[Literary Character] Have you heard about Frank Friendship?

I can’t recall how it was that I came across Frank Friendship books. At this stage it doesn’t even matter. The fact how I found this book series is irrelevant compared to the fact what it did to me as a reader. What did it do? It flipped me into a fan-girl mode and I’ve never been in such a state before.

Why, you ask? You see, Frank is… he just is! He is innocent and guilty. Rude and kind. Funny and kind of real! I probably love him and am annoyed with him at the same time. At least I would be if I knew a real life Frank. He is a wonderful character that will never cease to amaze me, sadden me, surprise me. For Frank’s character alone I would read a book in any genre as long as it had him, because everything is twisted, upside down and not as it seems. He would drop those brilliant one-liners, or long funny, perhaps slightly insulting lines, where you least expect. Boom! Frank has spoken!

That is the reason I know for a fact I will read Frank’s books 1 straight through to 3 again. He is entertainment on paper, entertainment in my Kindle, he is embarrassment in scarlet proportions, he is the definition of freaking awkward! Yet at the same time so innocent and straight forward. So, as a reader you’re constantly verging on the edge of heartbeat-fastening “Oh, no.. no-no-no-no”-moments to “Well, blimey, that guy makes sense after all!”. Frank is your restoration man, he is your gardener, he is your loyal friend.

You see, I can read the mainstream books with their prettier than pretty unrealistic characters with strange eye-colors and all of them placed on a pedestal (darn, in a book world, that’s one crowded pedestal!) but I won’t remember them for long. In fact I forget the characters as soon as I finish the book and start the next one because they are one in a sea of many of the same… But not Frank… Oh, no! That character really did a number on me! I wish I knew a Frank-person. Gods, what never-ending fun!

I love Frank because Frank is the image of a stranger that walks towards you on a busy city street and who you would never guess would be kinda-sorta broken yet whole?! That stranger and Frank have an underlying substance that keeps on giving and glory. All they need is be given a chance. He has issues that are bigger and more difficult to handle than an average human could accept but Frank isn’t bummed about it- he embraces his uniqueness. He bloody well thrives on simply being him. And to the winds with what anyone thinks should or shouldn’t be right because Frank has it all figured out and he has a brain that deserves a medal!

I can imagine Frank with his clip-on’s (can’t say what he clips on, it’s a nice surprise in the book) and I picture him being cute like a child. But he isn’t a child, he’s a man who finds solace in simple things and it doesn’t matter that “normal” people would not do that (at least not in public). He is set in his ways like a stubborn ox which could drive any person to the brink of madness but he has reasons. Try tell him any different and you’ll be shown your place! You don’t mold Frank. He is a force of nature!

It’s Frank as a main character of a fictional book that has given me food for thought- don’t judge people by their (dis)abilities and their differences, don’t judge people at all until you fully know them. Gosh, it’s so often we give up so easily on real people- we run at the first sight of “something is off”. Why?

For all these reasons I love Frank- he isn’t weak. He is a male character you can try to compare with all those literary fancy pants businessmen, bikers and army-guys with contradicting personalities of arrogance yet “soooo-cute-prince-charming-syndrome!!!” and you’ll fail without a doubt. Frank’s a whole new ball-game!

A sight for sore eyes on the pages of a book, a feast for a reader who has read it all and become fed up with the same, same, same.

He drew me in from Book 1 and kept me captivated to the end of Book 3. So, here I am, in the vice grips of an enigmatic literary character, longingly waiting for Book 4.

Now you know.

Now you’ve heard about Frank Friendship. He is my friend already, will he be yours?

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