19 Comments
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Cindy Shore's avatar

Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird!

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Kailani B.'s avatar

I saw the movie ages ago but I haven’t read the book. It’s on my list though!

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Nikki's avatar

"I regret to inform myself that I can’t include Thomas Cromwell" - this tickled me as I spent a good chunk of my own Father's Day themed post raving about his relationships with his household. I'd have been tempted to sneak him in here too, if it was Hilary Mantel's fictional character you were thinking of...

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Kailani B.'s avatar

Yes, it is! I re-read the trilogy last year.

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Simon Haisell's avatar

Aw darn it, we can definitely count Mantel's Crumb, can't we? Even if he's based on a real person, he's still a work a fiction.

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Kailani B.'s avatar

Well…okay :)

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Carolyn Mario's avatar

But really. What does this mega-dearth of good parents say? That good, functional families are boring? Or maybe that the "Write about what you know about" thing kicks in, and writers have no idea what laudable parents look like? That would be grim.

But I would add Swiss Family (Father) Robinson to the list. Best Fathers Day line is when the boys are fixing to explore in their makeshift boat and the dad says he trusts them to be wise and responsible. Because he taught them to be.

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Kailani B.'s avatar

I only vaguely remember seeing the Swiss Family Robinson movie, but I'll read the book some day.

The whole missing parents trend is so wide spread and long-standing, I don't know if it'll ever change, but it definitely stems from a combination of things. Maybe I'll do a post on it at some point.

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Chris L.'s avatar

Nestor seems pretty solid, as far as ancient Greeks go

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Kailani B.'s avatar

I forgot about looking at the Greek myths. I’m sure most of the parents are bad and/or Zeus, but there might be one or two others who are okay.

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Alexandra Cedrino's avatar

In my opinion, the best Mr Rochester is Michael Fassbender in the 2011 film version ... 🙃❤️‍🔥

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Kailani B.'s avatar

He’d be my second pick, but I’m a Stephens lover through and through.

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Alexandra Cedrino's avatar

Nothing wrong about that! 😉👍🏻

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Viam's avatar

The father in The Road is incredible. There's this line he writes about the world always being perfect because his son exists in it. After reading The Road, I came across a video of the author saying that he wrote the book as a love story for his son. It's perhaps the most beautiful father-son relationship ever written in a work of fiction.

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Kailani B.'s avatar

Aww! That’s so sweet. If the book wasn’t so dang depressing, I might read it again.

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Sarah May Grunwald's avatar

Judy Blume has some great fathers in her books.

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Kailani B.'s avatar

I haven’t read any of her books. Got a recommendation?

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Sarah May Grunwald's avatar

They are YA so not sure you'd be into them but I loved Are you there God, it's me Margaret. I loved the Superfudge series too.

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Donna's avatar

I love Stanley Banks from Edward Streeter’s Father of the Bride.

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