Comments Posted By bfwebster
Displaying 1 To 1 Of 1 Comments
MY TEN FAVORITE MYTHIC HEROES OF ALL TIME
John Carter is a great #1 pick -- as a young (and not-so-young) teen, I read those books over and over again, and not just because of the Frank Frazetta covers.
Here are some other nominees:
-- Tarzan. If you've never read the original Tarzan novels -- particularly the first two, which really form a duology -- you're in for a treat and a surprise. No film or TV show has ever captured ERB's Tarzan correctly.
-- Frodo. OK, it's hard nowadays to see Elijah Wood looking angsty as a mythic hero, but I started reading these novels 40 years ago. "'I will take the ring,' he said, 'though I do not know the way.'" remains for me one of the most moving and inspiring lines in literature.
-- Jack Sawyer from The Talisman (by Stephen King and Peter Straub; the best novel by either author). One of the sweetest compliments my wife ever paid me was to tell me -- after reading The Talisman for the first time -- that Jack Sawyer reminded her of me.
-- Ellen Ripley in Alien/Aliens, particularly in Aliens. One of the few genuine female mythic heroes in modern times, and an original creation at that. "Get away from her, you bitch!" is one of my favorite movie lines ever.
-- Jack Aubrey from Patrick O'Brien's wonderful (and too short!) series of novels. As human, frail, and at times self-defeating a hero as you are likely to find, and for all that a truly mythic hero.
-- George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Cliches, I know, but the more I have learned about each of these men over the years, the more I realize how truly remarkable and unique they were and what a debt of gratitude we -- as Americans, and by extension, the whole modern world -- owe them.
I'm sure I'll think of others given time, but these are the first that spring to mind. ..bruce..
Comment Posted By bfwebster On 30.10.2007 @ 12:28
