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Horrible characters

missy six

missy six

New Member
Have you ever read something and totally didn't like one of it's characters so much it could have ruined the book for you?

One of my favourite books is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin, however I really didn't like Lizzie very much and she really got on my nerves until maybe near the end when I warmed to her a little.

Baddie's are meant to be disliked but did anyone else get iritated my Prof. Umbridge in the last Harry Potter book? She was so nasty it made me want to strangle her.
 
Great question, Missy Six

The main character in 'The Magus' by John Fowles was an arrogant, obnoxious, conceited, aloof, womanising know-it-all. He wasn't only a had-to-have-it, but a had-to-have-it-all type of guy.
I got the impression the author didn't so much write a novel, as play a part in his own private (stereotypical male) fantasy.

I would still recommend the book, though; particularly for MALES, who may not feel the need to throw up after each chapter. ;)

Catcher in the Rye - Holden Caulfield didn't inspire me initially, but by the end of the book (in fact, around the point where the meaning of the title becomes clear) I wanted to give him a big hug. :eek:

Third Man Girl
 
I know I'm probably alone on this one, but I found Paul Atriedes (the 'hero' from Dune - Frank Herbert) totally obnoxious. If anybody needed taking out and beating with a very large stick, it was him. :mad:
 
I think that the characters in Jonne Harris's book "Five Quarters of the Orange" Spoiled it for me. It's not that I actually DISLIKED them, but there was nothing to like about the characters. The mother in the book was mean and almost insane. The daughter was cold, mean and did some pretty bad stuff. I just could not like any of them and it kinda ruined the book for me. While we are on Jonne Harris, is it just me or is she writing the same book over and over again?

Regards
That Wabbit!
 
Holden Caulfield anyone?

That said, I loved 'The Catcher in the Rye', though, so his obnoxiousness is totally acceptable within the context of the fictional world.

Cheers, Martin :D
 
Originally posted by headpodd
I know I'm probably alone on this one, but I found Paul Atriedes (the 'hero' from Dune - Frank Herbert) totally obnoxious. If anybody needed taking out and beating with a very large stick, it was him. :mad:
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Why?
 
I love Jane Austen, read all of em, but Fanny Price in Mansfield Park needs to be slapped, often. I loved the movie, because they gave her Jane Austen's personality instead.
 
Too right; we did Mansfield Park for O level and the whole class thought that she was irredeemedly wet. Why couldn't we have studied Pride and Prejudice instead? The characters were much more interesting!
 
I think I rather liked Fanny Price, though I've seen the film more recently than I've read the book so perhaps that is based more on the cinematic version. My least favourite Austen heroine by a long way, and one of the first characters that sprang to my mind in relation to the title of this discussion, was Emma. She really gets on my nerves! She is so self-centred and oblivious to the damage she is doing to those around her.
 
oh I didn't like Emma either, I've yet to see the film version cos she puts me off.

Another character I didn't warm to was Jo from Little Women, the book isn't one of my favourites anyway but Jo really spoilt it for me and though HDM is hugely popular Lyra really got on my nerves, I suppose a typical teenager but she always had to get herself into trouble by being somewhere she wasn't meant to be.
 
Humber Humbert from Nabokov's "Lolita." But, Nabokov will not allow me to hate him entirely. Can I pose a counter question? Have you ever read a book to its end only to discover that you don't like it very much, but have fallen in love with one of the characters? I struggle through "A Tale of Two Cities" because I love Sydney Carton.
 
Originally posted by missy six


Baddie's are meant to be disliked but did anyone else get iritated my Prof. Umbridge in the last Harry Potter book?
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i HATE HER lol she was the first one who crossed my mind when i read the title of your thread!
 
Originally posted by graydaisy
Humber Humbert from Nabokov's "Lolita." But, Nabokov will not allow me to hate him entirely. Can I pose a counter question? Have you ever read a book to its end only to discover that you don't like it very much, but have fallen in love with one of the characters? I struggle through "A Tale of Two Cities" because I love Sydney Carton.
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I think books where you love the characters, especially if you develop a special feel for a 1st person narrator, are the kind that are easy to re-read. I read Jane Eyre all the time, Jane would be a great friend to have a conversation with, tho she might be hard to get to know at first. I would also love to spend time with Lizzie (Pride and Prejudice.)

Also, when a 1st person narrator likes the main character, his affection can be a bridge to a difficult character, i.e. Dr. Watson for Sherlock Holmes and Nick for Gatsby.

On a completely unrelated note, one of the clubs here in Houston is named the Gatsby Social Club. Isn't that awful? They couldn't have read the book, why would you name a supposedly hip club after a social climber? I don't think that's the image they want to portray, tho is is ironically the perfect name as they people who hang there are complete wannabe yuppies.
 
Originally posted by missy six
did anyone else get iritated my Prof. Umbridge in the last Harry Potter book? She was so nasty it made me want to strangle her.
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I whole heartedly agree!! She was awful.

Other characters I haven't liked:
*Poirot from Christie novels. He is so arrogant that I absolutely cannot stand him. He's better than Mrs. Marple, though...
*The main character from The Awakening, whiney little...

There are others, but I cannot recall them at the moment.
 
Hmmm - off the top of my head I'd say...Stephen Blackpool in Dickens' Hard Times...annoying and miserable.

Everyone in Ann Pratchett's book "Bel Canto" - in fact, I don't even know how I finished it!

Florentino's lovesick infatuation bugged me so much in "Love in the Time of Cholera" that I almost could go on....I couldn't handle the object of his love, Fermina, either. However, I'm glad I kept reading because by the end of the book, we had made friends :)

I love the book, The Corrections, by Frantzen - but I couldn't stand whiny, self-obsessed Chip (but maybe that was the point!);)
 
Oh, I need to add, everyone from <i>The Great Gatsby</i>. Of course, it was hard to tell what they were really like, with them being drunk all the time.
 
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