So I (Meagan) am up again to answer The Broke and the Bookish's Top Ten Tuesday question. The topic this week is 'The Top Ten Characters I'd Like to Be Best Friends With' and I'll admit I struggled with this a little bit. For me, I more often think about authors I'd like to be friends with, and when I think about characters the ones that mostly come to mind are those who are interesting because they are flawed in some way and that usually doesn't really scream 'I'd make a great best friend!' So, my list this week contains a lot of YA characters, mostly, I think because of the nostalgia attached to them. It was through the adventures of these characters that I grew to love reading, and in that way they are some of my 'best friends'.
1. Nancy Drew - When I was about ten, my aunt gave me her set of first edition Nancy Drew mysteries and that was the first time I can remember staying up all night to finish a book. When I was younger, I loved how clever Nancy was. Today, I'd love to have a best friend who could tell me the secret to staying perpetually eighteen...
2. Anne Shirley - Anne has won the hearts of thousands of young years over the years, and she got her hooks in mine at a very young age. I spent a few of my growing up years living in Canada just a hop, skip, and a jump away from PEI so it was easy to imagine running around Green Gables. And let's be honest, how cool would it be to reenact the Lady of Shalott?
3. Vesper Holly - I loved the Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander, but Vesper Holly is my favorite character he created. Her adventures were always entertaining, and I'd love to have a best friend I could describe as having 'the digestive talents of a goat and the mind of a chess master [who] is familiar with half a dozen languages and can swear in all of them.'
4. T.C., Augie, and Alejandra - I know this is kind of cheating, but the way these three characters interact in the book makes them a package deal in my mind. These three are so witty and clever, but they are also smart about life in a way I never was at their age, so I think they'd definitely be good to have around.
5. Georgia Nicolson - So this one is a little embarrassing, as I only started reading these books about four years ago, but Georgia is hilarious. I love her so very British sense of wry sarcasm and her embracing of her awkward adolescence. I'm pretty sure I was her as a teenager and I'd love a friend like that to help me laugh about it.
Okay, so now on to some more 'mature' choices:
6. Lord Arthur Goring - Oscar Wilde is an author I would love to have as a friend, and one of his greatest characters is Lord Goring. Not only is he clever, funny, and endlessly entertaining, but despite his best efforts, he can't completely hide is caring, loyal, gooey chocolate center. He's the kind of person I'd love to have in my corner if I was ever in a tight scrape.
7. Atticus Finch - (slash Gregory Peck, who I think rocks this character to pieces in the film adaptation). So this one may be kind of obvious, who wouldn't want to be BFFs with 'the greatest hero in American film'--and obviously in literature as well. Atticus is an unapologetic moralist and someone who could tell you like it is straight, but with love.
8. Sherlock Holmes - Sure it might be kind of annoying to have a best friend who is astronomically smarter than you and doesn't mind reminding you of it constantly, but spending time would Sherlock Holmes would never be boring, and he's been known to have his comic moments as well.
9. Captain Arthur Hastings - I think Hercule Poirot would be a very entertaining friend, but I am never so amused as when I hear about his exploits from his close associate. Hastings gives a wry commentary on life and is full of hilarious anecdotes and side notes that are delightfully witty. Plus, the touch of hubris in his character is classic. He's a friend I could just as easily laugh at as laugh with. (Which would I guess make me a pretty bad friend, but what can you do?)
10. Juliet Ashton - I love how the epistolary format of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society lets us get to know Juliet through her communications with so many different people. Her sunny disposition, quick wit, and endless compassion make her the ideal best friend.
