Who is/are your favorite fictional character(s)

[Squeezer]

I've read all of Brian Jacques' books. I'm even currently reading his new one; Doomwyte.


Animal Farm is considered a very good book and is often a book chosen for reading in most schools. Redwall series is no different, but the case is medieval fantasy.

And the political undertones are nonexistent.

I'm not a fan. I don't think Brian Jacques is a bad author, but I've never been a fan. I put him on par with Rowling, Grisham, Koontz, Clancy, Dan Brown etc. Authors that found their niche and write solid books in one category.

Lately I've been in the mood for living novelists. I just ordered House of Sand and Fog and The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus. I've been powering through the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and reading American Psycho on the side.

Anyone else read good books lately?

[Summa]

Anyone else read good books lately?

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
The Saga of the Volsungs (meh...it was ok)
^ since christmas

Currently Reading:
The Prince by Machiavelli
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
The Brothers Karamosov by Dostoevsky
Perfume by Patrick Suskind

In Line:
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

[gran guerrero]

Hence, why I said the case was of medieval fantasy.

I like Brian Jacques, cause no one is more consistent with his material, yet creative as fuck. The guy is a great descriptive writer (he makes forest food sound fucking delicious), writes great riddles, has great characters, writes more song lyrics than Eminem. He's just an overall great writer. He doesn't get his credit due cause he writes books with animals as his characters, and his main target audience are kids (but hey he also did humans once too, Check out The Flying Dutchman, and The Angel's Command)

---
This is not a book, but you should check out this movie sometime:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_From_Earth

[Squeezer]

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
The Saga of the Volsungs (meh...it was ok)
^ since christmas

Currently Reading:
The Prince by Machiavelli
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
The Brothers Karamosov by Dostoevsky
Perfume by Patrick Suskind

In Line:
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Oscar Wao and Perfume were both surprisingly great books.

[gran guerrero]

I saw the movie Perfume, which was pretty awesome

[Liquid Blue]

Hence, why I said the case was of medieval fantasy.

I like Brian Jacques, cause no one is more consistent with his material, yet creative as fuck. The guy is a great descriptive writer (he makes forest food sound fucking delicious), writes great riddles, has great characters, writes more song lyrics than Eminem. He's just an overall great writer. He doesn't get his credit due cause he writes books with animals as his characters, and his main target audience are kids]

this times a billion

his books were a huge part of what got me into reading, and prepared me for the epic battles of LOTR

i don't know if any of you caught the animated tv show when it was out, but at the end of each show he was on (IRL) talking about this character or the inspiration for that scene

he's really fucking awesome and literally seems like a grandpa that tells these types of stories to his kids during a snowstorm

[Summa]

he's really fucking awesome and literally seems like a grandpa that tells these types of stories to his kids during a snowstorm

And that's exactly what he is. A story teller. I read the majority of the Redwall series between the ages of 12 and 15 and it is definitely a quality series. However (generally speaking, I don't want to get too much into specifics) I put fiction writers into two categories. Those who write literature and those who write stories. Jacques is one of the better story writers of our time and like squeez said he is there with Rowling, Koontz, Clancy, etc. But to claim that the Redwall series is on par with literature is a travesty in my mind. It's good shit, but it ain't shit compared to Hemmingway.

[kthx]

Bigwig from Watership Down, great book, great character.

[Kolar]

Charlie Kelly

[Pandagirl!]

Twilight was a good book, not because the plot was good (which it really wasn't - she relied on deus ex machina way too much and spent most of the 1st book talking about nothing and then started the plot and finished it in 3 chapters), but because she's a good character writer. The only reason I really liked the books so much was because I really like the characters, which she developed quite well.

[gran guerrero]

Bigwig from Watership Down, great book, great character.

redwall series was actually stemmed from this book, so for once I have to agree with wark.

[Liquid Blue]

And that's exactly what he is. A story teller. I read the majority of the Redwall series between the ages of 12 and 15 and it is definitely a quality series. However (generally speaking, I don't want to get too much into specifics) I put fiction writers into two categories. Those who write literature and those who write stories. Jacques is one of the better story writers of our time and like squeez said he is there with Rowling, Koontz, Clancy, etc. But to claim that the Redwall series is on par with literature is a travesty in my mind. It's good shit, but it ain't shit compared to Hemmingway.

who was comparing it to hemmingway?

I'm pretty sure it just started out as "redwall is awesome" and then squeez had to come and be negative nancy on our parade

[gran guerrero]

what separates literature from those stories as you put it, is simply the message behind the writing.

If it affects your fantasy, your imagination, then it's a story.

If it affects society, your ideas, then it's literature.

[Jerome Scuggs]

itt twforums becomes nobel-worthy art critics

[gran guerrero]

itt twforums becomes nobel-worthy art critics

or nobel winning economists