Sunday, August 01, 2010

Ten of the best dragons in literature

At the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the best dragons in literature.

One novel on the list:
Possession, by AS Byatt

Dragons keep appearing in this novel (Maud, the heroine, has one on her kimono). Randolph Ash writes a poem in which "The dragon Ladon crisped his jewelled crest / Scraped a gold claw and sharped a silver tooth / And dozed and waited through eternity / Until the tricksy hero, Heracles, / Came to his dispossession."
Read about another entry on Mullan's list.

Possession also appears on John Mullan's lists of ten of the best locks of hair in fiction, ten of the best graveyard scenes in fiction, and ten of the best lawyers in literature, and on Christina Koning's top six romances critic's chart and among Elizabeth Kostova's top 10 books for winter nights.

--Marshal Zeringue