Literary Mixtapes for Characters in Classic Books

What songs would make up the soundtrack to your life? This is a fun question to ponder, either alone as we daydream or with friends at a party. Well, let's try to imagine what music would accompany our favorite characters in classic works of literature as they wend their way from "Once upon a time..." to "The End."

A page from the 1955 Random House book Alice in Wonderland, illustrated by Marjorie Torrey.

Pop culture website Flavorwire has assembled mixtapes for more than 25 characters in best-selling literature, from Harry Potter and Humbert Humbert to Gandalf and Jay Gatsby. So "if you've ever wondered what your favorite literary characters might be listening to while they save the world/contemplate existence/get into trouble, or hallucinated a soundtrack to go along with your favorite novels," said the folks at Flavorwire, "wonder no more!"

Let's think about Alice, of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. What music fills our ears as she eats a mushroom and encounters hookah-smoking caterpillars, tailcoat-outfitted rabbits, and weeping mock turtles? I hear "White Rabbit," by Jefferson Airplane - an easy one. Flavorwire lists "Who Could Win a Rabbit?," by Animal Collective, "Wonder," by Natalie Merchant, "Mushaboom," by Feist, and, of course, "Alice," by Tom Waits, among other songs that reflect the mood of Alice's surreal adventures.

What songs do you think would play in the background as the plot thickened around Sherlock Holmes, Holly Golightly, Don Juan, Jane Eyre, and other memorable characters? Go to this link on Flavorwire's Literary Mixtapes HERE.