Our household has developed a taste for dark chocolate lately and the best way I’ve found to satisfy the craving is Dove’s PROMISES® Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate.These tasty little morsels are delicious and if you can trust yourself not to eat the entire bag at one time, it’s a great way to give yourself a treat. Another thing I enjoy about these scrumptious treats is that each one is individually wrapped in a beautiful red foil. Inside that foil you find an inspiring phrase like the one above (and to the right).
I especially like the phrase on this wrapper – ‘Ignite your sense of adventure.’ I think it’s perfect for book lovers. Just think about it…….every time you open a book, you’re going on an adventure. By turning those pages (or listening to an audio), you are igniting the fantasy of the adventure. What’d you think?
This brings me to my questions (for writers and readers alike). Have you ever read a story where the characters have no names? Nowhere in the story is a name mentioned involving the main characters.
Is that possible to have such a story? What would be the disadvantages/problems with such a story? What would be the advantages other than not having to come up with names? Would it give the reader more freedom to be involved in the story, feel they were the characters? Would it really be a story if it was told through the thoughts of one of the characters?
Well as you can tell, I think I’ve had too much chocolate and my mind is wandering in crazy directions. Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you’ll share your thoughts on this. If you’ll excuse me now I think there is a tiny red foiled square calling me. 
Oh my. That would be an incredible challenge for both the reader and the writer. The writer's character development and indentification would have to be really well developed - and the reader would have to concentrate completely.
ReplyDeleteNeither are bad things, but perhaps rarer than they should be.
Elephant's Child, I agree. I think it would be more of a challenge for the writer than the reader to make it engaging enough the reader would what to become the character.
DeleteI can't think of a book like that. I own a double-CD concept album where the three main characters have no names. The band makes it work though. I think it would be odd to read in a book though.
ReplyDeleteAlex, the concept album sounds interesting.
DeleteMason - There's one short story I can think of: Angela Savage's The Teardrop Tattoos. The main character isn't named there, but actually, the others are. And there's Bill Pronzini's series featuring the Nameless Detective. But in that series too, other characters are named. Interesting!! Now, excuse me while I go get a piece of dark chocolate to help me think about this... ;-)
ReplyDeleteMargot, I'll have to check out The Teardrop Tattoos and definitely put Bill Pronzini's series on my TBR list. I know what you mean about the dark chocolate helping you think. I think I need another piece now too. :)
DeleteI can't think of a book that has a MC without a name either. Interesting. Now, I'm curious how that would work.
ReplyDeleteDark chocolate is wonderful!
Holly, dark chocolate is wonderful (as is all chocolate). :) I'm not sure what got me to thinking about a story with nameless characters. LOL
DeleteI haven't read a book like that but I think I would shy away from it I saw it. It would be too hard to follow. Just like one book that I gave up on that have 23 charaters by the time it reached page 14!
ReplyDeleteCarol, wow - 23 characters by page 14. I think I'd have to have a playbook to follow along with that one.
DeleteHow I love chocolate! Thanks for dropping by my blog on Blitz Day!
ReplyDeleteZan, always happy to meet another chocolate lover. Enjoyed visiting your blog during your Blitz Day!
DeleteI can think of books that didn't give a main character a proper name, i.e. the lead character in The Virginian (who was never called anything else), and I've given minor characters descriptive nicknames instead of names, like "ugly green shirt", but to have a main character without a name...don't think I could pull that one off.
ReplyDeleteLinda, I had forgotten about the 'one name' characters. I like minor characters that are only know by nicknames. It makes them seem more realistic to me somehow. :)
DeleteSounds delicious! :)
ReplyDeleteI think the no-name thing would drive me nuts! So much of a character's identity is tied up in it. Although, if the point were the MC was an 'everyman' it might work
Jemi, a character's identity does have a lot to do with their name. I thought it might be a difficult way to write.
DeleteMy favorite dark chocolate is Lindt's 90% -- I don't take a chance on eating too much because I open the package and break all the squares into smaller pieces, then put them in a plastic food storage bag. When I dip into the bag, I only take one small piece....it's surprisingly satisfying.
ReplyDeleteThe only book I know of with no character names is "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. It's a post-apocalyptic novel about a man and his son trying to survive in a nearly destroyed world.
Patricia, I love Lindt's dark chocolate too. Even when the chocolate is broken into small pieces I find myself going back to the bag more times than I should in an hour (oh, I mean day).
DeleteI'll have to add Cormac McCarthy's book to my TBR list. Sounds interesting.
We had a bag of Hershey's miniatures that were Special Dark and some were crispy rice or had peanuts. I like Ghirardelli, too, but don't have it much.
ReplyDelete