The Literary Pursuit highlighted a great article from the Washington Post in which a few authors were asked which character from a book would they like to join them for a day at the beach. Here are just a couple of the responses:
Christopher Buckley
Well, I’m seriously tempted to say Lolita, but as Nixon would say, “That would be wrong.” The second-most obvious answer would be Robinson Crusoe, mainly so he’d do all the heavy lifting and making fires and getting the fresh water and – important – catching fish for supper. But the conversation might get boring after awhile, so I think I’ll go with Magwitch, the escaped convict from Charles Dickens’s “Great Expectations.” He’d have some fantastic stories to tell, and, as we know, he knew his way around the seashore.
Jodi Picoult
I’d spend the day with Mr. Darcy, from Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” naturally. Is there any other man who broods so masterfully in literature and who could benefit more from a spirited, lighthearted game of beach Frisbee? And of course, since we’d be on a beach together, I’d greatly enjoy seeing what’s beneath that proper waistcoat of his.
Colson Whitehead
Quint from Peter Benchley’s “Jaws.” Why? There are two good reasons. One, I used to fish a lot when I was a kid, but I’m rusty, and two, my wife is always telling me to “butch it up a little.” Quint, famous shark hunter, can get me reacquainted with the ins and outs of the fisherman’s trade, and when I reel in a porgy, he can yell and cuss at me like I’m fighting with a great white.
Garrison Keillor
Emily Dickinson, the heroine of her own poetry (“Wild Nights!” and others). I just think she needs to get out of that cold dark house in Amherst and spend a sunny day at a beach where, I am pretty sure, she would slip into a two-piece and lie under a parasol and we’d have hot dogs and cold beers and talk and talk and talk.
Now who would I choose? I didn’t need to ponder over this for very long. I would choose the Gunslinger from Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series. He is one of my favorite characters of any book I have enjoyed. He may be a little quiet and brooding but if a giant squid decides to attack us, I am sure I am in good hands.
Who would you pick?
This is such a tough one! I would probably say a character from Jane Austen but then I think they would probably be a little polite and sedate so I might have to go for a more modern character… I will have to think about this one!
I almost chose Mr. Darcy but didn’t want to look like a copycat!