I was in the bookstore (read: heaven on earth for bookish-bloggers-who-love-words-such-as-myself) last night. Did you know Barnes & Noble has a board game section? Me either! I’m always sucked into the endless vortex that is the fiction section. Once I broke free long enough to get lost in the bargain books section (bookstore purgatory: I bought out a few precious souls).
Anyway, I’m wandering through the “Required School Reading” section on our way out, and my husband says, “Hey, did you see all these board games they have?”
When you want a big loud mess, and a big loud conversation...
“No. Where?” I followed him to a charming and brightly colored few shelves of glorious nerdy fun: a Falling Water Lego set, a dozen variations of Scrabble, including one for gardeners (score!!), a Risk game set in 2210 (I don’t care what you call me-that’s freakin’ cool), Civilization-the Board Game (Oh. My. Lord!!), and a whole slew of Ravensburger puzzles. But, the best thing on the shelf was the Booklover’s Jenga. The blocks all have conversation starter questions about…books! Hello! Blocks, crashes, and books-you can’t beat that with a stick!
One of the questions photographed on the box intrigued me: “Which literary character would you like to be?”
Immediately, my mind said, “I haven’t read enough to answer this question. I need more books.” But, sifting through the fictional women (I like being a woman, so I limited my answer to female characters. I have no interest in being a man, even if I could be Gandalf or Jason Bourne) that have made a lasting impression on me, here’s my (current, sure to be amended later) answer:
For her strength of character, her curiosity, her brains, and, yes, her magical powers: Hermione Granger-The Harry Potter series, by J. K. Rowling
“‘Are you planning to follow a career in magical law, Miss Granger?’
‘No, I’m not. I’m hoping to do some good in the world.’”
For her humor, her heart, and inquisitive nature:
Scout Finch-To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
“Until I feared I’d lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”
“Pass the damn ham, please.”
For her beautiful love of her husband:
Jan Edgecomb-The Green Mile, by Stephen King
“About halfway through I broke down crying, which I hadn’t expected. I was a little ashamed, but only a little; it was her, you see, and she never taxed me with the times that I slipped from the way I thought a man should be…the way I thought I should be, at any rate. A man with a good wife is the luckiest of God’s creatures, and one without must be among the most miserable, I think, the only true blessing of their lives that they don’t know how poorly off they are.”
For her unapologetic power, intelligence and strength, and her drive to never ever settle for anything but meet her full potential as a human being:
Dagney Taggert-Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand
“She started off walking fast, as if the speed of her steps could give form to the things she felt.”
For her appreciation of the little things, her ability to love, and her grit:
Francie Nolan-A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith “With pleasant anticipation, Francie walked back towards the library.”
"I am no man."
For her valor, her devotion to her family, and her goodness:
Eowyn-The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien
“‘What do you fear, lady?’ Aragorn asked.
‘A cage,’ Eowyn said. ‘To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.’”
For her devotion, her ability to love, her hilarious hidden intelligence and her sense of self:
Fredericka-Freddy and Fredericka, Mark Helprin.
“‘I feel much as I did as a small child-close to something that gives me absolute comfort.’
‘God?’ asked Freddy.
‘Yes,” she answered. ‘Not the God I have come to know, but the God that I knew before I knew what God was, before I knew language, before I knew His name.’”
For her bravery, her conviction, her basic human decency:
Skeeter Phelan-The Help, Kathryn Stockett
“All my life I’d been told what to believe about politics, coloreds, being a girl. But with Constantine’s thumb pressed in my hand, I realized I actually had a choice in what I could believe.”
So, now, to you book lovers, I pose the same question: which literary character would you like to be?