I don’t know what the rest of the world is doing today, but here in the US it’s Father’s Day. Or is it Fathers Day? Anyway, I figured I’d write a relevant post about it. So we’re talking dads in books. Let’s get to it.
Atticus Finch
If you don’t know, I’m reading To Kill a Mockingbird for my next video. I’ll be finished with it today once I’m home from work. Which means I’m not going to tell you anything about what I think of Atticus or the book here, except that I think he belongs on this list.
Alex Cross
He’s a detective in DC. Then moves on to the FBI. Then I think he goes back to detective work. I think. I’m only about halfway through the series and James Patterson releases them too fast for me to keep up with. But I’ve never read a single page of one of the Cross novels thinking that his family wasn’t his top priority. Reading about him and his family is just as entertaining as reading about the criminals he goes after.
Spenser
He’s not actually a father. But during the course of one of his books he takes a kid under his wing, and never forgets about him. And they develop this really interesting understanding between each other that I don’t think I’ve seen in other stories. Paul (the kid he takes under his wing) eventually knows when Spenser has something on his mind without needing to ask. He knows when to press him for information and when to back off. He knows as much about Spenser as Spenser is willing to let anyone know. Which is really cool because Spenser doesn’t go around giving out information about himself unnecessarily.
I think that’s it. I just discovered that most of the characters I read aren’t fathers. I guess having kids isn’t interesting enough to be in books. Who are some cool dads you’ve read about in literature?
And happy Father’s Day to all you papas out there.
Matthew Cuthbert (Anne of Green Gables) isn’t technically a father, but he becomes a father figure to Anne and he’s sweet and devoted and adores his adopted daughter. He’s always thinking of her, which is adorable.
I think Mr. Weasley is pretty awesome, myself. He also kind of takes Harry under his wing since Harry’s parents aren’t living.
Thranduil (the father of Legolas) from the Hobbit is pretty awesome. He’s fiercely protective of his son even though he’s a bit full of himself. Plus, in the Hobbit movies, his throne is amazing! And he rides an enormous elk! Or moose? Pretty sweet.
There are a lot of others. For some reason I can think of more dads than moms in literature. Didn’t we sort of have this discussion on Mother’s Day?
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Yes we did. Mommas were hard to think of for the both of us. I only know Ron’s dad of those you mentioned. But Legolas is cool, do maybe his dad is too?
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Thranduil is a great leader, but kind of a jerk. He’s an interesting literary character, though.
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Was he not in the first or second Hobbit movies? Cause I have no idea who you’re talking about.
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He was in the second movie.
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I must have not paid attention. I just remember the dragon.
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Atticus Finch is the best! He would be the dad I would have wanted if I didn’t have a father(well, my dad’s been dead for 3 years now, so Father’s Day can be a little sad for me)
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Well now you have to wat h my video when I release it so you can see what I think if him. 😁
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Mr. Weasley from Harry Potter, maybe? He was always nice. o:
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I thought of him, but the ones I mentioned are either the protagonist of the story or very close to it. He’s kinda not.
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I gotcha! I thought you meant any kind of dad character o:
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I did. I guess I just prefer the character to have more or a major role? I don’t know.
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Mr. Bennett from Pride and Prejudice. I love that he’s a little spacy and lets his wife run all over him till his favorite daughter is unhappy. Then he tells her she cannot marry the horrible Mr. Collins! Great stuff. Mr. Weasly definitely. Dumbledore is a semi father figure. Mr. Melendy in all of the Elizabeth Enright books about the Melendy family.. Which, John, you would have no clue because you don’t read old books…. 😛
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Well the last two books I’ve read were 1984 and To Kill a Mockingbird. Those are old.
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Gasp! Oh M Gee . Lol. Good for you. Try the Three Muscketeers. Action, romance, sword fights, blood….. It’s a little long…
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What do you think you’re going recommending books to me?
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Lol, just trying to drive you nuts. 🙂 Is it working?
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Nope. No one can do that on WordPress.
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The “papa” in “The Book Thief” was incredible.
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I haven’t read it, but I think it’s on the Amazon list. Which means I’ll eventually read and make a video for it.
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