We asked you to name your favourite literary couple and tell us why you like them (and we only bribed you a bit by dangling a double pass to new film Revolutionary Road at you) and we had some great replies.  After much deliberation we have selected five lucky winners and this being awards season I think, at this point, that we can splash out on an imaginary drum roll.  The winners of a double pass to Revolutionary Road are …

 

 

Namiko Iwamoto who felt that Helene Hanff and Frank Doel from 84 Charing Cross Road, a couple who never meet but exchange letters and gifts for over 20 years, had a special bond.  Namiko says -

Nowadays, my friends are busy networking using Facebook or Myspace and they seem to compete each other see who has more friends or comments etc.
But for me, having a precious friendship(or relationship) with someone for a long time without even seeing each other IS an extraordinary thing.

Graeme Smith impressed us with the rather unconventional suggestion of Yossarian and the chaplain from the seminal Catch-22, citing as evidence the opening lines -

It was love at first sight.
The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him.

Well, who could argue with that?  We wanted to but found we weren’t able.

Anna Viniegra brought out the softy in us with her suggestion of The Little Prince and his rose from the classic Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

Through his encounters on his intergalactic journey, the Little Prince comes to realize His rose (in a universe of many roses) is the only rose he cares for, and that She (despite her many faults and seeming
indifference) loves him too. Time, distance and hardship brought awareness of their love to the unlikely couple.

Scott Lindbom took things in an entirely different direction with a mini-essay on the Lois Lane/Clark Kent relationship.  A couple who’ve suffered more trials and tribulations than most Scott points out that -

… the biggest reason why these two are fanatstic, is that no matter what happens, no matter the odds, no matter if its death itself, Lois and Clark can survive anything. Nothing, repeat nothing can dent the love these two have created for each other. They have an unbreakable bond, because they will never give up on each other.

And finally, the appropriately named Ulises Uno showed us that really great stories stand the test of time by pointing out that back in the day Ulysses and Penelope were the original separated lovers -

It is difficult to think of a more devoted husband than Ulysses or a more loyal wife than Penelope. They were physically separated for more than twenty years, but their hearts remained faithful to each other’s.

Congratulations to the winners, we’ll be in touch very soon about getting your free double passes to you.  To everyone else, we really enjoyed reading your entries.  They’ve left us feeling quite soppy and romantic…