. I don't normally like Shakespeare's tragedies but this emo prince won me over. OK, it helped that I had a total crush on the guy who was playing him in high school, but he's still pretty memorable.
• Carl Corey, aka Prince Corwin. He's the protagonist in the first half of the Amber series. He's one of my favorite fantasy characters and certainly my favorite of Zelazny's creations.
• Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Efraim's Daughter Longstocking. She's a pirate king's daughter, has a mansion of her own, lives with a horse and a monkey and can eat nails. What's not to love?
• Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV, or "Radical Edward." She's the manga / anime hacker-post-apocalyptic incarnation of Pippi. She also has the best theme music from the entire series. It's called "The Egg and I" and it's on my top 25 playlist on iTunes.

booking through thursday | books

Comments (6)

Permalink

Comment #1: Thursday, January, 31, 2008 at 20:15:43

Breeni Books says:
"The only one I've heard of is Hamlet. (Then again, who hasn't heard of Hamlet?) Cute story about the attraction. ;)

Happy BTT!"

Comment #2: Thursday, January, 31, 2008 at 18:07:17

pussreboots says:
"I know, Hamlet is a bit of an odd companion to the other three who have their feet firmly planted in the sci-fi and fantasy genres. "

Comment #3: Thursday, January, 31, 2008 at 22:30:25

Thomma Lyn says:
"Pippi Longstocking! I love her. Thanks for bringing back memories of those delightful books!

Happy BTT! "

Comment #4: Friday, February, 1, 2008 at 11:26:56

GeraniumCat:
"I haven't read Pippi Longstocking but I like the sound of a manga version! I had a crush on Hamlet too - it was on at our local theatre when I was 15 and I saw it 6 times that summer."

Comment #5: Friday, February, 1, 2008 at 22:55:10

Nithin says:
"Apart from Hamlet, I haven't heard of any of the characters you've mentioned. But yeah, Hamlet is pretty memorable.

Happy BTT! :-)"

Comment #6: Thursday, March, 13, 2008 at 03:15:41

Frank says:
"If you like good ol' "Slippery Jim" DiGriz, in the realm of s-f, do you also like Keith Laumer's Jame Retief? I find his adventures pretty amusing. Also, Lloyd Biggle's Jan Darzek."

Comment #7: Thursday, March, 13, 2008 at 07:55:48

pussreboots says:
"I don't know either of those characters."