Most of the characters in Vanity Fair are either loathsome or contemptible (some, of course, are both), but Lordy it's a fun read.
Mal: Take your people and go. Captain: You would have done the same. Mal: We can already see I haven't.
'Out Of Gas'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
JZ - Dec 15, 2009 3:08:22 pm PST #10674 of 28370
See? I gave everybody here an opportunity to tell me what a bad person I am and nobody did, because I fuckin' rule.
Hil R. - Dec 15, 2009 3:14:46 pm PST #10675 of 28370
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l
Wuthering Heights was actually the book that got me started thinking about this. I don't like any of the characters, I think several of them are really horrible people, and most of the rest make ridiculously bad decisions for incredibly stupid reasons. But I still like reading it, because they do interesting things.
Steph L. - Dec 15, 2009 3:22:33 pm PST #10676 of 28370
this mess was yours / now your mess is mine
I think several of them are really horrible people
Nelly Dean, the textbook example of an unreliable narrator. Eeeeeevil.
Strega - Dec 15, 2009 4:22:13 pm PST #10677 of 28370
Hil -- I don't need to like the characters in the sense that I'd want to be their friend, as long as I'm interested in the story. It can be an issue when I think I'm supposed to find characters incredibly likable/admirable, when in fact I want to punch them in the face.
I think that's a bigger issue for me with TV or movies, though. I know there was something recently where I was just like, "I hate these people too much to watch this." I'm not sure if that's because a book has more time to delve, or if it's because it's harder for me to overlook traits I don't like when they're being shown instead of imagined.
Atropa - Dec 15, 2009 4:26:40 pm PST #10678 of 28370
The artist formerly associated with cupcakes.
I'm looking forward to partaking of American Psycho in one form or another, and I understand there's no liking to be had there.
Nope, not so much. But I think it's a great black comedy novel.
Jesse - Dec 15, 2009 4:31:48 pm PST #10679 of 28370
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
This is why I ended up disliking The Kite Runner so much -- I hated that guy! But didn't think I was supposed to. Actually, I think that's the key for me -- I'm pretty sure no one thinks Patrick Bateman is an OK guy.
Ginger - Dec 15, 2009 4:36:13 pm PST #10680 of 28370
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
Some of P.D. James' books focus mainly on the potential suspects and victims, and in a few books, they were all so loathsome that I stopped caring who killed them. The reason I hated As I Lay Dying, even though I like most Faulkner, was spending too much time with the Snopes.
DavidS - Dec 15, 2009 4:36:15 pm PST #10681 of 28370
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
I'm trying to think of enjoyable books with unlikeable characters.
Lolita comes to mind.
Amy - Dec 15, 2009 5:11:26 pm PST #10682 of 28370
Because books.
The protagonist of Joe Hill's Heart-Shaped Box was unlikeable in a lot of ways, but he was very upfront about it. He owned his own flaws. And Hill managed to make me, at least, sympathize with him, especially as the plot developed.
Jessica - Dec 15, 2009 5:23:34 pm PST #10683 of 28370
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
I do enjoy a book more, I think, if there's at least one character I can root for. I don't necessarily need for it to be the protagonist, but if I find myself wanting everyone in the book to shut up and die already, it can be slow going.