Tuesday 31 August 2021

Top Ten Tuesday ~ My Top Ten Personal Heroes

  

"Top Ten Tuesday" is an original feature/weekly meme created on the blog "The Broke and the Bookish". This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at "The Broke and the Bookish". It is now hosted by Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl.

Since I am just as fond of them as they are, I jump at the chance to share my lists with them! Have a look at their page, there are lots of other bloggers who share their lists here.

This week's topic is: Fictional Crushes

I don't often have crushes, never was the type of person to be blown away by someone's good looks. It was more the type of person someone was. And there are a few men in literature that I admire (probably fewer than women but I don't want to get too far away from the subject), I call them my personal heroes, so that's what I'm going to present today.

My Personal Heroes

Alcott, Louisa May "Little Women" - 1868
Theodore "Laurie/Teddy" Laurence, I never understood why Jo March didn't want to marry him, he is such a lovely guy.

Austen, Jane "Persuasion" - 1817
Captain Frederick Wentworth. I know, for most women, Mr. Darcy from "Pride & Prejudice" is the epitome of a hero but for me, it's always been Frederick Wentworth who waits for his girl until she is ready.

Becker, Jurek "Jacob the Liar" (German: Jakob der Lügner) - 1969
Jacob Heym gives people hope for telling them lies and thereby saves quite a few.

Lee, Harper "To Kill a Mockingbird" - 1960
Atticus Finch, of course. What a wonderful guy who stands up for the little man even if it is to his disadvantage.

Pasternak, Boris "Doctor Zhivago" (Russian: Доктор Живаго = Doktor Živago) - 1957
Of all the main and secondary characters of all the books I read, Jurij Zhivago was always one of my favourites. Though, that might have been the lovely Omar Sharif who played him in one of my favourite movies ever. 😉 (So, you could count this as a crush)

Powers, Charles T. "In the Memory of the Forest" - 1997
Leszek Maleszewski tries to discover the reason for his friend's murder and therefoy uncovers the history of his village.

Ruiz Zafón, Carlos "The Shadow of the Wind" (Spanish: La Sombra del Viento) - 2001
(El cementerio de los libros olvidados #1)

Juan Sempere is the guy who introduces his son Daniel to the Cemetery of Lost Books and us to a wonderful tetralogy of books about it.

Stroyar, J.N. "The Children’s War" - 2001

Peter Halifax is the kind of guy youd would want by your side if you are in trouble.

Turner, Nancy E. "These is my Words, The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901" - 1999

Captain Jack Elliot who is a good man and helps everyone around him, that's what draws Sarah to him.

Zusak, Markus "The Book Thief" - 2005

Hans Hubermann, Liesel Meminger's foster father. He raises the little orphan girl as if she were is own, is very sympathetic and courageous, has the heart in the right place.

32 comments:

  1. Ah. The Book Thief is one of my favorites! I didn't even think about Hans when I was making my list. Great choice!

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    1. Thanks, Allison. He's not your normal "crush" character, I guess that's why he gets forgotten. But I love "The Book Thief" and it comes up a lot in my TTT.

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  2. I see a lot of discussion about the heroes and heroines of Austen and it does make me want to explore those books. :) I love the Sense and sensibility adaptation with Emma Thompson.

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    1. Thanks, Greg. I think that's also my husband's favourite. But they're all good. If you want to watch P&P, start with the 1995 adaptation, it's definitely the best. Persuasion doesn't really have the greatest adaptations. I love the one with Amanda Root and Ciarán Hinds from 1995, as well, but it doesn't follow the book well.

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    2. I've seen that there's an Emma adaptation as well with Gwyneth Paltrow but it might be a silly take, not sure.

      Ciarán Hinds I've enjoyed in a few shows...

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    3. No, that's a good one. And there's one with Kate Beckinsale, the two are a good combination. And a newer one with Anya Taylor-Joy which has great music. And there's a series from 1972 which, even though a bit old fashioned by now, is probably my favourite.

      And I think any film with Ciarán Hinds is worth watching, he's a great actor.

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    4. Oh that's good to know! Thank you!!

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    5. Of course, any time. I hope you get to watch and enjoy all of them.

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  3. I couldn’t agree with you more about Laurie!

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    1. Thanks, Astilbe. He is just such a great guy, I'm sure there are more who agree with us.

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  4. My #1 hero: Atticus Finch.

    I love your take on this topic.

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    1. Thanks, Deb. And who couldn't put Atticus Finch among the heroes? He is all the guys with their funny superpowers combined.

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  5. Persuasion and Shadow of the Wind are two of my all time favourite books and it makes me ridiculously happy seeing them on this list 😂 I love Wentworth and Sempere, too!

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    1. Thanks, Dini. They are both just great. As are the others on the list, if you haven't read them, I'm sure you would enjoy most of them.

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  6. What a great twist on the topic!

    Here’s my take: https://fiftytwo.blog/2021/08/31/ttt-fictional-crushes/

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    1. Thanks, Lori. I just feel too old for having crushes. LOL

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  7. Atticus Finch is one of the greats. :)

    Check out my TTT

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    1. He definitely is, Lauren. We should have more guys like Atticus.

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  8. Atticus Finch was the only "fictional crush" I could think of, so I abandoned this week's topic altogether. I admire Atticus' good character. And, Gregory Peck was very handsome in the film!!!

    Hope you'll visit my TTT list!

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    1. Thanks, Lectrice. I don't blame you. I didn't know at first what to do with "crushes", I just don't read those kinds of books. But Atticus is one of my all-time admired heroes, so I went from there.

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  9. Atticus was one of my first fictional heroes.

    When you get the chance, I hope you can stop by my post and check it out: https://readbakecreate.com/characters-i-would-love-to-have-a-drink-with/

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    1. I think the two of us are not alone there, Pam. Many of the others have mentioned Atticus. We just have to admire him.

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  10. Love your choices! Capt. Wentworth and Atticus Finch are two favs of mine, too. :)

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    1. I think the two will make the top list of my TTT, Lark. And Hans Hubermann.

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  11. Hans Hubermann is one of the best dads in YA fiction ever, admittedly it's a low bar as I read mostly fantasy where there are a lot of dead/absent parents, but still.....
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2021/08/31/top-ten-tuesday-331/

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    1. Haha, Jo, but then you shouldn't have had any problems with crushes like I did. Will have to se what you came up with.

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  12. I never understood why she wouldn't marry him either - and then when the movie came out and Christian Bale played Laurie, I was absolutely indignant. I mean, I knew they would follow the book in that regard but I hoped anyway that they would not. No such luck.

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    1. LOL, Sarah. I understand the Christian Bale point, he is just fabulous in all of his movies, one of my favourite actors.

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    2. I LOVE him SO much. The very first movie I ever saw him in was Newsies and after that I had to go back and watch Empire of the Sun and Treasure Island and anything I could get my hands on. I know every word of Newsies by heart, and I love that Eleanor loves it too. He is my most most favorite, and the best Batman. The Dark Knight is easily the greatest of all the Batman movies because nothing can ever top the Christian Bale/Heath Ledger dynamic.

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    3. I totally agree as to Christian Bale though I have never seen Newsies. And I'm not a big fan of superhero movies. But I have seen The Dark Knight and only because Christian Bale is in it. He is by far one of the best actors around.

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  13. Oh, I LOVE this topic! Much better than book boyfriends. I might have to steal it some time. Like you, I adore Atticus Finch. Also, Laurie, although when it comes to heroes, Mr. Laurence comes most to mind since he's so kind to the Marches, especially shy Beth. Great list!

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    1. Thanks, Susan. No problem with stealing it, I'm sure I have seen the idea somewhere else. And I thought it fitted the twist.

      Sure, Mr. Laurence was also fantastic. There are some great characters in that book.

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