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choco_frosh* Comment on this post.
* I will give you a letter.
* Think of 5 fictional characters and post their names and your comments on these characters in your LJ.
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tree_and_leaf gave me 'p'. Which is surprisingly easy!
P is for
Peter Wimsey
Peregrin Took (Pippin)
Pelham-Martyn, Ashton
Prefect, Ford
Peter Palafox
L. Petronius Longus (Petro)
Pyanfar Chanur
Phoncible P. "Phoney" Bone
Picard, Jean-Luc
Who to choose? Cut for lots of text and a few spoilers.
1) Peter Wimsey. OK, waaaay too obvious. I guess my big question is: did Sayers just start out thinking that Wimsey was going to be the stereotypical brainy and eccentric aristocrat? It certainly seems so from the flippancy of the beginning of Whose Body?... as though she thought him up, and only then discovered that he had a backstory (and loads of neuroses as a result), as well a nose for fine wines and the ability to speak five languages. Neuroses aside, he is perhaps a little too perfect, and a little too omnicompetent; but he manages to stay human throughout.
2) Phoncible P. "Phoney" Bone (of the Bone graphic novels of Jeff Smith), on the other hand, is just pure stereotype. Money-grubbing (and given to coming up with outrageous schemes in furtherance of this goal), manic self-publicist, with an extremely high opinion of himself. Only a hero by mistake, but that more than one might think. More often still, however, the one causing the trouble.
3) Petro (from the M. Didius Falco novels by Lindsey Davis). "...a broad, calm, square-browed officer with a baton through his belt...He looked like a man you could drag into a corner for a natter about women, life and where to buy a hock of spanish ham."
Best friend of the Falco (private informer and main character of the series), he's also a major oenophile. Large, slow (DEFINITELY not the same as stupid here), mostly incorruptible, and as kind as its possible to be in the gritty, fire- and crime-ridden world of 1st century Rome. Over-inclined to think with his groin, but otherwise reliable. Davis made a lot of mistakes with him (the Vigiles were apparently mostly firefighter, and were mostly ex-slaves, not ex-legionaires); but his character isn't one of them.
4) Pyanfar Chanur (of the Chanur novels of C.K. Cherryh). The most interesting thing about the series, in some ways, is how Chanur is the last one who realizes she's going to be de facto galactic overlord, social revolutionary, and creator of the new order. For most of the series, she still thinks she's just a merchant trying to do the best she can--morally, practically, and financially--when her actions plunge her unexpectedly into the tangled politics of her multi-species Compact. Ending up with a crew that includes two aliens and a male (shocking!), on a spaceship that's had it's tail ripped off and replaced (for a suspiciously non-existent fee) will only be the beginning.
5) Peter Palofax (Patrick O'Brian, The Golden Ocean).
o hai. sean and i iz teh only fixunl characters in historical novel abowt circumnavigashun of teh globe in teh War of Jenkin's Ear. we can haz whiskey plzthx?
Is there any real character development here, though? We're TOLD there is: that three years facing death by every conceivable means that the eighteenth century sea can offer has made an officer and a man out of the boy from the west coast of Ireland; but do we actually see it? True, after it all (multa ille et terris iactatus et alto) Peter is less ready to take offense, and actually knows something about his profession (rather than merely knowing more than some of his shipmates). But he's still talkative, mad about the sea, and given to doing hair-raisingly dumb things on all occasions EXCEPT when it really counts, when he sobers up enough to help get himself (and anyone else involved) out of trouble. In some ways, all that's changed is his vocabulary.
Much the same could be said about Pippin, now that I think about it.
(and a few spoilers.)
* I will give you a letter.
* Think of 5 fictional characters and post their names and your comments on these characters in your LJ.
tree_and_leaf gave me 'p'. Which is surprisingly easy!P is for
Peter Wimsey
Peregrin Took (Pippin)
Pelham-Martyn, Ashton
Prefect, Ford
Peter Palafox
L. Petronius Longus (Petro)
Pyanfar Chanur
Phoncible P. "Phoney" Bone
Picard, Jean-Luc
Who to choose? Cut for lots of text and a few spoilers.
1) Peter Wimsey. OK, waaaay too obvious. I guess my big question is: did Sayers just start out thinking that Wimsey was going to be the stereotypical brainy and eccentric aristocrat? It certainly seems so from the flippancy of the beginning of Whose Body?... as though she thought him up, and only then discovered that he had a backstory (and loads of neuroses as a result), as well a nose for fine wines and the ability to speak five languages. Neuroses aside, he is perhaps a little too perfect, and a little too omnicompetent; but he manages to stay human throughout.
2) Phoncible P. "Phoney" Bone (of the Bone graphic novels of Jeff Smith), on the other hand, is just pure stereotype. Money-grubbing (and given to coming up with outrageous schemes in furtherance of this goal), manic self-publicist, with an extremely high opinion of himself. Only a hero by mistake, but that more than one might think. More often still, however, the one causing the trouble.
3) Petro (from the M. Didius Falco novels by Lindsey Davis). "...a broad, calm, square-browed officer with a baton through his belt...He looked like a man you could drag into a corner for a natter about women, life and where to buy a hock of spanish ham."
Best friend of the Falco (private informer and main character of the series), he's also a major oenophile. Large, slow (DEFINITELY not the same as stupid here), mostly incorruptible, and as kind as its possible to be in the gritty, fire- and crime-ridden world of 1st century Rome. Over-inclined to think with his groin, but otherwise reliable. Davis made a lot of mistakes with him (the Vigiles were apparently mostly firefighter, and were mostly ex-slaves, not ex-legionaires); but his character isn't one of them.
4) Pyanfar Chanur (of the Chanur novels of C.K. Cherryh). The most interesting thing about the series, in some ways, is how Chanur is the last one who realizes she's going to be de facto galactic overlord, social revolutionary, and creator of the new order. For most of the series, she still thinks she's just a merchant trying to do the best she can--morally, practically, and financially--when her actions plunge her unexpectedly into the tangled politics of her multi-species Compact. Ending up with a crew that includes two aliens and a male (shocking!), on a spaceship that's had it's tail ripped off and replaced (for a suspiciously non-existent fee) will only be the beginning.
5) Peter Palofax (Patrick O'Brian, The Golden Ocean).
o hai. sean and i iz teh only fixunl characters in historical novel abowt circumnavigashun of teh globe in teh War of Jenkin's Ear. we can haz whiskey plzthx?
Is there any real character development here, though? We're TOLD there is: that three years facing death by every conceivable means that the eighteenth century sea can offer has made an officer and a man out of the boy from the west coast of Ireland; but do we actually see it? True, after it all (multa ille et terris iactatus et alto) Peter is less ready to take offense, and actually knows something about his profession (rather than merely knowing more than some of his shipmates). But he's still talkative, mad about the sea, and given to doing hair-raisingly dumb things on all occasions EXCEPT when it really counts, when he sobers up enough to help get himself (and anyone else involved) out of trouble. In some ways, all that's changed is his vocabulary.
Much the same could be said about Pippin, now that I think about it.
(and a few spoilers.)
no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 04:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 08:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 09:04 am (UTC)Davis made a lot of mistakes with him
Which is strange, because her research on the archaeological side is pretty damn good (admittedly they now think that the Romans didn't actually use the 'pig' technique of smelting, but that research postdates 'The Silver Pigs' by quite some time - and she also added a note on this in later editions). At an yrate, you're right - Petro is a great character.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-14 08:21 pm (UTC)She may have looked up the Vigiles to start off with, and then found a (more up-to-date) source that explained that they were mostly the fire department.
True on Merry and Pippin--although despite all they go through, they seem much less changed by the journey than Frodo and Sam.