Top Ten Tuesday is hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish!
Today's topic is World's I'd Never Want to Live In (or Characters I'd Never Want To Trade Places With). I'll do a bit of both.
Firstly, fictional worlds:
1. Panem. Ugh. Who would? Hunger Games themselves are freaky - not to mention all the other horrors.
2. Divergent's Chicago. Though this isn't half as bad as Panem, I still don't like the idea of having to commit yourself to one character trait. Isn't everyone technically divergent, one way or another? I'm probably somewhere between Abnegation and Erudite, with some Amity as well.
I like my (real) Chicago much better. :-)
3. Calormen from The Chronicles of Narnia. (The countries are Ettinsmoor, Narnia, Archenland, Calormen - from North to South - if you didn't know.) The society in Calormen is extremely male-dominated, with slaves and harems. The government just isn't very nice. I'd probably end up as the wife of some old fellow, and live an unfulfilled life. Not cool.
And now, characters:
4. Fantine from Les Miserables. I think Fantine has one of the most heartbreaking stories in all of literature. Her guy left her pregnant, she has to become a prostitute to support her child (who's caretakers are using Fantine's money for themselves, and not for the child) - it's all so depressing. Thankfully, she has a gleam of happiness at the end before she dies, but still...
5. Edmond Dantes from The Count of Monte Cristo. Sure, he gets a humongous treasure and all. But what's the price? He is arrested on his wedding day for a crime he didn't do, and then his best friend marries his fiance. He is in prison for YEARS and then has his heart burning up with revenge for even longer, until he learns that he isn't God. And he was such a successful and happy young 19 year old in the beginning of the book! I think he definitely got the short end of the stick.
6. Juliet from Romeo and Juliet. Of course, she just has to fall in love with that ONE guy at the party that just HAPPENS to be a Capulet.
7. Ezra Jennings from The Moonstone. He's ugly and has a reputation connected to him for a crime he didn't commit. But the poor guy is just trying to be a good doctor!
8. The Two Women in White in The Woman in White. Both Anne Catherick and Laura Fairlie definitely don't have happy lives. To live with that kind of a husband! Poor Laura. (I'm glad they both have their (sort of) happy endings, though.)
9. Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The poor fellow, living under the burden of revenge and wanting to escape society. I feel so bad for him!
10. The Entire Tuck Family from Tuck Everlasting. I would never want to live forever. It would become such a meaningless existence, growing old while everyone you love dies. You.... just... keep.... living....
(As a matter of fact, I wouldn't want to be an elf from LOTR either for the same reason, but at least the elves can die in battle - which isn't exactly my preferred way to die either...)
What about you? Which characters would you NEVER want to trade places with? Or what worlds would you never want to live in?
~Sophia
LOL! I especially like your comments about Edmund Dantes!
ReplyDeleteI would not want to be ANY of the characters in the Great Gatsby, no matter how much money they had. What sad lives! I also would hate to be the narrator in Rebecca, because she's such a timid thing with very little ingenuity or sense (or grammatically complex sentences). As for places, I would hate to be anywhere near Hill House (Shirley Jackson). Brrrr!!!
I agree with the Gatsby characters - they do lead rather sad lives. I wouldn't mind the narrator from Rebecca THAT much, though she's definitely not ideal. And I've never read any Shirley Jackson. Is she good?
DeleteAntonio Salieri from Amadeus: I would not want to be remembered as a mediocrity, whose immortality is based not on my compositions, but rather on the infamy of conspiring to murder Mozart.
ReplyDeleteP.S. When you get the chance Sophia, please check out some of my songs on YouTube, since I'm very curious to learn what you think!
I've never read/seen Amadeus - would you recommend it?
DeleteAnd I will definitely check out your YouTube channel soon! I was about to buy your book, but then my Kindle died, and I haven't gotten it fixed yet :-(
The original play written by Peter Shaffer is wonderful, but the screenplay he wrote for Milos Forman's film is brilliant and different. The acting in the film is superb, for both Mozart [Tom Hulce] and Salieri [F. Murray Abraham]. Both were nominated for Best Actor Oscar [and Abraham one]! I highly recommend both versions.
DeleteVery cool! I will look into it.
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