Monday, February 14, 2011

Blog Chain - Show Me the Love

Happy Monday!  And not only is it Monday, it's also Valentine's day.

When it comes to the V-Day, I've never been particularly lucky.  Over the years, I began to see the day as another corporate marketing strategy to make single people feel awful and committed people feel the deep burning desire to go to the mall and spend money.

I still think Valentine's day is a sorry excuse to get us to buy cards and chocolate (Okay, I don't really need an excuse to buy chocolate) but this year I'm feeling a little mushy on the whole thing.  This year I'm feeling the love.  Which leads me to this blog chain's question:

Who is your favorite literary couple and why?

It's easy to root for the dramatic relationships.  The love triangles.  The doomed-to-failure love destined to reach across time and space.  But those relationships are basically crap.  I'm not being cynical.  Those relationships are great fun to write (and read) because they're easy.  Take boy, add girl, dump on complications, multiply by drama, watch the chaos.  But that's not real love.  Not in my opinion.

Real love takes time.  It's slow.  It's sneaky.  Half the time, you're in it before you realize it and by that time, it's too late.  Real love doesn't threaten to commit suicide for you, it brings you bendy straws when you're sick with a sore throat.

That's why my favorite literary couple is Taylor Markham and Jonah Griggs from Jellicoe Road.

I've made it pretty clear that Jellicoe Road is one of my favorite books ever, and if you read it you'll know why.  There's so much that happens in that book but the relationship between Taylor and Jonah is just amazing.  It's a slow build that you don't see coming until it's too late.  They don't see it coming either.  But that's not what makes it brilliant.  What makes it brilliant is that when love does rear its head, it feels so right.  You see them come together and you're like, "Duh!"  Their drama is personal.  No one dies, there's no love triangle, no misunderstood kisses.  It's just sweet and real.

And that's it!  As I'm the first link in this chain, you'll need to head over to the super sweet Sarah's blog tomorrow to see who her favorite literary couple is.

12 comments:

  1. oh man, i seriously need to read this book. now, if only i could just FIND it!
    anyway, i so agree with you on the 'real love' opinion. time is super-important in the development of love. have you read anna and the french kiss? that book pretty much nails the essence of true love.

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  2. I'm with you when it comes to real love. I think most literary romances deal with the beginnings of love, when the feelings are most intense. Real long-term love, though steady, is less dramatic.

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  3. Wow, great question Shaun. I need to check out that book as I'm not familiar with it. I will also have to think long and hard on this.

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  4. Yeah, this book is on my list. Great post!! Love the bendy straw analogy. :-)

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  5. Aleeza: OMG, you have to read it. Jellicoe Road is a seriously amazing book.

    Sandra: Did you ever watch the show Friday Night Lights? Coach and Tami Taylor are my favorite example of a realistic couple whose drama comes from real life rather than made up craziness.

    Eric: You totally should. I'd send it to you if I hadn't bought it on my Kindle.

    Margie: The bendy straw comes from experience :)

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  6. Okay, I really NEED to rad this book. I like slow builds like that. Great toic.

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  7. Great topic. I'm glad I have time to think on this one. A million characters just popped into my head at once, and I can't remember which story made me sigh more.

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  8. Oooh, I read Jellicoe Road last year and LOVED it! Grabbed a few of the authors other books from the library too, and they were just as good!

    Also: this is a great topic.

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  9. I haven't read this book...I'll have to add it to my list!

    Great topic for the blog chain!

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  10. I am so checking this book out from the library!!

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  11. Okay, I've never read that book but really need to :) And totally agree with you on the real love thing. The couples I chose (yes, two of them - I just couldn't decide between them LOL) have the whole passionate 'I'll die without them' thing going on, but because they are both couples from long series, you get to see the progression of their love over their lifetimes. Good stuff :D

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  12. Yes :) You must all read this book! Writing this post actually made me reread it. I'm rereading it right now. My TBR pile is insane but I couldn't help rereading this book. If I could, I'd buy you all copies and send them to you.

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