100 Best Characters in Fiction Since 1900

NPR ^ | 2002 | Book Magazine

[Diana in Wisconsin]

List at link. I couldn't get it to C&P properly.

[mad_as_he$$]

;-)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

If the characters are strong, I don’t care. I read a lot of Stuart Woods, too. I like his characters and I flit between story lines depending upon what’s available at the library or what I can find for a quarter at the thrift store.

I’ve also come to love Sunny Randall from the guy that writes the ‘Spenser’ novels. His name escapes me, of course...Grrr!

Oh! Robert Parker, LOL!

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

Also Le Carre - at his prime he had no equal. But the cheese has definitely slipped off his cracker by now, and he’s basically a raving nutter. Still has an ear for dialogue and accent that is remarkable, however.

[Cincinatus]

Sir Harry Flashman of the Flashman series by George MacDonald Fraser. Truly one of a kind.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Where should I start? With the book you’ve shown? There are tons of titles...

[gate2wire]

Ah, I see Gus McCrae made it at 41.
Didn’t see Woodrow. He should have made it too.

[lonestar]

Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler...and Prissy.

[gate2wire]

“Finally for those of us who enjoy detective novels...”

No Travis McGee though...

[raybbr]

Gotta disagree with Le Carre. He's virtually unreadable to me.

How about Horation Hornblower by C.S. Forester? Man, I could not read those books fast enough.

[neocon1984]

If you like Sunny Randall, try Parker’s Jesse Stone novels.

All of his characters (Spenser, Sunny Randall, Jesse Stone) are set in and around Boston. If you are familiar with the million or so Spenser novels, you will find some common characters appearing (e.g., Susan Silverman) in each of the different series.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Oh, yes. I know Jesse, too. He and Sunny are falling in love! :)

[Fast Moving Angel]

They need to rewrite this list. If Francisco d’Anconia, Hank Rearden, John Galt and Dagny Taggart aren’t on it, it isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.

Also — Jubal Harshaw from Heinlein’s “Stranger in a Strange Land” — how could they omit HIM?

[Mad Dawgg]

Zaphod Beeblbrox, Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent!

[jla]

Don't let the title form a premature notion of the novel. Bleak House may be Dickens' best effort.
There is a movie adapted from the story but like other films of CD's books it fails. Exception possibly being A Christmas Carol.
In order to properly render a story like Bleak House to the screen it would be requisite that it be approx ten hours long.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Orm Tostesson, from “The Long Ships : A Saga of the Viking Age”, by Frans Gunner Bengtsson.

Alex DeLarge (A Clockwork Orange)

Fu Manchu

Guy Montag (Fahrenheit 451)

Jerry Cornelius (Michael Moorcock)

Dr. Mabuse

Herbert West (Re-animator)

Brigadier-General Sir Harry Paget Flashman, VC KCB KCIE

Harry Haller (Steppenwolf)

Billy Pilgrim (Slaughterhouse Five)

Captain Doctor Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce

Viscount John Clayton, Lord Greystoke (Tarzan)

Captain Jack Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin

Admiral Horatio Hornblower

Colin Glencannon (Guy Gilpatric)

Lensman Virgil Samms

Hari Seldon (Issac Asimov)

Lazarus Long (Robert Heinlein)

Don Juan Matus (Carlos Castaneda)

[Dudoight]

I would go for Jack Reacher, a magnificent guy. Lee Child is the author of 11 books with Jack as the main character.

[Dante3]

Detective novels - Norah Mulcahaney series by Lillian O'Donnell.

Animal characters - "Black Beauty," Freddy the Pig series.

I have lately read a number of books I have enjoyed but none of the protagonists were particularly memorable.

[youturn]

Definitely Anne “with an E” Shirley. I’ve loved Anne for 50 years. As a 7 year old, Anne made me believe in soul mates. With the optimism of Anne I will search for my Gilbert to the day I die.

[stylecouncilor]

I’m glad Nick & Nora Charles, and Jeeves made the list...but no Howard Roark or Dagny Taggart??!!!

[PerConPat]

Also Le Carre - at his prime he had no equal... But the cheese has definitely slipped off his cracker by now...

Agreed. The Square, le Carré, was once the best-IMHO. But now he increasingly presumes to lecture us on the evils of society, with a very nasty Lefty twist. So, Mr. Cornwell is now off my list. Nevertheless, Alec Leamas- The Spy Who Came In From the Cold- remains my favorite character in fiction, with Smilely not far behind.