Top Ten Tuesday | Daddy, Daddy Cool

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is a Father's Day freebie, so I figured I'd talk about some of my favourite father/father figure-daughter relationships in fiction!

Hans Hubermann and Liesel Meminger from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

‘I'm not such a good reader myself, you know. We'll have to help each other out.’

Will I ever be over The Book Thief? Probably not, no. It's not everyone's cup of tea but the book made me bawl like a baby and the relationship between Hans and Liesel has to be one of the purest, most loving relationships in fiction. I love Rosa, too - as a mother figure she has a brash charm all her own - but Hans is too sweet a man to leave off this list.

Atticus and Jean Louise Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

‘If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.’

Atticus Finch is the original DILF and I love his relationship with Scout. He has to be one of the most soothing, comforting fathers in fiction and I adore him. I've chosen to ignore the existence of Go Set a Watchman because I'm still not certain Harper Lee really wanted that book to be published.

Theoden and Eowyn from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

‘Duty? No... I would have you smile again, not grieve for those whose time has come. You shall live to see these days renewed.’

I haven't read the books - sorry! - but I adore the films and I love the relationship between Eowyn and her uncle. He could have been a better guardian but he could have been a hell of a lot worse - looking at you, Denethor - and there's no denying there's a genuine love and affection between them. Eowyn loves him enough to stay by him and protect him even when Rohan was a dangerous place for her and her brother, so there's clearly a strong bond there.

Mo and Meggie Folchart from the Inkworld trilogy by Cornelia Funke

‘I don't know any father who's more besotted with his daughter than yours.’

I loved the Inkworld books when I was younger and it's such a shame the 2008 adaptation of Inkheart was pretty poor because Brendan Fraser was a great choice for Mo. To be completely honest with you Meggie started to irritate me as the books went along, I do think it's a shame her story became more along the lines of choosing which boy she loved more while Mo got all of the action, but their relationship is a lovely one and they're clearly very close.

Mr. and Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

‘Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do.’

It's so hard to find gifs of these two! Also yes, I prefer the 2005 version to the 1995 version. Come at me, bro. Mr. Bennet is probably my least favourite on this list, on account of him not being a very good father. His relationship with Elizabeth is lovely, but he doesn't hide it from his four other daughters that she's his favourite and therefore the one most worthy of his time. Mrs. Bennet is often seen as a silly woman there for comedic effect and while the woman is pretty insufferable, she's actually the better parent when we consider the Bennets' situation; should Mr. Bennet die their house will no longer be theirs, and Mrs. Bennet wants her daughters to be provided for and safe in a society that won't let them inherit their father's house because they don't have a penis. That they might marry someone wealthy is a bonus and isn't unusual for the time - a big part of marriage was the chance to climb up the social ladder. So Mr. Bennet's relationship with Elizabeth is a lovely one, but he's not the best parent and I think Elizabeth knows that, too.

Belle and Maurice from Beauty and the Beast (1991)

‘My daughter? Odd? Where did you get an idea like that?’

Maurice is a bit of a ditz, clearly intelligent but not so people smart, but it's clear he thinks Belle is the best thing since sliced bread (and so he should). Their relationship is clearly a close one considering Belle literally gives up her freedom to set her father free, something I'm sure she would have done whether he was sick or not. The Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast added an extra song for Belle and her father, 'No Matter What', and it's one of my favourites.

Sara and Captain Crewe from A Little Princess (1995)

‘I believe that you are, and always will be, my little princess.’

This is one of those occasions where I prefer an adaptation to the original book; Frances Hodgson Burnett's book is lovely, and I recommend reading it, but I grew up with the 1995 adaptation and I'm so fond of it. It still makes me cry. Captain Crewe (played by Liam Cunningham, aka Davos Seaworth in Game of Thrones if, like me, you've been trying to figure out where you've seen him before) is a doting father and and all-round very nice chap and his relationship with Sara makes me feel feelings.

Annie and Mr. Warbucks from Annie (1982)

‘Absolutely not! I'm a businessman. I love money, I love power, I love capitalism. I do not now and never will love children.’

Unfortunately the gif is from the 1999 adaptation, which isn't a bad adaptation but isn't the one I grew up with, as yet again the gifs are scarce. Yes it's corny, but I love Annie and I love the way that it encourages the idea that children are allowed to love their birth parents and their adopted parents.

King Mongkut and Princess Fa-Ying from Anna and the King (1999)

‘I will be there in your dreams, as you will be in mine.’

Really, internet? Not a single gif?! Oh well. Anna and the King is essentially a more serious version of The King and I without any of the sing-a-longs, and it's probably one of my favourite movies. It's not perfect, but I get swept away by it every time I watch it. The relationship between King Mongkut and his monkey-obsessed daughter, Princess Fa-Ying, is so sweet and if you watch the film you'll probably cry.

Fa Zhou and Fa Mulan from Mulan (1998)

‘The greatest gift and honour is having you for a daughter.’

Fa Zhou says some things at the beginning of this movie that certainly hurt his daughter's feelings, but it's clear the two of them are close: Mulan literally risks death, by execution or warfare, by posing as a man and taking his place in the army so he doesn't have to go to what's likely to be his certain death now that he is old and fairly frail.

What did you talk about this week?

Review | To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

My Rating: 

'Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.'

A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel - a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the thirties. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man's struggle for justice. But the weight of history will only tolerate so much.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming-of-age story, an anti-racist novel, a historical drama of the Great Depression and a sublime example of the Southern writing tradition.

Yeah, yeah, I know, the whole world and his wife has read this. In fact nowadays I'm pretty sure babies emerge from the womb already having read it, but I didn't get around to this classic until this year.

But why? I imagine to hear you ask for the sake of this review. Why has it taken you so long to read the most stupendous book of all time? Didn't you do English Lit at uni? What's the matter with you?

Well, friend, I'll tell you. First of all, I'm British; I was born and raised, for the most part, in England, and in England you tend to look at British authors. I read Shakespeare, Charlotte Brontë and Seamus Heaney at school, and though we did branch out into international authors when I reached my GCSE years, the American book chosen for us was Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. In fact nobody at my school read To Kill a Mockingbird.

When I did my A Levels I read a little more American Literature, this time Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, and I loathed it. I know everyone loves it, but I just couldn't stand it. It's so depressing - yes, I know that's the point - but the practical part of me couldn't help thinking 'dude, just move house!' throughout the entire novel. I had to force myself to finish it, and sadly, though it shouldn't have, it put me off American Lit for a while.

And the third reason I didn't get around to it until this year was for the simple, stubborn reason that everyone told me I should read it. Hyped books make me very wary, because so often we can build ourselves up to expect one thing and then be incredibly disappointed when we get something else entirely. I wanted to read To Kill a Mockingbird, but only when I could go into it with no expectations or preconceptions whatsoever; the same reason I didn't read Rebecca until last year.

So now that I've read it, did I love it? Yes. I really, really did.

I was almost disappointed when I realised how much I'd enjoyed the book, like I was just 'conforming' or some other ridiculous notion, and then I realised how stupid that was. Some people are cruel enough to say that other people say this is their favourite book because they want to sound smart, and while that may very well be true in some cases (but who cares if it is?) the fact of the matter is some books are well-loved for a reason, and this is one such book.

I found Harper Lee's writing so comforting and welcoming, and it settled in me like a delicious roast dinner on a cold day. Scout is a charming protagonist, and she and Jem both felt so real to me; I felt as though I was reading a book by a woman who hadn't forgotten what it was really like to be a child.

And then, of course, there's Atticus, who frankly I was incredibly attracted to. What can I say? I like an older man.

I adored the cast of characters Lee created, from the Finches to Boo Radley to Tom Robinson, and I was surprised by how lovely the book was. When a book is described as an anti-racist novel or an anti-sexist novel or an anti-any sort of 'ist' novel, it can be difficult not to expect it to be incredibly heavy handed, to knock you over the head with its message so hard you see stars. I didn't feel that with this book at all, and I think a lot of that has to do with it being a coming-of-age novel. 

When a story is told through the eyes of a child, who is still learning the difference between what is and isn't right and what she believes is and isn't right, any message the book is trying to convey immediately feels all the more authentic because we can see how the characters reach their ultimate conclusion of how they perceive the world. Had the book been from Atticus's point of view, I think it would have been incredibly preachy to the point of disbelief. It's hard to believe anyone could be as perfect as Atticus, but we can believe he might seem that way through the eyes of his children.

I loved this book, but I don't think I would have if I'd read it when everyone was telling me to. I needed to approach it in my own way at my own time, and I encourage any of you who haven't read it, but are considering it, to do the same. And if you have no intention of ever reading it, that's fine. This book might be a well-loved classic, but don't force your way through a book you don't think is for you when you could be reading something else you love.