Once Upon a Bibliophile

Well, I’m obviously choosing a book character for this one.

And no, I’m not going to pick just one. I mean, if we’re doing the whole ‘you can become a character’ thing, I’m not sticking with one. I’ve read too many books for that.

But I will narrow it down to my top three.

Also, I’d just like to address the fact that if I were to be a character in the sense of my personality I would most definitely be Piglet, but this isn’t about reality.

The characters are, in no particular order:

1. Lyra Sivertounge (His Dark Materials)
2. Mr Darcy (Pride and Prejudice)
3. Harper (A Curse so Dark and Lonely)

And, of course, preferably all three and many many many more.

And, to those reading this who know me well (I’m talking to you, school friend), I would not like to become a character from the Lord of the Rings, despite it being one of my favorite books ever, for two reasons: a) I couldn’t survive that long without regular meals and b) I ain’t walking all the way to Mordor just to chuck somebody’s jewelry in a fire. Leaving that to somebody else, thank you very much.

And so, without further ado, let us begin.

1) Lyra Silvertounge

So, lets start with a quick character bio.

Lyra is, well, Lyra.

I don’t really know how else to describe her…strong, definitely. Fierce, definitely. In the face of the greatest danger, she still goes on. If this girl goes down, she goes down fighting. But more than anything, she feels so deeply, so truly. It’s hard not to envy someone who not only knows exactly what they want but also has the courage to go out and take it from the world. The courage to fight for it.

I think I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t leap at the chance to be her.

Out of all the characters on my list, Lyra is the one I aspire to be like the most. The kind of person who actually makes a difference, and isn’t afraid of that. Someone who fights for what they want and gets it. She’s brave, so brave.

And in reality, I know that one cannot just become another person over night.

But surely the whole point of reading is the chance to be someone you’re not.

If we’re going to be throwing reality and practicality out of the window with this crazy adventure we call reading, we shouldn’t we throw it even father, and, just for one book (or two or three or four) be someone we’re not.

Be a hero.

Be strong.

Be brave.

Be the person who is looked up to, not the person who does the looking up.

Be the person who changes the world, not the one who sits by and accepts.

In an ordinary world, why would anyone want to be anything but extraordinary?

2) Mr Darcy

This one is maybe less deep than the last.

This one is more about having an excuse to be unsociable.

And…that is that. That there is the reason why I would choose to be Mr Darcy for my next character.

So I could stand in the corner scowling and not dancing with people. So I could diss people in public for no reason.

And yes, I know that there is more to Mr Darcy than his rude exterior, but wouldn’t it be nice, just for once in your life to be able to…

1. be unsociable and hide in your room reading books all day for as long as you want
2. not care when people say that you’re being unsociable because they are “tolerable, but not handsome enough” to be worth your attention
3. be rude to people without feeling guilty about it
4. wear a cravat (having the excuse to wear 19th century clothes has long been a dream of mine)

and that’s all there is to it

3) Harper

I feel as if in this post all my dreams are coming true. I picked Harper for the third character not because of her personality, but because of what she gets to experience.

Love.

Magic.

Adventure.

I would give anything for Emberfall to be real. No, more than that. I would give everything for Emberfall to be real.

Well, maybe not my books.

I mean, I would prefer not to be kidnapped, but if it came to it, I also probably wouldn’t say no. And then I could live in a fantasy world, with magic, and fall in love with a prince. I could learn to swordfight and go horse riding through the woods.

I could have an adventure.