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.
Mal: We're still flying. Simon: That's not much. Mal: It's enough.
'Serenity'
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."
Amy - Dec 15, 2009 5:11:26 pm PST #10682 of 28370
Because books.
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.
askye - Dec 15, 2009 5:26:26 pm PST #10684 of 28370
Thrive to spite them
I had trouble with Alice Hoffman's Ice Queen because I found the lead character annoying, self centered, and I was impatient with her. I finished the book but I didn't really enjoy it or her.
Polter-Cow - Dec 15, 2009 5:28:20 pm PST #10685 of 28370
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
I'm trying to think of enjoyable books with unlikeable characters.
I did a post on Galveston and The Egyptologist, which I read one after the other. And it struck me that they were both about unlikable characters, but I still liked the books.
brenda m - Dec 15, 2009 5:30:47 pm PST #10686 of 28370
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there
Well, American Psycho is probably one of those. The torture porn was way beyond my comfort level. But the book overall was well worth reading. I don't know that it would have worked without it. Though I do think it could have been a lot less meticulous and indulgent.
DavidS - Dec 15, 2009 5:37:16 pm PST #10687 of 28370
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
I don't know how you write that book without being extremely meticulous, you know? It wouldn't work if it were done in broader strokes.
brenda m - Dec 15, 2009 5:45:35 pm PST #10688 of 28370
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there
Yeah, you're probably right. The the status-jostling, label-whoring, everything etc was addressed in the same manner and so the flow from one to the other was so disturbingly natural.
Fred Pete - Dec 16, 2009 4:15:18 am PST #10689 of 28370
Ann, that's a ferret.
How important is it to you to like the characters in a book in order to like the book?
I need to have something to hold on to. Sometimes it's seeing a detestable character get what's coming to them.
I'm not sure this quite counts, but sometimes it's the supporting characters. The first Thomas Covenant trilogy, for example. Covenant himself was a nasty piece of work. But I kept rooting for The Land and its residents.
Seska (the Watcher-in-Training) - Dec 16, 2009 5:48:10 am PST #10690 of 28370
"We're all stories, in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?"
I rarely like characters in books. I focus on plot. TV, in contrast, annoys me intensely if I dislike characters. With a few possible exceptions: Sawyer in Lost, House - but then, these are the characters we're meant to love to hate. I can't stand things like Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty where I just end up wanting to run on set with a roll of tape, a ball of string, the key to the stationery cupboard, and all the characters from My Two Dads.
sumi - Dec 16, 2009 11:41:16 am PST #10691 of 28370
Art Crawl!!!
Do Nothing But Read Day - now that's a holiday in which I can fully participate!