I love scrolling through book sites and finding my favorite genres on sale. For anyone who loves books, it’s like a kid in a candy store. The only problem is that there is not enough time to read all the candy. My husband and I have been reading through the Dean Koontz series about Jane Hawk. We just started the last book and I’ll be sorry to finish the series. I’ll miss the characters. They’ve become friends to me. I feel that way any time I finish a good book and especially the end of a series. The only thing that comforts me is to start a new novel that is equally intriguing.
In addition to thrillers like the Dean Koontz novels, I read contemporary and historical romance. Years ago, I read through the, Love Comes Softly series by Janette Oke. I bonded with Marty and Clark and little Missie. Marty and Clark did not start out by falling in love, but rather came to love one another over time spent together. The first novel tempted me to stick around and see how their family expanded and what issues they had to overcome.
Remember the last book you simply couldn’t put down?
Have you wondered what hooks us on books that we can’t put down? There’s arguments about whether good characterization or plotting is more important to a story. No doubt the best books excel at both. However, when I think about the books I remember best, I would argue it is the characters that resonate the most with me the most. I remember characters from books I read as a child. They were so real at the time, they seemed like close friends. In a scene from “A Christmas Carol”, by Charles Dickens, Scrooge recounts how characters from books comforted him as a child. “
“Why, it’s Ali Baba!” Scrooge exclaimed in ecstacy. “It’s dear old honest Ali Baba! Yes, yes, I know! One Christmas time, when yonder solitary child was left here all alone, he did come, for the first time, just like that. Poor boy! And Valentine,” said Scrooge, “and his wild brother, Orson; there they go! And what’s his name, who was put down in his drawers, asleep, at the Gate of Damascus; don’t you see him! And the Sultan’s Groom turned upside-down by the Genii; there he is upon his head! Serve him right. I’m glad of it. What business had he to be married to the Princess!”
To hear Scrooge expending all the earnestness of his nature on such subjects, in a most extraordinary voice between laughing and crying; and to see his heightened and excited face; would have been a surprise to his business friends in the city, indeed. “There’s the Parrot!” cried Scrooge. “Green body and yellow tail, with a thing like a lettuce growing out of the top of his head; there he is! Poor Robin Crusoe, he called him, when he came home again after sailing round the island. ‘Poor Robin Crusoe, where have you been, Robin Crusoe?’ The man thought he was dreaming, but he wasn’t. It was the Parrot, you know. There goes Friday, running for his life to the little creek! Halloa! Hoop! Halloo!” p 52
In his loneliness, These characters had become his best friends. Though fictional, Scrooge is not alone in having fictional characters whose companionship saw him through a hard time. The courage and inspiration we get from book characters have the power to mold our morals and values.
We Believe Them
Some times characters seem so real, we have trouble believing they don’t exist in real life. Here is a quote from Psychology Today: “Robert Young, who played a doctor on Marcus Welby, MD, a popular TV show in the early ’70s, reported receiving mail every week with medical mysteries, asking for his expertise to help solve these cases. Actors playing doctors on a variety of television shows have received similar mail. Of course, this has led to humorous situations as well—Neil Patrick Harris, who played Doogie Houser, the prodigy doctor—was in an advertisement for deodorant that played off of his previous role. In it, he states “trust me, I used to play a doctor for pretend” as he incorrectly places a stethoscope on a patient’s nose. This ad is particularly humorous because we know that actors have previously been cast in commercials to discuss products that the characters they play may have some expertise with. Advertisers hoped that consumers would therefore trust the actor. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-mind-stage/201211/do-fictional-characters-affect-our-real-life
Though a good plot is extremely important, it would fall flat without the characters to support it. When children see movies they like, they pretend to be the characters. Usually, they are the hero or the beautiful princess. They change the plot in all sorts of ways, inventing new chapters. Yet, they remain the princess or the hero.
So What Do You Think?
Is plot or character more important in making you remember a novel? I’d love to have your opinion. I’d also like to offer you a gift for considering my question. I have two psychological suspense novels that are free on the Prolific Works Giveaway. You can find the links to them here: THE FLOWER GIRL https://claims.prolificworks.com/free/f4FCQh25U0Sklby3Z0py?source=gg_admin and RETRIBUTION https://claims.prolificworks.com/free/2MJg32miPegSbDnKubDd?source=gg_admin