Beyond redemption…
2 May 2013 
So, I was recently thinking about whether I sometimes prefer characters on the periphery of the book to the main characters – and obviously sometimes that is the case. Perhaps this is because these characters dip in and out with quippy little lines and because they’re not heavily involved they seem more intriguing? Anyway, along similar lines I was thinking about books that I’d read where I really disliked the characters and whether this would be enough to stop me from reading. I’ve certainly read plenty of reviews where people say they couldn’t finish a book for that very reason but to be honest, I can’t think of any immediate examples of where that has happened to me – but that’s due to: (1) stupid persistence in continuing to the end of a book even if I’m not enjoying it and (2) only very recently realising that I wouldn’t be struck down with a thunderbolt if I didn’t actually finish a book – this is a new revelation and I’ve actually started to put books down if I don’t like them! So far – no thunderbolt (but I’m still wary). Anyway, that being said. I have read a few books where I really didn’t like the characters and would not either continue with the series or particularly recommend them. The main ones that immediately spring to mind:
Engleby by Sebastian Faulks – Okay, Sebastian Faulks is a very good author but I really didn’t like this book because I really didn’t like Engleby. Of course you’re not supposed to like Engleby!! So, I didn’t and this was the author’s intention – but, I really didn’t like him, so much so that it wouldn’t be the kind of book that I’d say to anyone ‘you really must read it’.
50 Shades of Grey by E L James- or fifty shades of annoying. OMG – I would have thrown this book at the wall, closely followed by in the bin – except it wasn’t mine! I hated Ana and Christian. Really, if these two characters were any more infuriating it would be illegal – they would be locked up, in an oubliette then cast into a black hole!. My review here. Bad idea to read this and my own fault for capitulating to peer pressure!
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte – I much preferred the film and could Cathy and Heathcliffe be any more selfish. They are both living in a world called ‘me’ on the land of ‘I want’. Really.
Do you have any character that totally put you off a book or, if you finished the book, put you off recommending it to others?
I’m afraid to say Jane put me off Jane Eyre although I certainly wouldn’t go as far as to say I hated her and I did finish the book. I agree that Cathy and Heathcliff are abominable people but on the other hand I don’t think we’re meant to like them, and as much I disliked them I did find them fascinating to read about. I don’t think a dislike for the characters has made me give up on a book. They can seriously affect how I end up feeling about the reading experience though.
p.s. I love how you got the word oubliette into this post 😛
Haha, it’s funny but I was actually struggling to find characters that I really didn’t like. You definitely weren’t supposed to like Cathy and Heathcliff – I still quite like the story but I definitely preferred the film.
Is oubliette a great word or what?
Lynn 😀
Which film? I rather liked the 1992 film starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche. I also saw a wonderful stage adaptation at the Birmingham REP.
Oubliette is a great word 😀
I’ve not seen the Ralph Fiennes film – I must check it out. I like the old black and white film with Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier – very moody!
Lynn 😀
Ugh. Christian Grey. Ugh. If it were just the characters that put me off 50 Shades, I would count it, but there isn’t a single thing that doesn’t put me off it. *shudders*
Beyond that… Most of the time when I put a book down because of the characters it’s not so much that I don’t like them as that I don’t think they’re particularly believable. It’s very rarely the character’s personality that puts me off when I’m reading; it’s usually, if not always, how the author chose to handle whatever it is that put me off.
*shudders* indeed! I mean, I didn’t like Ana either – I just wanted her to stop being such a big cissy and doing everything she was told. Such an annoying book!
It’s a good point actually. I must confess that I was really struggling to find characters that put me off reading a book and in fact I still finished the books with the ones I’d picked. I think 50 Shades is probably the best example I can come up with of two characters who REALLY annoyed me. It was only stupid persistence that made me finish the book and it took me literally longer than any other book I’ve read!
Lynn 😀
I was just talking about this last night with my husband! I disliked the characters in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Gatsby, Daisy and Tom. I know this is supposed to be the “Great American Novel,” but I forced myself to finish that book.
I haven’t read the Great Gatsby – not sure if I will or not – particularly if you really struggled with it like this and had to force yourself to finish – there’s just too many books out there !!
Lynn 😀
I actually liked The Great Gatsby. 🙂 I’m not from America so I didn’t read it because it condemns the American Dream and all that. I just read somewhere that it’s a book you have to read if you want to be a writer because it’s just that good. That intrigued me. It’s not the best book I’ve read but it’s poignant and it’s interesting. The only difference between these characters and real people is that they actually seem to be saying what I’m sure most people think, which could be attributed by the narration of the story by a different person than the main characters, but who is also part of the story. It deals with obsession and about the shallow nature of life and even love, which is such a sacred ideal in today’s world. It would ease the minds of every person who feels guilty for not loving purely, unconditionally or selflessly, which I’m sure, is every person. I don’t know if I’m seeing this from a completely wrong perspective, or if it’s a perspective that I have since i’ve been to America all of once and cannot relate to it being “the great american novel” but this is just how I feel.
I think the reason these characters are so hard to like is because they’re very real. I didn’t like any of them either but I found my heart breaking at Gatsby’s simplicity which borders on foolishness.
I heard that it’s going to be made into a movie, by the way.
Erm, sorry for the small novella of a comment.
And Fifty Shades? Utterly deplorable.
I enjoyed reading your little novella 😀 Thanks.
It’s funny how people take different things from different stories.
Yes, it has definitely been made into a film. Perhaps I’ll watch the film first and then decide whether to read it or not.
Lynn 😀
Haha! Wuthering Heights made your list. too funny. I enjoy this book because the characters are so self-centered. They are examples of how such human behavior leads to personal misery and ruin. This book makes me feel, not because I liked the main characters, but because I can see little similar traits in myself and those around me, reminding me to always keep them in check lest I become a Cathy or Heathcliffe or even some of the side characters.
I’ve never cared for Edward Abbey, who is renowned for his environmental awareness fiction and personal stance. He totally objectifies the few women in his writings and there is a ton of ego to go with it.
Another author I don’t care for is Ernest Hemingway. So many folks say he is awesome. Again, too much ego seeps through in the writing for me to enjoy the book.
That’s interesting – I’ve never read any Hemingway but it almost makes me want to read something now to check it out! I wonder if I put him on my classics list? Must go and take a look.
Lynn 😀