Thursday, May 15, 2014

Top ten loners in fiction

Robert Williams's first novel, Luke and Jon, won a Betty Trask Award, was translated into six languages and called "a hugely impressive debut" in the Daily Telegraph. His second novel, How the Trouble Started, was shortlisted for the Portico Prize for Fiction. His latest novel is Into the Trees. One of his top ten loners in fiction, as shared at the Guardian:
Boo Radley in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Arthur "Boo" Radley is a heroic loner. Stories have grown up around him because he is never seen and children believe he dines on raw squirrels and cats. He is only lured from his house to save the Finch children from being attacked. After terrible scenes unfold surrounding the trial of Tom Robinson, they begin to understand why someone might not want to be out in the world. Sometimes inside is the safest place to be.
Read about the other entries on the list.

To Kill a Mockingbird made Alyssa Bereznak's top ten list of literary heroes with weird names, Louise Doughty's top ten list of courtroom dramas, Hanna McGrath's top fifteen list of epic epigraphs, the Telegraph's list of ten great meals in literature, Nicole Hill's list of fourteen characters their creators should have spared, Isla Blair's six best books list, Lauren Passell's list of ten pairs of books made better when read together, Charlie Fletcher's top ten list of adventure classics, Sheila Bair's 6 favorite books list, Kathryn Erskine's top ten list of first person narratives, Julia Donaldson's six best books list, TIME magazine's top 10 list of books you were forced to read in school, John Mullan's list of ten of the best lawyers in literature, John Cusack's list of books that made a difference to him, Lisa Scottoline's top ten list of books about justice, and Luke Leitch's list of ten literary one-hit wonders. It is one of Sanjeev Bhaskar's six best books and one of Alexandra Styron's five best stories of fathers and daughters.

--Marshal Zeringue