Huckleberry Finn, Anna Karenina, Harry Potter, Hester Prynne…these are just a handful of remarkable characters to be found in literature, but of course, the list of memorable characters is virtually endless! But why ponder which of these creations are the greatest? More than just a topic to debate with friends, the greatest characters from fiction help readers comprehend history, culture, politics, and even their own place in today’s world. Despite our reliance on television, film, and technology, it is literature’s great characters that create and reinforce popular culture, informing us again and again about society and ourselves.
In The 100 Greatest Literary Characters, three scholars of literature identify the most significant figures in fiction published over the last several centuries. From Jay Gatsby to Jean Valjean, the characters profiled here represent a wide array of storytelling, and the authors explore each one's significance at the time they were created as well as their relevance today. Included in this volume are characters from literature produced around the world, such as Aladdin, James Bond, Holden Caulfield, Hercule Poirot, Don Quixote, Lisbeth Salander, Ebenezer Scrooge, and Yuri Zhivago.
Readers of this volume will find their beloved literary figures, learn about forgotten gems, or discover deserving choices pulled from history’s dustbin. Providing insights into how literature shapes and molds culture via these fabricated figures, The 100 Greatest Literary Characters will appeal to literature lovers around the globe.
Author Biography:
James Plath is R. Forrest Colwell Chair of English at Illinois Wesleyan University, where he has taught American literature, journalism, and creative writing for the past 27 years. The recipient of his university’s highest teaching award, he is also the author of four books: Conversations with John Updike (University Press of Mississippi, 1994), Remembering Ernest Hemingway (Ketch & Yawl Press, 1999) Historic Photos of Ernest Hemingway (Turner Publishing, 2009), and Critical Insights: Raymond Carver (Salem Press, 2013). Plath has also published on Ann Beattie and F. Scott Fitzgerald, and serves as president of The John Updike Society, which owns and is restoring The John Updike Childhood Home as a literary site and museum.
Gail Sinclair is Scholar-in-Residence and Executive Director of The Winter Park Institute at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. She is the coauthor of Key West Hemingway: A Reassessment with Kirk Curnutt.
Kirk Curnutt is the Chair and Professor of English at Troy University in Troy, Alabama. He is the coauthor of Key West Hemingway: A Reassessment with Gail Sinclair.
