Great Fictional Characters: Uriah Heep?

Continuing with the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge 2015

U is for...uh, is for... erm... dammit.

I'm totally busted.

I can't remember any great characters whose names begin with U from books that I've read. Not one. Not a sausage.

But there must be! I hear you cry. In the billions of books ever printed, there simply must have been characters whose names began with the letter U, and, surely, at least one resonated with you? Just a little?

Lovely readers, I'm afraid the answer is no.

With the rest of the A to Z, I've found an abundance of greatness- a cornucopia of corkers. I've struggled to choose between Gandalf and Granny Weatherwax, Tiffany Aching and Tris Prior- even dear old Katniss nearly didn't make the cut- but, when it came to U, I drew a blank. Even Google let me down: the only Us that came up were Lady Una (Stardust: I've seen the film and own the book, but haven't read it yet) and 'gulp' Uriah Heep.

Dickens. 'shudders'

I'm so sorry, Charlie...

I can't be doing with Dickens. I feel incredibly guilty about it: it's like admitting to not liking puppies or tea or the Peak District. Everybody loves Dickens! He's a classic author!

I have tried. I can make it all the way through A Christmas Carol (because it's short and I can imagine the Muppets version) but reading any of his other works feels like force-feeding myself shredded cardboard. A bit harsh, maybe, but a fairly accurate description of the level of my enjoyment.

So today I'm throwing it over to you: what am I missing? Can you convince me to pick up David Copperfield and find out, straight from the horses mouth, who this Uriah Heep chap is without resorting to copying and pasting from an A-level English revision website?

What can Dickens do that other authors can't?

In short, what the Dickens is the fuss about Dickens?

I look forward to reading your comments.