What, for you as readers, would render a character unsympathetic or unrelatable? And even if a character is unrelatable, what could keep you reading? If you have examples, feel free to share, please.
I just read Galveston, which has two somewhat unsympathetic protagonists. It's not that they're bad people, but they're flawed in very real ways and they're honest with themselves about it.
In that same post, I talk about
The Egyptologist,
which also has unsympathetic protagonists. Unlike the ones in
Galveston,
however, they aren't honest about it at all, which is the fun of a book with unreliable narrators.
The Egyptologist sounds really fascinating. Talk about a hell of a reading exercise, what with the unreliable narrators.
Oh, it's great. Especially because the actual truth is all between the lines.
Is it one of those that you found yourself flipping back pages, to see if you were remembering things correctly and/or going, "Oh hell, it was there all along"? Done well, I love those kinds of books, but I find that so many readers are so "instant gratification" these days, that they have very little patience for allowing a story to unfold.
Is it one of those that you found yourself flipping back pages, to see if you were remembering things correctly and/or going, "Oh hell, it was there all along"?
Well, it was more like flipping back pages and going, "Oh hell, he totally made that up."
I have to confess, I hate unreliable narrators. I don't like liars, and I don't like having to second guess everything that's going on. Dazzle me with the convoluted plot and relationships, not with the convoluted perceptions that are telling the story.
I have to confess, I hate unreliable narrators. I don't like liars, and I don't like having to second guess everything that's going on.
Two words: Nelly. Dean.
Ye gods, as much as the rest of Wuthering Heights annoys the CRAP out of me (seriously, Cathy? Heathcliff? GET OVER YOURSELVES), I wanted to beat Nelly Dean to death with a shovel.
who's Nelly Dean?
The housekeeper in Wuthering Heights who tells a great deal of Cathy's story to the narrator (whose name I suddenly can't remember).
OK. I skimmed a lot of Wuthering Heights because I couldn't reach half of the cast and give them the smacks they needed.
But, yeah, I didn't trust her from word one.
