Who LoveBooks as Much

as You DoBy Scribendi.com

12 Literary Characters

When many writers rely on the timeless adage,

it's no wonder that our favorite books haveprotagonists who are obsessed with reading.

Writewhatyouknow,

Literary writers love literature, so theirliterary characters love literature.Readers love literature, so we loveliterary characters who love literature(and we love literary writers who loveliterary characters who love literature).Try saying that five times fast! If writersshould write what they know, maybe weshould read what we know. Here's a listof our favorite literary characters wholove books just as much as you do!

Hint:throughout thisSlideShare,there will bebook icons likethis. If you clickthem, you'll bebrought to anAmazon page,where youcan purchasethe bookfeaturingthe respectivecharacter!(Note: this onedoes not link toanything. Stopclicking, silly.)

1. HERMIONE GRANGER" S h e w a s d a s h i n g b a c k , a n e n o r m o u s o l d b o o k

i n h e r a r m s .

' I n e v e r t h o u g h t t o l o o k i n h e r e ! ' s h ew h i s p e r e d e x c i t e d l y . ' I g o t t h i s o u t o f t h e

l i b r a r y w e e k s a g o f o r a b i t o f l i g h t r e a d i n g . '

' L i g h t ? ' s a i d R o n . "

T H E B R I G H T E S T W I T C H O F H E R A G E , H E R M I O N EG R A N G E R I S A F O R C E T O B E R E C K O N E D W I T H ,E S P E C I A L L Y T H A N K S T O H E R I N C L I N A T I O N T OR E A D A N D H E R R E S U L T I N G G I F T E D M I N D .

"So Matilda's strong young mind continuedto grow, nurtured by the voices of all thoseauthors who had sent their books out intothe world like ships on the sea. Thesebooks gave Matilda a hopeful and

comforting message: You are not alone."

2. MATILDAWORMWOOD

AT ONLY FIVE YEARS OF AGE,MATILDA COMBINES A PASSION FORLIBRARY TRIPS AND PSYCHOKINETICABILITIES. DON'T TELL US THATTHOSE AREN'T INTIMATELY RELATEDBECAUSE WE WON'T BELIEVE YOU.

3. BASTIAN BALTHAZAR BUX

WE'VE ALL FELT AS IF WE'VE BEEN ABSORBED INTO A PARTICULARLY GOODBOOK. BASTIAN, THOUGH, IS LITERALLY SUCKED INTO THE BOOK HE STEALSFROM AN ANTIQUE BOOKSTORE AND BECOMES A CHARACTER. WE'RE NOTADVOCATING THEFT, BUT WE CAN'T HELP BUT FEEL A LITTLE JEALOUS.

"If you have never wept bitter tears because a wonderful story has come to an end and you must takeyour leave of the characters with whom you have shared so many adventures, whom you have lovedand admired, for whom you have hoped and feared, and without whose company life seems empty andmeaningless—

If such things have not been part of your own experience, you probably won't understand what Bastiandid next."

"Choosing a new bookwas like looking for

treasure."

T H E O , L I K E M O S TI M P O V E R I S H E D L I T E R A R YC H I L D R E N , U S E S B O O K SA S A N E S C A P E . D R I V E N B YT H E P E R F E C T F A M I L I E SS H E R E A D S A B O U T I N S OM A N Y B O O K S , S H E H O P E ST O O N E D A Y F I N D H E RO W N R E A L F A M I L Y .

4 . T H E OC A F F R E Y

5. ELIZABETH BENNET

"'Miss Eliza Bennet,' saidMiss Bingley, 'despises

cards. She is a greatreader, and has no

pleasure in anything else.'"While Elizabeth is a little defensive about this comment,

she still acknowledges that it is equal parts "praise" and

"censure." Just embrace the lifestyle, lizzy.

6. BILBO BAGGINS"I might find somewhere where I can finish my

book. I have thought of a nice ending for it: and helived happily ever after to the end of his days."

LIKE MOST GREAT WRITERS, BILBO WAS FIRST A READER.WELL, A READER TURNED BARREL RIDER TURNED THRUSHWHISPERER. YOU KNOW HOW IT IS. 

7 .   J O   M A R C H" I   l ike good strong words  that mean something . "  

JO SPENDS HOURS AND HOURS READING, EATING APPLES,AND CRYING. WE'VE ALL BEEN THERE.

8. ANNE SHIRLEY" I t ' s a l l v e r y w e l l t o r e a d a b o u ts o r r o w s a n d i m a g i n e y o u r s e l f

l i v i n g t h r o u g h t h e m h e r o i c a l l y ,b u t i t ' s n o t s o n i c e w h e n y o u

r e a l l y c o m e t o h a v e t h e m , i s i t ? "

F A N T A S T I C A L T H R O U G H A N DT H R O U G H , I T ' S N O S U R P R I S E T H A TA N N E I S A L I T E R A R Y C H A R A C T E RW H O L O V E S B O O K S A N D L O V E S T OI M A G I N E C I R C U M S T A N C E S A L W A Y SG R E A T E R T H A N H E R O W N .

9. LUCIEN

"Most people don't realize howimportant librarians are. I ran acrossa book recently which suggestedthat the peace and prosperity of aculture was solely related to how

many librarians it contained.Possibly a slight overstatement. But

a culture that doesn't value itslibrarians doesn't value ideas and

without ideas, well, whereare we?"

AS THE CHIEF LIBRARIAN OFALL THE BOOKS THAT HAVEEVER BEEN DREAMED(INCLUDING THE UNWRITTENTALES OF PROCRASTINATINGWRITERS), LUCIEN FROM THESANDMAN IS DEDICATED TOPROTECTING THEM FROMUNPLEASANT CREATURES.

1 0 . T Y R I O N L A N N I S T E R" M y b r o t h e r h a s h i s s w o r d , K i n g R o b e r t h a s h i s

w a r h a m m e r a n d I h a v e m y m i n d . . . a n d a m i n d n e e d sb o o k s a s a s w o r d n e e d s a w h e t s t o n e i f i t i s t o k e e p

i t s e d g e . T h a t ' s w h y I r e a d s o m u c h , J o n S n o w . "

TYRION IS A DWARF WHO USES HIS INTELLIGENCE TO OVERCOME THEPREJUDICE HE FACES AND GIVE CREDIT TO THE FAMILY NAME. IT'S NO SURPRISETHAT THIS INTELLIGENCE COMES FROM AN APPRECIATION OF BOOKS.

11. KLAUSKLAUS, THE BOOKWORM OFTHE FAMILY, IS UNSTOPPABLE.HIS LOVE FOR BOOKS PAIREDWITH HIS EIDETIC MEMORYPROVIDES HIM WITHTHE ABILITY TO SPEAKMULTIPLE LANGUAGES ANDDEFINE ANY WORD AT THEDROP OF A HAT.

BAUDELAIRE"Being only twelve, Klaus of course had not read all thebooks in the Baudelaire library, but he had read a greatmany of them and had retained a lot of the information

from his readings. He knew how to tell an alligatorfrom a crocodile. He knew who killed Julius Caesar. And

he knew much about the tiny, slimy animals found atBriny Beach, which he was examining now."

12. Francie NolanFRANCIE KNOWSTHATACCOMPLISHINGHER DREAMSWILL REQUIRE ALOT OF HARDWORK, BUT SHEESCAPESTHROUGHREADING ANDHER RICHIMAGINATION.

" F r o m t h a t t i m e o n ,t h e w o r l d w a s h e r s

f o r t h e r e a d i n g . S h ew o u l d n e v e r b e

l o n e l y a g a i n , n e v e rm i s s t h e l a c k o f

i n t i m a t e f r i e n d s .B o o k s b e c a m e h e rf r i e n d s a n d t h e r ew a s o n e f o r e v e r ym o o d . T h e r e w a sp o e t r y f o r q u i e tc o m p a n i o n s h i p .

T h e r e w a s a d v e n t u r ew h e n s h e t i r e d o f

q u i e t h o u r s . T h e r ew o u l d b e l o v e

s t o r i e s w h e n s h ec a m e i n t o

a d o l e s c e n c e a n dw h e n s h e w a n t e d t of e e l a c l o s e n e s s t os o m e o n e s h e c o u l dr e a d a b i o g r a p h y .O n t h a t d a y w h e ns h e f i r s t k n e w s h e

c o u l d r e a d , s h em a d e a v o w t o r e a d

o n e b o o k a d a y a sl o n g a s s h e l i v e d . "

these literary characters aren't justreaders—they're dreamers, know-it-alls, and psychokinetics. (Okay, youcan't win 'em all). But whether you're anescapist like Francie, Anne, or Theo, ora learner like Klaus, Tyrion, orHermione, all readers know that bookshave immense power.

R E L A T A B L E I N P E R H A P SM O R E W A Y S T H A N O N E ,