Thursday 5 July 2012

Miss Marple or Madeline Bassett?

After a huge gap, here I am posting for the writer's circle again. The topic for June (I know I am late!) was chosen by Amruta and when I saw the topic, I had so many things I wanted to write that I couldnt decide which one to go for. Her topic is
"If you were a character in a book, which book, which character and why?" or "Which book would you have wanted to be a part of?"

For some one who can live on books (reading them, not eating!), this is quite a tough topic. I had so many books that I wanted to be a part of. How do I select only one? As for being a character in a book, again I would like to be so many of them but with some minor changes. So I am going to cheat a bit and list a 'few' books and characters here instead of just one.

To start with I would love to be Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, but a younger version of her! Or should I say, I would like to be Miss Marple when I grow older? I like detective/spy stories a lot and so being a detective would be my first natural choice. Having said that, I am not very good with violence and too much blood (The reaction of David Suchet as Hercule Poirot comes to mind in 'The cheap Flat' episode of the televised version!) , so the Agatha Christie mysteries are perfect for me. They have murders in them of course, but they are rarely ever gory or too bloody. The mystery is solved using logical deduction rather than a blood bath! There are twists and turns to keep the reader interested and completely glued to the story and it is great fun to try and guess what might happen next or who might be the murderer. 


To continue with the same genre, I would love to be a part of a Hercule Poirot mystery as well, and this list can never be complete without a mention of Sherlock Holmes. I wish I could be the Dr Watson to him but I would like to be a little smarter and cleverer than the original Dr Watson, giving my contributions in solving a mystery!


I would also enjoy being part of one of the Dan Brown books with Robert Langdon. What could be better than going on a treasure hunt of sorts, following cryptic & ancient clues?


And I can not forget the Bourne series by Robert Ludlum. I like all the books in the series but Bourne Identity is my favourite and one which I would want to be a part of. I don't think I want to be a character in the book but it will be great to be a part of all those thrills and chills that the book packs in, and actually experience them happening. The film did not capture the whole essence of the book, in my opinion. But then I have rarely liked the movie versions of any book that I have read, you can say I am partial to my books.


Moving away from adventure & mystery, I am quite fascinated by the English way of life in the  pre World War-I era. One of the authors who depicts this time period in his books and modestly describes how the British upper society lived, is P G Wodehouse. I have read all his books in the Jeeves & Wooster series and it would be great to be a part of one of these books and experience fun, chaos, mayhem & excitement, the Wodehouse way.  Bertie Wooster's cousins (Honoria Glossop, Madeline Bassett etc) make for very interesting characters and it would be nice to dress up in those lovely clothes, dine on the fine British food and generally behave like typical girls in those days!


There are many more books that I have loved reading, they were the ones with a lot of depth in the stories and strong characterisation, but most of them also tend to be very intensive in terms of what happens to the characters. If I have a choice why shouldn't I opt for something lighter in life and forget about the more serious and intense things?

What are your favourite characters that you might want exchange places with?