Happy Peculiar
People Day! That’s right. Today, January 10th is Peculiar People
Day. There aren’t a lot of details about this holiday, but I’m guessing the day
commemorates geniuses and other individuals, who live a just a bit outside the
box. The Free Online Dictionary defines peculiar as unusual, eccentric, odd,
distinctive, and distinct from all others or strange.
I’m intrigued
by the wacky and weird. I like those who walk to a different drummer and I
betting you might too.
To celebrate
this usual day, please join me in thinking of those unique people we know. Then,
to spare friends, family or acquaintances, let’s limit our naming of oddballs,
fruit loops and characters to those who appear in fiction. I’ll start off with
thirteen of my favorites.
- Philip Marlowe
from Raymond Chandler’s The Big
Sleep
- Professor Rubeus Hagrid from JK Rowling’s Harry Potter Series
- Tarzan from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan of
the Apes
- Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s To Kill A
Mockingbird
- Scarlett O'Hara from Margaret
Mitchell's Gone With
the Wind
- The pirate captain, Mad Machen, from Meljean
Brook’s There Will be Monsters
- Tobias "Four" Eaton, from Veronica Roth’s
Divergent
- Gandalf from JRR
Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings
- Miss Havisham
from Charles Dickens’ Great
Expectations
- Yileen from Kendall Grey’s Inhale.
- Aibileen Clark
from Kathryn Stockett’s The Help
- The Boatwright
sisters: August, May and June
from Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees
- Dr. Waldo Butters from Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files
Do you have a favorite character? A fictional kook you’d like to
discuss? Please share.
Posts
I'll throw in a few from John Irving's books: Owen Meany from A Prayer for Owen Meany. He's an oddball, but loveable and unforgettable.
ReplyDeleteT.S. Garp from The World According to Garp. This fellow takes eccentric to whole new levels.
Wilbur Larch from The Cider House Rules. Principled and strong, and controversial to the core.
Eddie O'Hare from A Widow for One Year.
So human and touching he just feels real in spite of his foibles and odd preferences.
(That's just to get started, too!)
Happy TT!
Yep, good character calls--all. I'd forgotten about Wilbur Larch. Thanks.
DeleteGreat list. The Harry Potter books have a lot of interesting characters - Luna comes to mind, too. And Gollum from Lord of the Rings.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I thought of Gollum too, probably because I just saw The Hobbit. And Luna, she's also a good choice. :)
DeleteYAY! Thanks for mentioning Yileen on your oddball list. HAHA! He is quite a character. :-)
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure. He's one of my favorite out-of-box characters.
Deletetoo much fun with this list - has me thinking a whole new way about the characters in the books. Love the ones mentioned and will probably be adding this to my list of possibles for T13 later in the year.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kay,
DeleteBe my guest.
The Hobbit/LOTR is filled with quirky or unusual characters, as are the Harry Potter series and Riordan's "Olympus" books.
ReplyDeleteOther "original" characters that come to mind: Madame DeFarge from A Tale of Two Cities; Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's; and the brothers Levin, Nicholas and Koznyshov from Anna Karenina.
Heather,
DeleteYou're right about the quirky cast of LOTR, Harry Potter and the Olympus books and I like your other character picks, too.
What a great idea...I am on winter vacation right now and am missing my library at home...when I return next week I will browse my books and looks specifically for the 'interesting' people I am harbouring on my shelves!!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds good. Enjoy. :)
DeleteThat's quite a cast of characters!
ReplyDeleteThanks Colleen.
DeleteTarzan of the Apes is a good one.
ReplyDeleteHave a great rest of your day!
Thanks I am Harriet, I will.
DeleteI concur on most of these. I like to add Ahab in Moby Dick. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThe Food Temptress
Rekaya,
DeleteYep, I think Ahab definitely qualifies.
Sorry I missed this, Mia. Love your list. Recently read two of Linda Wisdom's Hex series where her heroine has two living furry house slippers that attack people.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I don't know the Hex series, but the slippers sound fun. I'll look for it. Thanks.
DeleteI've just finished Brook's The Iron Duke and loved it. Now I'll have to look for the book you mention!
ReplyDeleteBrinda,
DeleteI bet you'll like it. :)
Fun and relevant topic as I had no idea about the day.
ReplyDeleteMy fav peculiar character is Sgt. Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police from the old Tony Hillerman fictional series. Trying to balance his Indian heritage with the job responsibilities and American culture leave him looking strange to both populations.