Life likes to throw curve balls and Second Top 10.

So it's been a lot longer than I wanted it to be between my previous post and this one. There isn't really a viable excuse for it, because I could have been working on it, but I DID have the flu... then an allergic reaction to the medication I was taking because of the flu, and now I'm on steroids for a couple of days. Otherwise, life has been pretty non-eventful. Got a hair cut. Went to a basket ball game. Got graduation stuff out of the way. And that's not really in any particular order.

This posts' list is the Top 10 Best Literary Characters. Onto the list!

(Marcello Mastroianni as Meursault, 1967)

10. The Stranger: Meursault Albert Camus- Meursualt was probably the epitome of the Existential conflict. He lived life to the fullest, but he didn't enjoy life; he could have died and he wouldn't have cared. He walked the fine line, and by walking that line, he dies. The Stranger is one of my favorite novels, and the conflict that is Meursault makes a compelling character. He doesn't even know how old his mother is, the next day after his mother's funeral he takes a woman home to sleep with, and he shoots a man just because the sun shines in his eye the wrong way. Sounds like a horrible character right? Honestly, for most of the novel I didn't like Meursault, but it's in the last chapter, when he's about to be hanged for killing a man, that the reader really feels for him. It is in his last moments that Meursault becomes able to appreciate life, the one thing he should have been doing the entire time. His death really left me sitting there going "WHAT THE CRAP?!"

 (Todd Lockwood's Drizzt Do'Urden, 2009)

9. The Legend of Drizzt Novels: Drizzt Do'Urden R.A. Salvatore - Drizzt was first introduced to his legions of fans as a supporting character in Salvatore's Icewind Dale Trilogy. He didn't seem like much, with Wulfgar and Bruenor in comparison. But then, he began to worm his way into the hearts and minds of thousands of fans with his racial conflicts and the simple fact that he wasn't like most other Drow - he actually cared about others. Now, spanning an entire series, readers have followed Drizzt on adventures and watched him grow into a being so unlike the rest of his race. It kind of helps that he's ridiculously good with dual wielded scimitars, and has an iron morality. He knows what's right, and what's wrong. His foil, Artemis Entreri makes for another interesting character, actually accenting the goodness that Drizzt represents. He's a great bastion of the conflicts of our own society, as he's discriminated against for the color of his skin and the long history of his blood thirsty people, the Drow.

(Larry Elmore's Raistin Majere)

8. Dragon Lance Series: Raistlin Majere Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman - Honestly, there isn't another character when all the reader can think "WHAT SIDE ARE  YOU ON?!" when it comes to a confusing character. Raistlin Majere has been both protagonist and antagonist, changing sides at the drop of a hat, with the wittiest, snarkiest come backs that could even rival Severus Snape in mean-ness. In order to understand him even a little bit, here's a little back ground info on him: he's a twin, but unlike most twins, he and his brother are like night and day. Raistlin is weak, relying on his brother's strength for the most part. Raistlin, however, is an extremely powerful wizard, with an intellect that can't be rivaled. He was cursed by his mentor when he flat out killed a mirage of his brother - to see everything as if it was decaying for the rest of his life. So, on top of being sickly all the time, Raistlin only ever sees talking corpses and decaying buildings when he looks at anything. I think he's more or less allowed to be a snarky jerk. But it's deeper than that, when it comes to Raistlin. His greatest ambition is to be a God, and he'll do whatever it takes to get to that point, betray whoever, and kill whoever to get it.

 ( Gerard Butler as The Opera Ghost, 2004)

7. The Phantom of the Opera: The Opera Ghost (Erik) Gaston Leroux - Erik - in the novel - is not a pretty boy. In the musical only half of his face is deformed and he cries a lot more. In the novel, The Phantom's whole face is deformed, his eyes are yellow, and he has a cavity where his nose should be. And he murders a lot of people for Christine. A lot. The reader spends most of the novel not really seeing the Phantom, he's just a name. But once he makes his appearance he is seared into the reader's mind. There isn't really a past for the Opera Ghost, and hints are only really dropped here and there (such as the fact that he came from Persia). The reader doesn't even know his age, or where he was born, but for some reason, his character is the most compelling of the novel. He kidnaps, murders, and threatens his way into the reader's heart. You can't help but feel for him as he laments his existence, promising Christine that once he finishes his master piece he's going to "go to sleep and never wake up."

(Roger Allam as Inspector Javert, 1980)

6. Les Misérables: Inspector Javert Victor Hugo - If you've ever seen or read Les Mis you know that Javert is not the good guy. You know that he's more or less the reason Jean Valjean is on the run, and his version of morality has no room for gray areas. But for some strange reason, Javert is much loved, by myself included. He strives to uphold the law, and once his idea of the world crumbles he simply cannot handle it. But I'm not going to reveal too much, I suppose. What we know of Javert is that his mother was a prostitute and he was born in a jail, and because of this, he hates criminals. He spends the entirety of the novel chasing Valjean all over France as Valjean evades capture. But it's at the end, when Javert's world crumbles that Javert's nature becomes apparent, and we all love him even more for it.

(Edward Booth as Hamlet, 1870)

5. Hamlet: Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark William Shakespeare - Honestly, who hasn't read Hamlet? If you haven't, shame on you. But I understand that. Hamlet IS hard to read. When I first started it, I didn't like Shakespeare. It frustrated me. But then Hamlet started to plot his revenge against Claudius and I was hooked. Hamlet is a hard character to even understand, honestly. He goes from extremes; stark raving mad, to depressed and unable to move forward with his plan. The reader begins to wonder if Hamlet is really insane or not, and by the time everything is out in the open, they still don't know. Hamlet plays his part so well, that it's hard to determine where his mind is. And at the end - as all tragedies - when everyone dies the reader is left wanting more; some kind of explanation for this whole thing seems in order, but we never get it. We're given a snippet of Hamlet's life, and nothing more. In such a short time frame we come to be engrossed in Hamlet's endeavors, and when it's over, we're left behind, empty.

(Jeremy Irons as Humbert Humbert, 1997)

4. Lolita: Humbert Humbert Vladamir Nabokov - In books about sexual obsession, one character stands out among the rest, and that is Nabokov's Humbert Humbert. This is the character that coined the term Nymphet, and with that, Lolita became synonymous with pedophiliac desires. The thing about Humbert is that he SEEMS to be a normal, and seems to tell the truth, but the reader never knows if he is really telling the truth. He twists every word and phrase to make him seem like a powerless man, a slave to Lo's sexuality. One has to wonder what he instigated and what he didn't, and what really happened. The entire novel the reader knows that Humbert is in jail, and several hints are dropped along the way as to why he's there until the end, when it's all out in the open; he killed a man. It isn't until the end that we really figure out why he committed murder (and no I'm not telling you). The thing about Humbert is that he's a biased narrator, and definitely the villain, but we love him anyway.

(Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, 2001 - 2011)

3. Harry Potter series: Severus Snape J.K. Rowling - Honestly, Snape is my favorite character of literally all time. He's a snarky bastard, but there's more to him than just that. In order to NOT reveal anything, I've got to tip toe around the facts, but I will reveal things you should already know. Snape has a pretty good reason for his behaviors; he was bullied by James Potter and Sirius Black his entire Hogwarts career, horrible things happened with someone that is yet to be revealed, and his father beat his mother. Seriously, Severus Snape has probably the worst existence ever. But despite this, he still fights back. He may be a flat out horrible person, but it's the reasons behind his horribleness that make him so compelling. Again, I can't reveal too much because the new movie isn't out yet... but once things are revealed, no one will view Snape the same as before. Seriously, I've read The Chapter at least six times, and it still makes me bawl like a baby. Snape's the most compelling character I've come across in a very long time.

(John Simm as Raskolnikov, 2002)

2. Crime and Punshiment: Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov Fyodor Dostoevsky - I actually know the least about this character out of the ones I'm reviewing, as I'm not even half way done with Crime and Punishment yet, but he's honestly one of my all time favorites. Raskolnikov's mental and moral anguishes are the center point of the novel and as such, the reader becomes engrossed in them. The novel's premise is that Raskolnikov is a struggling former student, and he concocts a plan to murder a pawn-broker to take her money. Seems simple, but really, Raskolnikov spends the rest of the novel anguishing over what he's done, rationalizing it in any way possible, and by the end of it, we've become invested in Raskolnikov's story. If there's anything Dostoevsky is good at, it's making us fall in love with a murderer.

 (Sidney Paget's Sherlock Holmes, 1891)

 1. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Sherlock Holmes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Honestly there isn't a more eccentric character  that anyone could review. Holmes spawned a whole genre of novels, and is even the inspiration for the popular television show House, M.D. And like House, Holmes is a walking contradiction. He uses his AMAZING deductive skills to catch criminals and save lives, but if it isn't interesting he doesn't want the case. He doesn't care about such "trivial things" as the fact that the earth revolves around the sun, but spends all of his time finding out about trivial forensic and esoteric "solutions" to crime. He's ridiculously strong, but about as skinny as a rail, going days at a time without eating just because he wants to concentrate on a case. The biggest character flaw in my mind is that despite his brilliance, Holmes is lazy, snarky, and a drug addict. Despite all of these flaws and quirks, Holmes solves his cases, his brilliant mind using the smallest clues to discover the means and mode of the crime and because of that, he's probably the most compelling, entertaining, and engaging literary character.


That's the list folks! Next time is more ranting and another list, so please stick around. :) I hope you enjoyed this, and if you have any tips or concerns, please leave a comment. Ta - Ta!