Need your help guys.

whimsical rabbit · Aug 16, 2010

Hi everyone,

My PhD explores character construction and characterisation, and so I'm looking for examples both to be followed, and avoided.

I'm focusing on contemporary literature, with a preference from the 1960s onwards.

Here's some of the stuff I've read already:

Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
The Colour Purple by Alice Walker
Rabbit, Run by John Updike
We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shrivel
The Icestorm by Rick Moody
Some Marquez
and of course, Lolita.

Any ideas? Like I said, I need both good and bad examples, and they can belong to any genre or market.

Thanks in advance.

RevisionIsTheKey · Aug 22, 2010

I'll just pass along some of my favorite books and you can check them out online to see if they will help you. I'd be guessing at the spellings of some of the authors' names, so I'll let you look them up!

Water for Elephants
Peace Like a River
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
The Help

Dr.Gonzo · Aug 22, 2010

Less than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis. All character; no plot.

Priene · Aug 22, 2010

Money by Martin Amis. John Self is one of the best realised characters I've read. He's also almost limitlessly despicable and misogynistic.

whimsical rabbit · Sep 12, 2010

Trying to revive my thread in pursuit of more suggestions.

LilliCray · Sep 12, 2010

Hmm... I thought Empire Falls by Richard Russo had some great characterization.

......and I can't think of anything else off the top of my head. (Which means I MUST be tired...)

RevisionIsTheKey · Sep 12, 2010

Perfume by Patrick Süskind seems to be a love it or hate it book. I loved it. I read it after learning that respected agent Donald Maass recommended it in his book about writing a break-out novel. He used it as an example of incredible description - which it is - but the character of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is also unforgettable, a totally disgusting personality who I ended up feeling sympathy for. If nothing else, the book would be a unique addition to your list.

nevada · Sep 12, 2010

anything by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Blindness by Saramago, the girl with the dragon tattoo trilogy by stieg larsson, The fighter by Craig Davidson, Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson, Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville, The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night-Time by Mark Haddon, the Altered Carbon trilogy by Richard Morgan, The Bishop's Man by Lindon MacIntyre, Day of the Jackall by Frederick Forsyth, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. Any previous Man Booker prize winner, Pulitzer prize winner, Governor General's award winner. It's not that hard, really.

whimsical rabbit · Sep 12, 2010

nevada said:
anything by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Blindness by Saramago, the girl with the dragon tattoo trilogy by stieg larsson, The fighter by Craig Davidson, Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson, Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville, The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night-Time by Mark Haddon, the Altered Carbon trilogy by Richard Morgan, The Bishop's Man by Lindon MacIntyre, Day of the Jackall by Frederick Forsyth, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. Any previous Man Booker prize winner, Pulitzer prize winner, Governor General's award winner. It's not that hard, really.

I found it harder than you might think actually. Yes, there is a plethora of books I've fallen in love with/enjoyed/admired, but when it comes to a PhD, inevitably I have to be precise and excruciatingly eclectic. Remember, I am asked to fill a disciplinary gap, and perfectly justify/substantiate the reasons behind my choices.

For example. Zafon's Shadow of the Wind is in fact my favourite contemporary novel, and although characterisation was strong, it was not exemplary, or the perfect teachable material like Moody's in the Icestorm, or Updike's in Rabbit, Run.

nevada · Sep 12, 2010

it's that "perfect teachable material" that'll kill anyone. lol I remember in uni we didn't always read the best book by an author but the best to be taught book.

I gave some eclectic stuff. The Altered Carbon trilogy (Altered Carbon, Broken Angels, Woken Furies) is straight sci fi noir, yet the main character is extremely well realized, changed considerably over the three novels and you get the added bonus of talking about how outward appearance can affect character since he changes bodies and at one point exists in a purely digital format for a while.

Out Stealing Horses is this quiet swedish novel that won the Impac Dublin Award a few years ago and is basically all character. A little, quiet novel that won't leave you alone.

The Fighter (it's canadian you might have a bit of a problem finding it, if you want it i can send you my copy) is a contemporary novel about the world of underground bare knuckle fighting. It's brutal and beautiful, with three amazing characters in it and some exquisite turn of phrase. and, I think, pretty teachable with the descent of one character from normal, adjusted, wanting to please upper class slacker to a hardy, dirty, cut up, damaged fighter in the most brutal bare knuckle fights in Asia.

Good luck with the PhD. I have my BA in english (sort of. one semester short, just some stupid electives but never managed to finish it) and couldn't imagine staying any longer in University. Not the best years of my life. lol

Priene · Sep 12, 2010

Others to consider:

Brighton Rock - Graham Greene
The Tin Drum - Guenter Grass
How Late it was, How Late - James Kelman
Q - Luther Blissett

whimsical rabbit · Sep 12, 2010

nevada said:
it's that "perfect teachable material" that'll kill anyone. lol I remember in uni we didn't always read the best book by an author but the best to be taught book.

lol Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. :tongue

I most certainly agree with you.

Know, what I meant was that, for example, in The Icestorm, Moody goes on to describe some of the MCs' personal spaces and belonging, and they're so perfectly representative of their idiosyncrasies that you feel the author has actually met those people, has been to their rooms and searched their belongings. Or, in the Colour Purple, the way Shelley writes her letters is indicative of her speech. That kind of thing. I'd never use works I didn't like, no matter how worshipped they were by the academia.

Thanks for all your suggestions! I'll most definitely look into them. I need all the help I can get.

whimsical rabbit · Sep 12, 2010

Priene said:
Others to consider:

Brighton Rock - Graham Greene
The Tin Drum - Guenter Grass
How Late it was, How Late - James Kelman
Q - Luther Blissett

Thanks again, Priene.

Camilla Delvalle · Sep 12, 2010

Great Expectations by Dickens has a lot of fun characters. And some of them even change a little!

backslashbaby · Sep 12, 2010

My suggestion would be Beloved for the good, and most of the women, at least in The Tar Baby, also by Morrison, for the bad.

You could say it much better than me, but my thinking is that Beloved had some complex characters with their histories so moving and entwined. The Tar Baby was much, much more shallow. The motivations were too often unexplained except for what struck me as not much more than stereotypes.

Kitty Pryde · Sep 12, 2010

Genre fiction:
"Gateway" by Fred Pohl is a study in character disguised as a science fiction novel. "The Stars My Destination" by Alfred Bester is another great one for character.
"Blindsight" by Peter Watts is one that bends the concept of character pretty far

"Palimpsest" by Catherynne Valente is character-driven "literary fantasy"
"Guards! Guards!" by Terry Pratchett--more plot-driven, but people obsessively love a lot of Pratchett characters, like Vimes, Vetinari, Carrot, and Granny Weatherwax. Guards! Guards! has the first three.

whimsical rabbit · Sep 13, 2010

backslashbaby said:
My suggestion would be Beloved for the good, and most of the women, at least in The Tar Baby, also by Morrison, for the bad.

You could say it much better than me, but my thinking is that Beloved had some complex characters with their histories so moving and entwined. The Tar Baby was much, much more shallow. The motivations were too often unexplained except for what struck me as not much more than stereotypes.

I'd love to use Beloved, which I've read only recently, but you see, it's a memoir. I'm looking for purely fictional works, where the author starts creating characters from scratch, otherwise the thesis will lack focus and specificity. But thanks anyway, I really appreciate the input.

RevisionIsTheKey · Sep 13, 2010

Whimsical Rabbit, I thought I would lighten the day for you with some humor...

After reading what you said about the thrust of your thesis, I thought, well at least she lives somewhere with lots of blue sky and sun. You see, I had only glanced at your "location" and figured it was some Latin American city on the beach. Then I looked more closely. :roll:

But at least I came up with another eclectic book: Libba Bray's Going Bovine. It's a young adult novel, but I enjoyed it a lot (and usually I don't enjoy YA at all.) Story of a teen boy who gets mad cow disease and goes on a trip with a midget friend (Not PC, but I think Bray uses midget in the book) and a talking gnome.

RevisionIsTheKey · Sep 13, 2010

Other ideas (stolen from the Maass book)

Ordinary People by Judith Guest
The Beans of Egypt, Maine by Carolyn Chute
Final Payments by Mary Gordon
The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve
Amsterdam by Ian McEwan
The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler

whimsical rabbit · Sep 13, 2010

RevisionIsTheKey said:
Whimsical Rabbit, I thought I would lighten the day for you with some humor...

After reading what you said about the thrust of your thesis, I thought, well at least she lives somewhere with lots of blue sky and sun. You see, I had only glanced at your "location" and figured it was some Latin American city on the beach. Then I looked more closely.

But at least I came up with another eclectic book: Libba Bray's Going Bovine. It's a young adult novel, but I enjoyed it a lot (and usually I don't enjoy YA at all.) Story of a teen boy who gets mad cow disease and goes on a trip with a midget friend (Not PC, but I think Bray uses midget in the book) and a talking gnome.

Yeah, I kind of thought 'Perdida en su cabeza' sounds more poetic than 'Lost in her own head.' lol!

Thanks for the suggestion. I suspect the use 'eclectic' came out as a bit snobbish, while that was not my intention at all. What I meant is that I'm in search for specific elements in novels that enhance characterisation, and are clear enough to be discussed on, that's all.

Luckily I'm supervised by a published author and utterly rock individual, who knows what I'm talking about and doesn't torture me with overanalysis and the quest of impossibly hidden meanings, nor does she preach me about academic rigour and such. Phew.

Thanks for your input.

LilliCray · Sep 13, 2010

Okay, I have another suggestion (which I can't BELIEVE I forgot to mention earlier...): The Speed of Dark, by Elizabeth Moon.

If nothing else, it's a beautiful read. The main character is autistic, and I think his personality comes across really well, especially in the way he looks at the world.

Hallen · Sep 13, 2010

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein.
The main character is a dog and the story is told in first person through his eyes.
The book is really about neither racing nor the dog.
It's certainly different. It's a great story that is well written.

Need your help guys.

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Plot? What plot?

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Dreaming of other times

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i luv you giant bear statue

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Plot? What plot?

Mostly annoying

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