Gen-types

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

I feel like maybe we've discussed this before but, well, we like talking about the same things again sometimes, right?

So recently I read a book which was OK, but I didn't love. When trying to figure out what exactly wasn't working for me, I realized one of the big issues I had--I felt like the author was trying to make one of the main characters into a Gen-type character, but was failing.

(To be completely honest, my first thought was, "This book would just be so much better if it was about Lord Peter instead." I think I'm due for a LPW re-read.)

So I started trying to figure out why I felt like the character failed to live up to the "Gen" type.

I started by trying to think of successful Gen-type characters. I know some are missing from this list, but these are the first I came up with--

Gen (obviously)
Lord Peter Wimsey
Sir Percy (the Scarlet Pimpernel)
Miles Vorkosigan
Chrestomanci
the Doctor

My list stopped there, even though I KNOW that I've read other books with this character type--help me out here, guys.


Then, I tried to decide what characteristics made this mold. The characters I listed above fit most or all of these characteristics:

clever and witty--quick thinking
intelligent--long term thinking
people skills--good at reading and understanding people
Aristocratic/privileged background, usually with a sense of style to go with it
Brave--sometimes in almost a daredevil way
Stick to a code/personal beliefs
Sometimes works in disguise or with another identity (not always literally)

That's all I have so far.

So what I'd be curious to discuss are these questions:

What other characters would you add to this list, and why do you think they fit? (Particularly if they're from books I haven't read ;-) Would you take away any I listed?
What characteristics would you add to this list--or take away from it?
Why do you think this character type appears repeatedly?

Comments

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

I read 5 or 6 of the Scarlet Pimpernel sequels a few years ago, but I was reading them digitally rather than physically, and I just haven't really been able to switch completely over to e-readers. My heart still loves paper. So after awhile I just had to stop because my eyes wanted something on paper rather than a screen.

So I started reading Lord Peter. (Which transitioned into reading E Wein's Aksumite books... I was reading so many good books then!)

Isn't Lord Peter great? :-) I remember reading through all the Lord Peters the first time.... I'm definitely a re-reader and there is much to be said for going through a book a second (third, fourth) time, but there really is something magical about that first time. How far are you in the Lord Peter books? What have you liked so far, and disliked? Have you watched any of either of the Lord Peter TV shows? LET ME LIVE VICARIOUSLY. ;-)

[imbecamiel.livejournal.com]

Aha, the Blakeney Manor site? I love digital reading for the convenience in many cases, and I've had to get used to reading on computers for my work (I'm an editor), but for all the e-reading I do... it's just not the same as having an actual physical book.

Lord Peter is amaaazing. I've had to read the books as I get my hands on them (up till now, that is - I've been buying them, and I'm getting the last books I don't own for Christmas). So I've read Whose Body, Clouds of Witnesses, Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Strong Poison, Gaudy Night, and all of the short stories. I'm partway through Unnatural Death now. It's honestly hard for me to even pick favorites at this point, because I basically just can't get enough of Lord Peter himself. (Gaudy Night might be my favorite so far, though. Which was a bit surprising, because from some things I'd heard I hadn't expected to like and connect with Harriet so much!)

It's particularly funny to me that I'm adoring them so much now, because it's been one of those series that just proves sometimes I have to approach stories in a specific way in order to connect with them. Friends had recommended them to me many times over the years, and I'd tried listening to one on tape... couldn't get into it. Tried getting the show out of the library... couldn't get into that either. (I hadn't realized there was more than one show, though!) And I always felt so disappointed, because by all rights it seemed like it should be exactly my sort of thing, and yet...

So fairly recently, after yet another recommendation from a friend, I decided that I just had to give it another try. And needless to say, fell head-over-heels for Peter. ;D It's like... all the best parts of Sherlock Holmes and Sir Percy mixed together.

(And I am already so sad at the thought of coming to the end of the books. Just the thought of not having any more new Lord Peter... ;_;)

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

Yes, Blakeney Manor site. I imagine I'll find my way back there one of these days to read more. I also recorded a couple of the short stories in League of the Scarlet Pimpernel for Librivox. That was fun... except I can't speak french or do a french accent, so I kinda failed in that regard :-}

I didn't get into Lord Peter the first couple times I tried either. Sometimes, you just find the right time for the right book, and sometimes it isn't quite the right time. I think I finally came back to it after re-reading To Say Nothing of the Dog, and realizing that this Lord Peter character was actually someone I could read about, too, which I hadn't known the first time through. "Can we feed the ducks? Peter and Harriet fed the ducks!" :-)

I think Gaudy Night is my favorite. There is just so much to love. And you really get to know Harriet in that one, and his nephew, and its just great. There is also a personal connection for me because the last song I learned to play on the violin before quitting lessons is Bach's concerto for two violins, the one they listen to in the concert before the end. A little thing, but its fun.

[imbecamiel.livejournal.com]

Ooo, hey, that's awesome! I've listened to some of the Librivox Scarlet Pimpernel recordings (can't remember which offhand) - so I may well have heard your work, then!

Have you tried checking whether your library has any of the Scarlet Pimpernel books? I know ours had quite a few of them. (A word of warning, though - I didn't discover till years later that some of those books were abridged versions, despite having no clear indications of that fact. They'd cut out entire, REALLY IMPORTANT chapters. Made for some very confusing transitions... *headdesk*)

Oo, I started reading To Say Nothing of the Dog, but didn't get it finished at the time - I'd checked it out of the library at the same time as about 15 other books.

Harriet and Peter's nephew were both so fun in Gaudy Night. :D It's wonderful how little personal connections like that can really endear a book to you. As a writer myself, I found the insights into Harriet's/Sayers' writing process particularly fun in that. I was grinning so much over Peter teaching Harriet self-defense - and her mind immediately turning toward how she could use both that information and the situation as a whole in her fiction. So very accurate... *g*

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

Also: Harriet Vane as a paper doll. Because the internet. http://mostlypaperdolls.blogspot.com/2011/06/lord-peter-wimseys-girlfriend.html

[imbecamiel.livejournal.com]

:D The internet is a wonderful place, and this is a wonderful time to be alive.