Top Ten Tuesday #2

Welcome to another week of Top Ten Tuesday!

This week, the top ten list is: Top Ten Books Which Feature Characters Who _____ (are music allyinclined, have lost someone, have depression, who grow up poor, etc.) Hmmm, that requires me to fill in the blank. Okay, I accept the challenge. I'm going to write a list of the Top Ten Books which Feature Characters Who are Real People 

Here is my list, again in no particular order, just as they come to me. Okay, you may already know my fondness for the first person I'm going to list. Duh, he's on the top of my blog, right?

1. The Cardinal and the Queen by Evelyn Anthony - the character in question is Cardinal Richelieu, who is also my historical crush. This novel tells of the relationship between him and Anne of Austria, wife to King Louis XIII of France. It's a fascinating story, and a great romance. There  were rumors at the time that the Cardinal was the real father of Louis XIV (Louis XIII was gay). I first read this over forty years ago and I'm still not tired of it.









2. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas - again Cardinal Richeleu, although quite a different tale. D'Artagnan is fresh out of Gascony, gone to Paris to seek his fortune, having been given a letter to get him into the King's Guards. While in the process of delivering said letter, he encounters three different men by whom he finds himself challenged to a duel on the following day. These men, as it turns out, are the Three Musketeers, but before any of the duels can take place, they are spotted by the Cardinal's Guards (dueling is illegal in France at this time) and they end up fighting against the Guards, together, and become bffs in the process. In Dumas' tale, Richelieu is the bad guy whom they must outwit at all costs.

3. The Last Love by Thomas Costain - The character is Napoleon, and it tells the story of his  

exile on the island of St. Helena and his relationship with a young English girl named Betsy Balcombe. I've heard rumors of a film to be made, supposedly starring Al Pacino, but have seen nothing. Pacino would make a lousy Napoleon, in my opinion, so I'm actually glad.







4. Desiree by Annemarie Selinko  - Another book with Napoleon, but an earlier Napoleon. Desiree is the daughter of a silk merchant in Marsailles. She meets the young man with great ambitions and they fall in love and become engaged. But when he leaves for Paris, in order to further his career, and she doesn't hear from him for a long time, she borrows some money from her maid and follows him, only to learn things she'd rather not hear. This is the first book that ever made me cry. It's a great story, and the movie features Marlon Brando as Napoleon, and Michael Rennie as Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte.

5. The Trial of Adolf Hitler by Phillippe Van Rjndt - The story begins as the Third Reich is

crumbling around him. Hitler is committed to suicide before capture, and has decided he and his bride, Eva, shall both die. They each have poison and a pistol, as they retire to their room in the Bunker to die. Hitler shoots Eva, then himself. But Fate intervenes and the bullet he fired at himself does not kill him. He is found and rescued by one of his faithful. He recovers and takes a new name and identity, burying himself in a small town in Germany, where no one knows him, and leads a quiet life. Years pass. Hitler, under his new name, is well loved by the citizens of the town, but he decides that the time has come for him to reveal himself, and to demand a trial to exonerate him of the the crimes attributed to him. The stunned nations of the world, learning that he is alive, don't know what to do, or what to charge him with. They get together, and finally come up with three charges, and make arrangements for a trial.  Now the ending was a foregone conclusion, as I suspected it would be, but really, in terms of the charges and the evidence that was presented hi Hitler's defense, I didn't find it quite so cut and dried. In fact, I think it might have been a miscarriage of justice. But that's just my opinion, and of course, it's a novel, so it didn't happen.

6. Lamb, The Gospel of Christ According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore - The title says it all, it's a great book, and I loved it. He has a real way with words, and the story just flows so smoothly. Hilarious and sensitive and deeply moving.












7. Depths of Glory by Irving Stone - This is an historical novel about Camille Pissarro, the

Impressionist. It was my introduction to the Impressionists, and features other artists as characters, including Degas, Toulouse Lautrec, Van Gogh and others. I loved this book, and would gladly read it again.







8. The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone - This one is about Michelangelo and Pope Julius II, the struggle between them, as he painted the Sistine Chapel. Great book, also a really great movie starring Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison.

9. The President's Lady by Irving Stone - Another Stone novel, yes, so shoot me lol  This one is about the love between Andrew Jackson and his wife Rachel, before he was even President. It's a very romantic and poignant tale, and the movie is well worth watching too. Charlton Heston and Susan Hayward.

10. Love is Eternal by Irving Stone - a novel about Mary Lincoln, before and after her marriage to Abraham Lincoln. This lady definitely had issues, but it's also a great portrait of Abraham Lincoln. 

11. Blennerhassett by Charles Felton Pidgin - This novel is about Vice President Aaron Burr, including his infamous duel with Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. I read this many years ago and loved it. I recently bought it again, so I could read it again. Worth re-reading. 

Feature & Follow Friday

Question of the Week: Tell us about a book character you’d trade places with.

That's a hard question, and I'm not sure I would do that. If you're familiar with the book and the character, you know everything that will happen, so what kind of a life is that? 

On the other hand, if I trade places with the character, maybe I can change the outcome of whatever happened to him or her.  

So let's think about this. I can trade with Scarlett O'Hara, and keep Rhett Butler's love and quit pining for Ashley Wilkes. I wouldn't mind trading places with Desiree, though, and then I'd be loved by Napoleon (even if he does jilt me) and then get to marry a Marshall of France and later become Queen of Sweden. That sounds really cool. But then, speaking of Napoleon, if I changed places with Betsy Balcombe, from The Last Love, and be a friend to him.

So many choices. I think I'll go with Cardinal Richelieu, of the Three Musketeers and have fun fighting the musketeers and ruling the country of France.

Sexy Villain Sunday; Jim Profit's the Man

The definition of a villain lies in the eye of the beholder. According to Merriam-Webster, a villain is "a character in a story or play who opposes the hero."  But what if the villain is the hero? In other words, the protagonist. Does that change anything, such as the perception we have of him? Conversely, does it make the good guys the heroes? I guess it depends on your point of view.


I just finished watching the pitifully few episodes of Profit that were made. It was never picked up for a second season, and never given resolution.  At one time, shows had the plug pulled and never had the opportunity to wrap everything up in a neat little package, knowing they'd been cancelled. Hence, we left the brave castaways still shipwrecked on Gilligan's Island ('til many years later, when the miracle of TV movies rescued them at long last). The bad thing about this scenario is that we don't find out the answer to the burning questions we have regarding our favorite characters. Of course, on the other hand, some series that were allowed to do this, did it pretty ridiculously and we'd have been better served if they'd simply avoided it. One example of this is St. Elsewhere, whose resolution involved an austic boy's dream. The entire series. Seriously? That's worse than the Bobby-dream sequence season of Dallas, which was horrible too, but at least we only lost one season. In the case of St. Elsewhere, it was all in a child's head, nothing more.

Profit was the brainchild of David Greenwalt and John McNamara, produced by Stephen Cannell. The trouble with Profit is that it was ahead of its time. Cable networks weren't what they are now, and although it was picked up by Fox, it proved to be too edgy for mainstream television audiences. I'm convinced, to quote Judas in  Jesus Christ Superstar: If you'd come today, you would have reached a whole nation. Okay, maybe he was talking about Israel in 4 B.C., but you get the point. If Profit were to air now, it would be quite successful, of that I have no doubt.

The protagonist of Profit is, of course, Jim Profit, played  by the delectable Adrian Pasdar. He is the hero, but arguably he is also a villain. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants - power, wealth, control - inside of G&G, Gracen & Gracen, his employers.


****SPOILERS******  A little background first. Jim Profit was born Jim Stakowski in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His father was worse than neglectful, he was abusive. He stuck the year old child into a large cardboard box, with a slit cut out through which he could view the television; once a week he threw in food and supplies. The television was Jim's only contact with the outside world. He grew to hate it once he became an adult. He decided to make a place for himself at G&G - not surprisingly, the box was one of theirs, the only family he has really known. As the series began, Jim has just received a promotion following the death of the former VP of Acquisitions at G&G. G&G is a family-owned business. Chaz Gracen is the CEO, bumbling brother Pete is Senior VP of Acquisitions; Jack Walters is married to their cousin, and is President of Acquisitions (but not for long); Joanne Meltzer (Lisa Zane) is Jack's ex and the obsessive head of Security who is determined to destroy Jim Profit at all costs.

And then there's Bobby (Lisa Blount). We first see her in the pilot, at the end of the first hour. Jim is told he has a visitor in his office. He enters, sees her and closes the door, whereupon the woman practically throws herself into his arms and they proceed to kiss rather warmly. When they finally pull apart, she greets him with, "Hello Jimmy," and he responds with, "Hi Mom". Yeah, right. I was very amazed myself at first, until it's revealed that she's his stepmother, not his biological mother.  However, I learned when I watched the extras on the dvd that originally Bobby was his mother, and that the reason for the first rejection of the series was due to that. Fox picked it up, but before it was actually shot, they requested the change to stepmother.

Every good villain needs a sidekick, right? For Jim Profit, it was Gail Koner (Lisa Darr).  She's Jack's assistant, and a nice person. But he learns her secret (everyone has at least one) - she's skimming a few cents here and there, in order to make her mother more comfortable in the nursing home she's in. Jim thinks that's an admirable motive - as he tells her when he reveals his knowledge of her crime - and would she please do him a favor? Thus begins their relationship. Gail ends up as Jim's assistant, and he leads her down the path of... well, that's for  you to decide. Personally, if that were me, I'd have no problem doing what he asks of her. He's charming, sexy, handsome, intelligent. Did I say drop dead gorgeous?  Is Gail a good guy or bad guy? I guess that depends on how your moral compass swings. And how you view Jim Profit. In just the few episodes made, you can watch her evolution from unwilling accomplice to trusted sidekick, her dreams of being a player in this world shattered by indifferent corporate execs - until Jim Profit takes her in hand. . I like to believe that under Jim's tutelage, someday she achieved her goals. 

Jim uses whomever he needs to use. He exploits the loneliness of drunken Pete's wife Nora, becomes her friend, hints at more, plans a romantic assignation, but at the last minute tells her he cares too much to do that to her.(But he manages some mighty fine manipulation in the process) When he finally kills his father - an action begun when he was fifteen  (Jim handcuffed him to the bed and set the trailer on fire, then took off), he thinks he's rid of his stepmother, but the plucky Bobby has other ideas. She's loud, brash, loose and amoral. She loves to live high on the hog but she doesn't want to do any more work than is involved in spreading her legs. And she knows the value of an audio recording. So he tolerates her, and has to give in to her demands, material and otherwise, for now. And yes, he continues to service her as well. At least he goes through the paces. You just know she broke him in, years ago. Theirs is a love/hate relationship, as much as Jim can feel love. Which isn't much.

One of the most shocking, haunting, mind blowing images you'll ever want to see occurs at the end of the pilot. Throughout the series, you see Jim at home at his computer, sitting before it in the nude. He has a secret area in his apartment, where no one is allowed, where he makes his Machiavellian plans. You might think he's attempting to wrest control of G&G, but you'd be wrong. He doesn't wish to step into the light, he chooses to remain in the shadows. To be the power behind the throne. To eliminate everyone who gets in his way. In the pilot, he gets  a program, thanks to Gail, which gives him virtual access to G&G, and everyone's files, including digital representations of everyone there. He delights in blowing up these 3-D images as he destroys each person. 

But about the image. As I said, he spends a lot of time at this computer, scheming, sitting there in the nude (if you're hoping to see something, remember - this was shown on Fox, not happening). At the very end of the pilot, when he calls it a night and retires, we see what we haven't seen before - he has THE box, there in his little sanctuary. The one he was brought up in.  (If not the very one, then the same type, we're never sure, but it's definitely a G&G box). And he curls up in it and sleeps there, every night. I'm telling you that was one hell of a surprise, and that image is indelibly burned into my brain. 






I realized while watching the extra something that probably explains at least part of my attraction to Jim Profit. It's that whole power behind the throne angle. Just like the man who's my historical crush - Cardinal Armand Jean Duplessis Richeileu. Although he virtually ruled France for many years, he was content to appear to be the king's right-hand man. Richelieu was a very complex and fascinating character. And yet if you ask most people today about him, they'll say he was a villain. Why? Most likely because Alexander Dumas painted him that way in his Musketeer books, a portrayal which has been replicated in the film versions. It's all a matter of perception.


So there you have it - Jim Profit is my modern day Cardinal Richelieu. No wonder I'm attracted to him.


Sinner or Saint?  You make the call.  There is no right or wrong. I recommend that you check out Profit - you'll be glad you did.




Until next time, take care!


♥ Julie