Coming Soon

Monday 27 May 2019

Lessons I learned from a book character


I’m not sure I’ve ever been a person to learn lessons from books. I always hated trying to draw things from texts in my English literature class. So what I’m about to say I learned may well be the complete opposite of what the author wanted, but here we go.

Anne Shirley – I loved all the “Anne of Green Gables” series, but what I particularly liked about Anne was her ability to find beauty in all things, starting with the Avenue (or the White Way of Delight) and continuing up into her adulthood. I also try to find beauty wherever I can.

Ian Malcolm – I’m not going to pretend I understood all the chaos theory in the “Jurassic Park” novels, but if there was one thing it did demonstrate, it is that when people claim they know exactly what will happen they probably don’t. Which is always helpful, as there are lots of people who think they do.

Dr John Watson – Possibly an unusual lesson in this instance, as it refers to the writing rather than the character. One thing I always have hated in books and films is “insta-love”, the ability of a character to fall in love at first sight with absolutely no reason for it. Dr Watson proved that it is possible to write love at first sight and be convincing, which has inspired me to use that trope once or twice and attempt to do so in a convincing way.

So what lessons have you learned from book characters?

14 comments:

  1. Yes, Anne was always really good at finding the beauty in ordinary things. I try to see the world through her eyes when I'm going through a rough patch.

    My post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She found beauty wherever she went - I try to do the same.

      Delete
  2. Anne was on my list as well...:-) I'm with you re: lessons, though. My post is here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I blame class for ruining quite a lot of perfectly good books.

      Delete
  3. Great insight on Ian Malcolm. Goes for a lot a of people. Great post. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I remember him every time someone states categorically what's going to happen, because it probably won't.

      Delete
  4. Ian Malcolm is my hero. (Well, one of them.)

    My post is here.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love these! And I agree with you - I always hated having to tear apart a story looking for hidden meaning rather than just enjoy it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It says something that when I read "To Kill a Mockingbird" I loved it, but when my friend had to study it, she hated every word.

      Delete
  6. Ian was by far my favorite character in the series... and Jeff Goldblum really was perfect as the character in the movies.

    I'm here if you'd like to swing by.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I felt the same way about analyzing stories until I started teaching high school psychology. It's there I discovered my ability to analyze myself came from Mrs. Jamar's literature classes in college.
    The military knows chaos theory well, their maxim is that no battle plan survives the first shot.

    ReplyDelete