Grown-up Literary Crushes

There has been a thread running on the 'Read YA Lit' group about YA Literary Crushes. Fun, but what about the more mature characters who reach out from the sentences and clutch the heart?

Some might be difficult to detach from movie or TV adaptations, but I'm going to try.

To kick off, I loved Atticus Finch long before I saw the movie. So he's in.

Then in no particular order:

Jem Merlyn ([Jamaica Inn])
Alexander as he appears in Mary Renault's trilogy
David Becket from Patricia Finney's trilogy beginning with [Firedrake's Eye]

Anyone?

Foolish schoolgirl crushes: Aragorn, Faramir, Charles Stringham (Anthony Powell), Mr. Darcy, Tom Jones, Hiero Desteen, young Renny (Mazo de la Roche)

True love: Frank Bascombe (Richard Ford) Jim Chee, Miles Vorkosigan, Oblomov,

The mother in me: Bertie Wooster, Arthur Dent, Nick Carraway

Oh, yes, Alexander. Mary Renault has a way of letting you fall in love. And younger yet, Alec in the Black Stallion books. My son's middle name is Alexander; it was a tough call whether to use that as the first name or middle name :-)

I'm a pushover for Lizzie Bennet, whose wit is irresistible. My wife is a great talker, and that's probably what caught my fancy first, along with her physical charms.

Let's not forget Miles's dad, Aral Vorkosigan.

Or Ekaterin, Miles's wife. :-)

I have a soft spot for that idiot, Ivan Vorpatril, but it's not exactly a crush.

me too, he's more in the Bertie category.

I always feel so sorry for Gregor.

I liked Insp. Morris from the Colin Dexter mysteries.

I didn't so much have a crush (although I did want to be protected by Julian from the Famous Five). But I wanted to be plucky and brave like Angelique in the racy series written in the 60s. I was actually put on detention for reading her books at school - but I had got them from the school library :). My father argued I should not be put on detention for reading a school library book :)

Rhett Butler (blush) from Gone With the Wind

Hmm.

My two favorites are:

Lord Peter Wimsey from a series of books by Dorothy L. Sayers. A minor member of the British nobility in the 1920s-1940s England. Rich, intelligent, masculine in a subtle way.

Anton Rider from the African Trilogy by Bartle Bull. A gypsy from England transplanted to Africa, good in survival mode, masculine, fearless, and brave.

13> Oh, yes! "As my whimsy takes me" :-) I so wanted to be Harriet Vane.

#12 I'm with you--Ohhh Rhett! and The Count of Monte Cristo

Lady Brett from The Sun Also Rises. I like the bad ones.

Corlath from The Blue Sword. Love a man on a horse.

He's strong, smart, and compassionate, but also charmingly unsure in matters of the heart.

It seems that men are pretty scarce in posting to this thread, but I would never let that keep me from confessing my grand pash' for the the yummylicious Jael in THE QUEEN PEDAUQUE by Anatole France, also donna Lucrezia Borgia as represented by Fr Rolfe in DON TARQUINIO. They can play on my All-Star Team any day (or night!)

You're right, MM. Corlath is the best!

Teja from Ein Kampf um Rom. One of the greatest crushes ever: beautiful beyond imagination, dark past, doomed love and a glorious end fighting off the Byzantians on the slope of Mons Lactarius. Edmond Dantès, aka the count of Monte Cristo, comes a close second. Hagen von Tronje. Yes, the bad guy from the Nibelungs – but he was the only one with any common sense. And Justin Alastair from These Old Shades.

In no particular order:

Raederle of An
Thursday Next
Beatrice from Much Ado
Angie Gennaro
Clare Fergusson
Signe de Barbentain
Hana from The English Patient
Sharra of Cassal
Verity Kindle
Harriet Vane
Eleanor Lavish

Mr. Darcy and Jamie Fraser are my life long crushes.

All the main female characters in Jane Austen's novels.

Jane Eyre is pretty amazing, but I discovered her too late in life. If Beth Harmon was a real life chess star, I'd be one of the old men in the park at the end who was fan-boying her.

In my youth, maybe Eilonwy of Prydain. Anne of Green Gables was pretty great too, I guess. Is this a red hair trend? It was more about their personalities, dreamy characters who were so full of life it was bursting out of them. At the very least they would have been fascinating company. Now my reaction would be more akin to "Take a breath, would you? Just sit still for two minutes - please! Go play with my daughter or something." Yup, I'm old enough for this group, alright.

>24 Cecrow: I'm with you on Eilonwy, and doubly on the "take a breath" part ;-)