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Which Book Would You Want to Be In?

July 15, 2009 by Nathan Bransford

Reader Neil Vogler passed along a recent Guardian post about the number of authors who are auctioning off the chance to name a character in one of their novels.

This sparked Neil’s idea for today’s You Tell Me: if you could inhabit any book, which would you choose?

I’d go with THE GREAT GATSBY. No! THE SUN ALSO RISES. No! HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY.

What about you?

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, You Tell Me

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mara Wolfe says

    July 15, 2009 at 8:35 pm

    I'd love to be in Anne McCaffry's Dragonriders of Pern series, especially if I Impressed a dragon:)

  2. Lupina says

    July 15, 2009 at 8:37 pm

    Eric, LOL and ditto on your "not The Road" comment.

    I would like to inhabit the heath and country manors of Thomas Hardy's world, as long as I was an aristocrat with servants and all I had to do was paint and write.

  3. therese says

    July 15, 2009 at 8:37 pm

    Any light contemporary romance! Not into personal drama and conflict or chamber pots but I'd be guaranteed AWESOME SEX!

  4. Wendy says

    July 15, 2009 at 8:41 pm

    I want to be in my own book, it'd be nice to live in a world where you know what happens after you die.

    If it has to be someone else's book then one where you can be immortal but not have to drink blood would be rather nice. So not quite Twilight.

    Probably shows that I'm sick with the flu and feeling sorry for myself right now!

  5. Anonymous says

    July 15, 2009 at 8:43 pm

    I agree: Claire in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series is at the top of the list. Not only is she a surgeon during a time in history when women didn't do more than cook and have babies, but she is married to Jamie. He's a great character.

  6. Mira says

    July 15, 2009 at 8:50 pm

    Anne Claire – lol about Ayn Rand.

    Rick D., I thought and thought. And as the bids are coming in rather slowly, I decided I like monopoly money. But only the gold ones. They're the pretty ones.

    So I accept your offer, and shall mention you in my post here tomorrow, as agreed.

  7. Jil says

    July 15, 2009 at 8:54 pm

    National Velvet. What heaven to be left a small stable full of horses. And the wonderful Pie to ride! I can't remember if the old man left Velvet money to look after the animals with but if I were the protagonist he most certainly would!

    When I was a kid I wanted to be Mowgli with his jungle full of friends.

  8. Courtney says

    July 15, 2009 at 8:54 pm

    I guess I'd have to go with any of the books in the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher.

    Or one of my books– since the characters all know me I'd always be revered. Also, I've gotten quite attached to my books 😉

  9. Amy Cochran says

    July 15, 2009 at 8:56 pm

    There are so many entertaining and magical worlds to explore it's hard to decide. I have many but if I had to choose one and only one, I'd have to choose Ephemera, in Belladonna by Anne Bishop.

  10. Vonna says

    July 15, 2009 at 9:06 pm

    The Jungle Book

  11. Arkrider says

    July 15, 2009 at 9:09 pm

    I'd be in Alpha Rising, using my mind, not weapons, to defeat the evil Rooks and rescue a select group from extinction.

  12. Laura Martone says

    July 15, 2009 at 9:26 pm

    Hi, Mira!

    Well, I didn't mean to ignore your kind offer to include me in a post – if only the price were right. But I got to thinking… why buy the milk when you've gotten it for free? After all, you've already mentioned me in a post or two… In fact, I think you blamed me once for something. The memory's hazy, though. 😉

    Good luck with the bidding!

  13. sarah says

    July 15, 2009 at 9:27 pm

    Clare Dunkle's "HOLLOW KINGDOM"

    I love stories with goblins in them! …*stinks that there aren't more* 😛

  14. sarah says

    July 15, 2009 at 9:29 pm

    Oh! "BLOOD & CHOCOLATE" too. *wink

  15. Kim Rossi Stagliano says

    July 15, 2009 at 9:33 pm

    The Homecoming by Ray Bradbury. I'd like to meet Uncle Einar.

  16. marypearson says

    July 15, 2009 at 9:37 pm

    Inhabit?

    Where the Wild Things Are.

    I'd love to make mischief on one kind or another–with monsters no less.

  17. AnakimWriter says

    July 15, 2009 at 9:55 pm

    Decisions, decisions! I'd rather be living in Narnia or Middle Earth–provided I didn't get stuck as one of the villains. The Star Trek universe would also be rather awesome.

    I'd say PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF CHOCOLATE NOOO to anything by Lovecraft. I love horror–as long as the fourth wall's firmly in place!

  18. Haste yee back ;-) says

    July 15, 2009 at 10:04 pm

    I want to be a *Relationships Counselor* in WUTHERING HEIGHTS!

    Haste yee back 😉

  19. Anonymous says

    July 15, 2009 at 10:05 pm

    I would want to be Sookie Stackhouse. She gets her arse kicked, but she has a lot of hot sex and adventures too!!!

  20. Dawn says

    July 15, 2009 at 10:10 pm

    The Harry Potter series, but I wouldn't want to be Harry. I don't handle headaches well. I would be some obscure, but respected powerful witch.

  21. -=ed says

    July 15, 2009 at 10:14 pm

    Stranger in a strange land

  22. Nicole Zoltack says

    July 15, 2009 at 10:17 pm

    The Princess Bride. Or LotR. Or Harry Potter. A fantasy world, definitely.

  23. Nobu says

    July 15, 2009 at 10:19 pm

    The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon. Then I could join a merc company.

  24. Steph Damore says

    July 15, 2009 at 10:21 pm

    Yamile – wasn't the movie awesome?! I too went last night. Had a blast. It was my favorite since CHAMBER OF SECRETS. David Yates did a fantastic job. Confession: I might go back and see it tonight…

    You're right Amy Cochron, There are so many entertaining and magical worlds to explore it's hard to decide

    HP is always a good time. Jane Austen? Love her novels too. Bella & Edward – well, they do live happily ever after. But I'd really love to be Cornelia & Theo's daughter in BELONG TO ME. She's just a baby, and the book ends with her birth, but you know she's going to have an amazing life.

  25. Anonymous says

    July 15, 2009 at 10:23 pm

    This question is going to create a comment-bonanza… How many books I would love to be in!!!
    I really can't resist the idea of "The Sun Also Rises". I seem stuck in early/mid-20th century literature… Salinger, Kerouac, Hemingway, Mann, Carson McCullers. Stick me in any one of those worlds and I'd be flying it.

    I think I'm an analog spirit stuck in the digital age…

  26. Terry says

    July 15, 2009 at 10:34 pm

    Doug Adams' The Restaurant at the End of the Universe…"where it is nearly always Saturday afternoon just before the beach bars close."

    Barring that, one of Updike's Witches of Eastick. Sleeping with the devil. Hmm. I am rather a hedonist.

  27. Liana Brooks says

    July 15, 2009 at 10:54 pm

    After some thought I'm going to have to go with a history or science text book. Preferably as someone who changed the world for the better in one way or another.

  28. Lynne says

    July 15, 2009 at 11:05 pm

    Definite pass on Slaughterhouse Five, will gladly join Anna Claire to eliminate characters in The Fountainhead trilogy. As for Fight Club, the first rule in Fight Club is not to talk about Fight Club! The 2nd rule is not to talk about Fight Club! Pass the Haldol.

  29. Zen Quill says

    July 15, 2009 at 11:05 pm

    Greetings from Australia

    Hi Nathan,
    I write to you from chilly ( at the moment) Australia. What a great question. I think I would most love to inhabit the world of any children's /children's fantasy book ranging from Emily Rodda's Deltora Quest to Wind in the WIllows to Harry Potter. There are too many wonderful children's/YA/ fantasy worlds out there to choose from. A lot of them, I am proud to say, written by fellow Australians such as Sonya Hartnett, John Marsden, Mex Fox, Gary Crew, Paul Jennings, John Flanagan, Jackie French to name but a few.

    Your question made me consider reasons why I choose such worlds. In writing my first children's/YA novel, it tells me my genre choice is greatly influenced by these other worlds. I have a strong desire to create worlds of my own that I hope one day will positively influence others. Also because the majority of these writers I mention above, whose worlds I fell in love with, are Australian. Their work resonated deeply within me.

    As an aspiring author, I am concerned by the latest news of Australia's Productivity Commission pushing to abolish parallel importation restrictions. I wonder what chance new writers within Australia will have if this goes through? Who is going to take a chance on us fledglings? I would love to hear your thoughts about this matter. If the proposal goes through, I fear it will mean a very grim future for the Australian publishing industry and as a new writer, I am concerned that no one will ever get to live in the world I am creating.

    Thanks for your time, and thank you for your ongoing and inspiring blog.

    Kindest regards,

    Lynn Priestley
    https://lynnpriestley.wordpress.com/

  30. Michael Pickett says

    July 15, 2009 at 11:11 pm

    This is kind of cheating because this franchise is more popular as movies than books, but there are a plethora of books in it. I've always wanted to be a Jedi, so my answer is STAR WARS.

  31. Linda Shantz says

    July 15, 2009 at 11:42 pm

    At first I liked the Hitchhiker's idea, and then I thought Wuthering Heights (because I could do dark and twisty pretty well I think!) but it would be great to be in something completely insane like Jilly Cooper's Polo!

  32. rosepddle says

    July 15, 2009 at 11:51 pm

    At the risk of sounding unoriginal, the kid in me wants to be in Harry Potter. I'd love to be Hermione so I can be the smartest AND have Ron…the adult in me would LOVE to be Eve in J. D. Robb's In Death series, just so I could have Roarke!

  33. ryan field says

    July 15, 2009 at 11:52 pm

    Breakfast at Tiffanys

  34. sex scenes at starbucks says

    July 15, 2009 at 11:56 pm

    LOTR

  35. Deidra says

    July 16, 2009 at 12:05 am

    I would be Scout Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird!!

  36. Marsha Sigman says

    July 16, 2009 at 12:28 am

    How could you choose anything but Harry Potter? Not as a teenager though….I shudder to think of being a teen again. But a world where anything is possible. I could live with that. I also just saw 'Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince' so it's fresh in my mind.

    I know your all dying to ask and the answer is no, of course not. The movies are never as good as the books.

  37. onelowerlight says

    July 16, 2009 at 12:28 am

    The Neverending Story by Michael Ende–except I would be a human being from this world who discovers the book and goes on the adventure.

  38. Regan Leigh says

    July 16, 2009 at 12:32 am

    I've never commented on your posts before, but this one had me thinking about it a long time!

    My first reaction was similar to others. A Wrinkle In Time! Since I don't have a top choice now, I chose one I used to LOVE as a kid.

    Most of the books I like tend to be a little more dark, so nothing stands out as too appealing. 🙂 I started to say Wuthering Heights or Time Travelers Wife, but decided I'd rather go to an entirely new place. I won't list all my choices here, but needless to say…I can't decide! It was great fun thinking about it, though!

    Side note…I was named after the girl on The Exorcist because my parents had just seen it. They had yet to decide on a girls name they both liked. I would NOT want to be her character! I'll keep lying and say I was named after King Lear. Not that she was much better. 🙂

  39. Donna says

    July 16, 2009 at 12:51 am

    Ah Lessa! my alter ego; though sometimes, I think it would be better to be the dragon than the Dragon Rider. I wouldn't mind being in a Jack Chalker novel; some creature with wings, or even to be Djin.

    Oh, I got it; I'll be in an Xanth novel and pick lady slippers off bushes and visit the gourd world and meet a brassy and . . you know, just have fun in a world for a while.

  40. Baaaa says

    July 16, 2009 at 12:56 am

    I realize Sue Grafton isn't literary but her character Kinsey Milhone seems to have a great time, plus she has that cool beachside apartment! I could do that…

  41. Dawn says

    July 16, 2009 at 12:57 am

    I'd think I'd also like to live in The Dragonriders of Pern. I've always liked dragons. I'm a lot like Hagrid in that way.

  42. Stef Kramer says

    July 16, 2009 at 1:08 am

    Margaret on The Thirteenth Tale, reclusive and introspective…

  43. superwench83 says

    July 16, 2009 at 1:11 am

    All of them.

  44. Nettie Hartsock says

    July 16, 2009 at 1:19 am

    Any book by Somerset Maugham, loved "The Razor's Edge"

  45. Shell says

    July 16, 2009 at 1:24 am

    The Chronicles of Prydain (Taran Wanderer being my favorite) made me fall in love with Wales when I was a kid. I've been wanting to go to Wales ever since, but if given a real dream come true, I'd go to Prydain in a heartbeat, especially if guided by Lloyd Alexander's gifted hand. But there's always LotR, and Harry Potter, and even Harry Dresden's world, if only I could get to know Harry (and have some kick-butt abilities of my own).

  46. Iain H. McLean says

    July 16, 2009 at 1:35 am

    The Rum Diary

  47. Donna says

    July 16, 2009 at 1:36 am

    Joe; I might have to agree with you about Ender's Game. As long as I never grew older than, say fifteen.

  48. ted says

    July 16, 2009 at 1:41 am

    I'd want to be Stencil on Malta, tracking Thomas Pynchon's inscrutable V.

  49. Anonymous says

    July 16, 2009 at 1:45 am

    Harry Potter and Pride and Prejudice

  50. Annie Reynolds says

    July 16, 2009 at 1:47 am

    Oh only one???? I want to be Rincewind in Ankmorpork, or maybe Vimes….. no no no i have it.
    I want to be Druss, David Gemmell created a character i felt i knew personally! I wouldn't mind being in Harry Potter just so i could play Quiddich, definitely wouldn't want to be Frodo, too much weird sexual ambiguity between him and Samwise. And i know i don't want to be Bella, how creepy having a stalker watch you sleep every night!
    Life in novels appeals far more than the mundane, perhaps that is why i decided to write in the first place.

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Hi, I’m Nathan. I’m the author of How to Write a Novel and the Jacob Wonderbar series, which was published by Penguin. I used to be a literary agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. and I’m dedicated to helping authors achieve their dreams. Let me help you with your book!

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