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100 Best Characters in Fiction Since 1900
NPR ^ | 2002 | Book Magazine

Posted on 02/22/2009 6:17:28 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin

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


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To: raybbr

‘The Glass Key.’ Just put it on my Library request list. Thanks!


81 posted on 02/22/2009 7:35:48 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: mass55th

I’ve just discovered Lincoln Child, and also Lee Child. Are they related? Both are very entertaining. I LOVE Jack Reacher from Lee Child. :)


82 posted on 02/22/2009 7:37:17 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: neocon1984
But where’s Spenser, Harry Bosch and John Rebus?

Travis McGee was at least as popular as Spencer and more popular than the other two. I but every Harry Bosch novel as it is released, but he is no Travis McGee.

83 posted on 02/22/2009 7:42:22 AM PST by saminfl ( FUBO)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

Charlie Chan, Sherlock Holmes,The Gunsmoke Crew:Matt, Chester, Festus, Doc and Kitty. David”Noodles” Aronson from Once upon a time in America, Harry Faversham form The Four Feathers, The Creeper character played by Rondo Hatten, Major Geoffrey Vickers form the Charge of the Light Brigade, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Lone Ranger and the Shadow.


84 posted on 02/22/2009 7:42:30 AM PST by zbogwan2
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

I have also very recently discovered Lee Child. Jack Reacher is a terrific character. Unfortunately, I have read all the books in the series and feel impatient about the next one coming out (just as with the Patrick O’Brian series).

Have you ever read any of the Donald Westlake “Parker” books (written under the name Richard Stark). Parker is a great anti-hero without being the typical Anti-American Anti-hero.


85 posted on 02/22/2009 7:46:31 AM PST by neocon1984
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To: Diana in Wisconsin
‘The Glass Key.’ Just put it on my Library request list. Thanks!

Anything by Dashiell Hammett is good. "The Continental Op", "The Dain Curse" are also good reads.

He was, IMO, the originator of the hard boiled detective.

86 posted on 02/22/2009 7:46:58 AM PST by raybbr (It's going to get a lot worse now that the anchor babies are voting!)
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To: neocon1984; Diana in Wisconsin
I have also very recently discovered Lee Child. Jack Reacher is a terrific character. Unfortunately, I have read all the books in the series and feel impatient about the next one coming out (just as with the Patrick O’Brian series).

Dittos on Jack Reacher. I was surprised to find out Lee Child is from England.

87 posted on 02/22/2009 7:48:21 AM PST by raybbr (It's going to get a lot worse now that the anchor babies are voting!)
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To: neocon1984

Thanks! I’ll add a Westlake/Stark to my library list as well. :)


88 posted on 02/22/2009 7:49:04 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: saminfl

Beg to differ about Travis. I enjoyed the first half dozen of John McDonald’s books, but his preachiness started to turn me off. It ruined the aura of Travis’ enviable lifestyle.


89 posted on 02/22/2009 7:49:41 AM PST by neocon1984
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To: neocon1984

I added, ‘Nobody Runs Forever’ as a starting point. How’s that?


90 posted on 02/22/2009 7:51:28 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: neocon1984
Beg to differ about Travis. I enjoyed the first half dozen of John McDonald’s books, but his preachiness started to turn me off. It ruined the aura of Travis’ enviable lifestyle.

That reminds me of V.I. Warshawsky by Sara Paretsky. I enjoyed the first few books but then she kept infusing so much liberalism in them that I just stopped.

91 posted on 02/22/2009 7:52:38 AM PST by raybbr (It's going to get a lot worse now that the anchor babies are voting!)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

I forget their names, but the ‘intellectual’ and the ‘man of action’ in Zorba the Greek. They were a great combination.

Also, the same kind of pairing, Aubrey and Maturin in Patrick O’Brian’s sefaring series. They too were a great combination and played off one another.


92 posted on 02/22/2009 7:53:16 AM PST by squarebarb
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To: TheWasteLand

Enders Game is perennialy near the top of sci fi book sales. Thats a great name you have there btw.
(i forgot what my name here was when i suggested Ender. doh me)


93 posted on 02/22/2009 7:53:37 AM PST by wiggen
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To: saminfl

I but = I buy


94 posted on 02/22/2009 7:55:36 AM PST by saminfl ( FUBO)
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To: raybbr

Have you read the Kinsey Millhone novels by Sue Grafton? Mom & I were hooked on them from ‘A is for Alibi’ through ‘S’...I think she’s on that letter now.

Kinsey is tough, and not a liberal thing about her that I can see. She’s like Ann Coulter with a gun...Oh, wait, LOL! ;)


95 posted on 02/22/2009 7:56:10 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin
This is a pretty good list, except that I would put P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves right at the top. ;)

Most of the omissions people have mentioned above in "how dare they?" terms are from novels written by authors who are popular but not very good prose stylists. So even if the character is memorable and the book sold well the context in which they appeared would disqualify them in the eyes of a serious critic.

96 posted on 02/22/2009 7:57:23 AM PST by Mr. Jeeves ("One man's 'magic' is another man's engineering. 'Supernatural' is a null word." -- Robert Heinlein)
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To: raybbr

Nero Wolfe??


97 posted on 02/22/2009 7:57:49 AM PST by Mike Darancette (We have nothing to fear but Obama himself.)
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To: Mike Darancette; Diana in Wisconsin

Nero Wolfe??

Oh, goodness. I forgot about him. My ALL time favorite. I have read all of his novels at least three times and they never get old.

It's where I learned words like "ratiocination" and "abditory".

My favorite quote from Archie, "I was so bored I was trying to figure out a third way to cross my legs."

98 posted on 02/22/2009 8:01:13 AM PST by raybbr (It's going to get a lot worse now that the anchor babies are voting!)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

I’m not sure about Lee Child and Lincoln Child being related. Never heard about it.


99 posted on 02/22/2009 8:03:07 AM PST by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

I usually start at the beginning of a series, but not in this case. Frankly, it did not seem to matter.

I think Lee Child did some prequels (i.e., focusing on Reacher when he was an MP) after establishing Reacher as an ex-MP. (Could be wrong because I read them in order of availability at my library). So, starting at the beginning would really mean starting in the middle.


100 posted on 02/22/2009 8:06:27 AM PST by neocon1984
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