Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. A new topic is posted each week, and bloggers post their top ten in the category. I absolutely love making lists, and making lists about books is even better, so when I found out about Top Ten Tuesday, I just had to participate. 

This week's category is a freebie, meaning participants can choose whatever topic they'd like. And so the topic I've chosen is...

Top Ten Literary Friendships

10. Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

This friendship is a little one-sided (which is why it's number ten) - I always felt Sam was a better friend to Frodo then Frodo was to Sam, but that's another reason it's on the list at all. Sometimes, friendship means being there for someone when they need you the most, even if they can't   give you anything in return. Even when things looked hopeless, even when Frodo was turning on Sam because of Gollum and the ring, Sam never left Frodo's side, and without that support, he never would have made it as far as he did.


9. Sam and Frightful
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

There's something incredible about two creatures being alone in the wilderness. Sam's love for Frightful is remarkable and clear throughout this book and the two that follow it - he loves her companionship, but he also wants what's best for her, even if that means letting her go. And Frightful, even though she can't express herself in words, is clearly devoted to Sam.

8. Soren and Gylfie
The Guardians of Ga'Hoole by Kathryn Lasky

Soren and Gylfie are perfect friends because they complete each other - they both benefit from the friendship. Soren is thoughtful and brave; Gylfie is intelligent and spunky. They balance each other's strength and faults, and throughout the books, their friendship spurs both of them to greater things than they could have accomplished on their own.

7. Gimli and Legolas
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

What makes Gimli and Legolas's friendship so remarkable is that it's so unique - there's certainly no overwhelming warmth between the elves and the dwarves. And it's not as though either of them, when they first encounter each other, have significantly different views from the rest of their people. It's only after their journey together as part of the fellowship of the ring they are able to look past any previous animosity and become friends. (And, of course, compete over who can kill the most orcs.)

6. Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

I love these two. They're hilarious and just a little crazy, and although their friendship is complicated, to say the least, nothing seems to shake it. They get exasperated with each other, they argue, and they literally come from different planets, but all the way through the series, circumstances keep bringing them back together, and whether they admit it or not, they always seem glad to see each other.

5. Hilma and Meade
Quite a Year for Plums by Bailey White

There's not a lot to say about this friendship, except that it's the kind of friendship that I hope I can experience - having someone by your side as you grow older, through your adventures and difficulties, someone who will read a book aloud with you or carry a rocking chair into the middle of the woods and just sit. These two go through life together, which is the most beautiful kind of friendship.

4. Firestar and Graystripe
Warriors and Warriors: The New Prophecy by Erin Hunter

The loyalty these two have for each other is incredible. Even when they make mistakes, do things the other doesn't approve of, they never turn on each other. They grow together from mischievous apprentices to courageous leaders of their clan, supporting each other and being each other's voices of reason. Firestar's refusal to appoint a new deputy after Graystripe's capture because he is convinced Graystripe will return to the clan, and Graystripe's determination to make that journey to find his home again, though, is the moment that perfectly captures their friendship for me, and shows that nothing - not battles, danger, distance, or StarClan themselves, can come between these two.

3. Bartimaeus and Nathaniel
The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud

When I was compiling this list, I debated considerably on whether to include Bartimaeus and Nathaniel, or Bartimaeus and Ptolemy. Both relationships were remarkable and very similar, but I chose to include Bartimaeus and Nathaniel's friendship for one reason: we got to see them work for it. At the beginning of The Amulet of Samarkand, they are an enslanved djinni and his magician master, and they cannot stand each other. By the end of Ptolemy's Gate, Bartimaeus is as close to Nathaniel as he once was to Ptolemy, and even though their conversations remain sarcastic, there's obvious affection there. This is even clearer in the last chapter of the book, which is one of the best endings I've ever read.

2. Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs
The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

Will and Jem are friends, but they're also much more than that. They're parabatai, meaning they fight together and share an unbreakable bond; they have incredibly different personalities, but at the same time, they're so close it's almost the same person. Even Tessa is unable to separate them in her own heart, and realizes she is falling in love with them both. I have similar feelings - while many other fans of the series have a clear preference, I love them both. I don't want anything to come between their friendship, and so far nothing has - not even the many complicated and tumultuous events of Clockwork Angel and Clockwork Prince, which would be enough to break all but the strongest bond - exactly what these two have.



1. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson
Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I know - everyone who's so much as glanced at this blog saw this one coming. But none of the other friendships on the list even come close to this one. It's something too incredible for words. Holmes brings Watson into a world of adventure he never would have experienced - in the introduction to Volume One of The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Kyle Freeman says, "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes could be subtitled and the Education of Dr. John H. Watson." Watson is one of the few people - maybe the only person - the distant, unfeeling Holmes ever shows any emotion for. And in every version I've ever read or watched, it's been just as fantastic. Even though it was predictable, there's no way these two couldn't be number one on my list.

~blackandwhitedreamer