Thursday, July 2, 2009

Beach Buddies: Authors Pick Literary Partners for Fun, Sun

This morning I came upon a fun article in the Washington Post where famous authors were asked which literary characters they would like to accompany them to the beach. Here is Jodi Piccoult's answer:

I'd spend the day with Mr. Darcy, from Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice," naturally. Is there any other man who broods so masterfully in literature and who could benefit more from a spirited, lighthearted game of beach Frisbee? And of course, since we'd be on a beach together, I'd greatly enjoy seeing what's beneath that proper waistcoat of his.

I'd like to collect sea glass and observe the sealife with Mr. Rodchester from Jane Eyre and talk more about his issues with women. I was considering Atticus Finch. He certainly would be a gentleman, but it would probably be more fun to frolic in the waves with passionate Mr. R!

My second choice would be sipping pina coladas while watching the sunset over the ocean with Frederick Wentworth from Austen's Persuasion and discussing the art of the hand written letter. Gotta LOVE his letter to Anne Elliot -

"You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight and a half years ago. Dare not say that a man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant."

So who would YOU choose as a beach buddy?