Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Top ten characters with a disability

Kim Hood is Young Adult author of Finding a Voice.

At the Guardian, she tagged her top ten interesting characters who just happen to have a disability, including:
“Chief” Bromden, in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

It is never clear whether Bromden is actually deaf and mute (the now non-politically correct terms used in the book), or simply a victim of institutionalisation. Whichever the case, I have always rooted for the quiet survivor. Although it may seem a pretty unlikely story today, not so long ago many thousands of people with disabilities lived their entire lives in hospitals like this.
Read about the other entries on the list.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is on Rebecca Jane Stokes's list of seven books for fans of Orange Is The New Black, Gavin Extence's list of ten of the best underdogs in literature, Melvin Burgess's list of five notable books on drugs, and Darren Shan's top ten list of books about outsiders for teenagers.

--Marshal Zeringue