Best Book Friends

[Spartan Girl]

I thought I'd start a thread for our favorite book friendships!

I guess I'll kick it off with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They weren't always perfect, but despite their ups and downs, they were always great friends who were together til the end. 

[peacheslatour]

I think Melanie Hamilton Wilkes is a Hall of Famer for this catagory.

[Wiendish Fitch]

Nice idea for a thread! We need some positivity. :)

Betsy, Tacy and Tib: Lifelong gal pals. What's not to love?

[Wiendish Fitch]

How can I forget Nancy Drew's loyal pals George and Bess?

I always loved the dynamic between all the girls in The Babysitters Club series, especially Kristy and Mary Anne.

Charlotte and Wilbur. Dammit, I'm getting the feels just thinking about them.

Damn, it's kind of embarrassing that my favorite literary friendships are from kids' books. I guess it's because most friendships in adult books (especially among female characters) are fraught with resentment, jealousy, and betrayal.

[Spartan Girl]

There's absolutely no shame in that @Wiendish Fitch! Like you said, some of the best friendships are in kids books!

Second Charlotte and Wilbur. And how about Lucy and Mr. Tumnus from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? That's another great one.

And I always thought Tina Hakim Baba was a great and supportive friend to Mia in The Princess Diaries -- the exact opposite of Lilly.

[Bort]

Rizzoli and Isles from the Tess Gerritsen book series. They're such an unlikely pair, but they click. 

That would be from the book series, not the TV show (I actually hated the TV show, but that's for another topic...).

[Danny Franks]

Rand, Mat and Perrin from The Wheel of time. Three boys who grow up together, face all the evils of the world together, grow and change more than they ever thought possible, and spent a lot of time apart, but they still clearly love each other like brothers.

Even at the height of Rand's darkness, Mat and Perrin never believe he would do some of the things he's rumoured to have done.

[catlover79]

How about bosom friends Anne Shirley and Diana Barry?

[peacheslatour]

Samwise Gamgee. He stuck by Frodo to the very end of the world. He would have given his life for his friend.

[Vanderboom]

On 7/2/2019 at 12:44 AM, catlover79 said:

How about bosom friends Anne Shirley and Diana Barry?

I thought Diana was sweet, but somewhat lacking in personality. I preferred Anne's college friend Phil Gordon.

[Starleigh]

Jo and Laurie, from Little Women. I'm still mad at Jo for turning him down, they were clearly made for each other.

[Blergh]

On 7/17/2019 at 12:04 AM, Starleigh said:

Jo and Laurie, from Little Women. I'm still mad at Jo for turning him down, they were clearly made for each other.

Yes, as friends. However; even in those days of furniture with skirts around them to conceal their legs, it would have been been anguish for Jo who seemed to have no sexual feelings for Laurie. She did NOT seem the type to be able to simply sit back and think of England (or wherever). Moreover, despite the fact that non-working class women were expected to marry and pin everything on their husbands providing for them, their children and possibly their financially distressed relatives (which Jo definitely had the latter), Jo resolved to defy that and insisted on sinking or swimming entirely on her own (and thankfully had her  immediate family's backing). Also, she'd seen for herself how the promise of inherited monies had kept Laurie from truly striving for independence and how that had hampered his creativity so I don't think she'd have wanted to be a part of that.

    Lastly, with Jo having nothing more than platonic feelings for him, Laurie would have grown very frustrated very quickly and likely taken it out on both of them had they gone through with a marriage.

 Yes, Jo eventually wed Professor Bauer, but with the spelt out understanding that she'd ALWAYS be fiscally independent.

 Also, in the end, Jo and Laurie DID resume their friendship and I think he respected her by maintaining her independence while he was happy to be married to Amy (who DID value riches and seemed to at least be able to learn to love him romantically enough to satisfy both of them).

Edited July 18, 2019 by Blergh

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, Blergh said:

Yes, as friends. However; even in those days of furniture with skirts around them to conceal their legs, it would have been been anguish who seemed to have no sexual feelings for Laurie. She did NOT seem the type to be able to simply sit back and think of England (or wherever). Moreover, despite the fact that non-working class women were expected to marry and pin everything on their husbands providing for them, their children and possibly their financially distressed relatives (which Jo definitely had the latter), Jo resolved to defy that and insisted on sinking or swimming entirely on her own (and thankfully had her  immediate family's backing). Also, she'd seen for herself how the promise of inherited monies had kept Laurie from truly striving for independence and how that had hampered his creativity so I don't think she'd have wanted to be a part of that.

    Lastly, with Jo having nothing more than platonic feelings for him, Laurie would have grown very frustrated very quickly and likely taken it out on both of them had they gone through with a marriage.

 Yes, Jo eventually wed Professor Bauer, but with the spelt out understanding that she'd ALWAYS be fiscally independent.

 Also, in the end, Jo and Laurie DID resume their friendship and I think he respected her by maintaining her independence while he was happy to be married to Amy (who DID value riches and seemed to at least be able to learn to love him romantically enough to satisfy both of them).

I agree. She only had sisterly feelings for him.

[Starleigh]

I don't know, I think it's more that LMA was determined not to follow the standard romantic formula. The way she wrote it, though, Jo and Laurie had way more chemistry than Jo and the Professor. I never bought that romance, but that's just me. Maybe I should have posted this in the unpopular literary opinion thread, lol.

[catlover79]

How about Jess and Leslie from Bridge to Terabithia?

[Black Knight]

On 7/17/2019 at 1:49 PM, catlover79 said:

How about Jess and Leslie from Bridge to Terabithia?

*sob*

[surreysmum]

Ewan Cameron and Keith Windham in The Flight of the Heron. As per prophecy, they only met 5 times, but it was an epic friendship. (Then again, I've always been a sucker for friends-from-opposite-sides-of-the-battlefield stories)

[SnarkySheep]

On 6/28/2019 at 8:33 PM, Wiendish Fitch said:

Betsy, Tacy and Tib: Lifelong gal pals. What's not to love?

Thanks to Internet Archive, I went through the entire series last year (didn't even know there were books after Betsy's "kid years" until fairly recently). And I do agree - we should all be so lucky as to have friends like that!

[Minneapple]

Hazel and Fiver from Watership Down!

 

 

[peacheslatour]

Sam and Frodo.

Bess and George were great friends to Nancy Drew.

I think Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood had a special understanding for each other.

I loved Jo and Laurie's friendship, especially after Laurie married Amy.

[andromeda331]

32 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Sam and Frodo.

Bess and George were great friends to Nancy Drew.

I think Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood had a special understanding for each other.

I loved Jo and Laurie's friendship, especially after Laurie married Amy.

Do you think that Nancy was that good of a friend to Bess? It seems like in a lot of books Nancy's making fun of Bess's weight or commenting on her weight a lot. Its not something I noticed as a kid but re-reading as an adult.

[peacheslatour]

23 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Do you think that Nancy was that good of a friend to Bess? It seems like in a lot of books Nancy's making fun of Bess's weight or commenting on her weight a lot. Its not something I noticed as a kid but re-reading as an adult.

George was the one that did that, not Nancy. Different day, I guess. Some of those books were also rather racist and xenophobic. They've been re-edited since then.

[BlackberryJam]

14 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

George was the one that did that, not Nancy. Different day, I guess. Some of those books were also rather racist and xenophobic. They've been re-edited since then.

Ah....doesn't Red Gate Farm have them walking around in white sheets with pillow case hoods?

I loved those books as a child. Now...not so much.

Edited April 17, 2020 by BlackberryJam

[peacheslatour]

7 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

Ah....doesn't Red Gate Farm have them walking around in white sheets with pillow case hoods?

I loved those books as a child. Now...not so much.

I certainly don't remember anything like that.

[BlackberryJam]

I didn't either but then I did a re-read.. and here's the cover.

[peacheslatour]

16 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

I didn't either but then I did a re-read.. and here's the cover.

Why were they doing it?

[BlackberryJam]

It’s not what it looks like. They are pretending to be a cult or something to keep people away from a counterfeiting operation.

[Blergh]

15 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

It’s not what it looks like. They are pretending to be a cult or something to keep people away from a counterfeiting operation.

IOW, the series managed to present (via the jacket cover) the PERFECT opportunity for Nancy to have exposed Klan activity (which virtually everyone who'd seen a newspaper back then would have instantly linked it to)  . However,  rather than attempt to take any stance remotely controversial (much less call out lynching, vigilantism, or being less than fairminded to African-Americans [then politely knowns as Negros]), they BLEW it by having her uncover counterfeiters (who no readers on either side of the Mason Dixon Line would have been the least bit sorry to consider bad guys) disguised as ghosts in a cult. No belated Scooby snacks for them!

BOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited April 19, 2020 by Blergh

[Starleigh]

I always liked the way Louisa May Alcott portrayed Polly and Fanny's friendship in An Old Fashioned Girl. Not sappy or sentimental at all, they both had bouts of envying the other, but in the end their friendship won out.

Nobody mentioned Katniss and Peeta?? I know it's controversial but I loved the slow burn of their relationship and how their friendship evolved.

Edited April 21, 2020 by Starleigh

[Prairie Rose]

Another best friend duo I fondly remember from my childhood is Jessica and Daphne from Mary Downing Hahn's Daphne's Book. As a bespectacled, braces-wearing bookworm, I could really relate to the insults they endured from the cliques. First published in 1983, it stands the test of time.