The whole talking head vlog thing is starting to weird me out. It’s like The Office, only The Office is hilarious. How do I not be a talking head? Any suggestions?
Anyway, today we’re talking about unlikable characters. I’m super excited to see where this conversation goes!
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Let’s Talk: Have you ever read a book where the protagonist was unlikable, but you kept reading? I can think of at least three or four others, but I don’t want to hog the conversation! What kept you reading? Did you like the book?
FYI, I have a few more questions to answer from readers via vlogging. So if I haven’t answered your question yet, I promise I’ll get to it soon!
Short answer:Yes, I’ve read books with unlikeable characters. And,no, I did not keep reading. Sorry, I’m all about characters when it comes to books — and if I don’t like ‘em, then I don’t care (at the very least) and sometimes I flat-out abhor the storyline.
Did you ever read Kite Runner or Gone with the Wind? Just curious if you would finish either of those…
Kite Runner is a great example. I hope someone chimes in on it. My MIL could NOT get past the incident with the main character and his friend early in the book, and therefore, could not appreciate his attempts at redemption and as a result, hated the book. I, on the other hand, ached for him b/c I think he made his decision out of fear and naivety and spent his life in personal hell b/c of it.
What do you think?
I did read Gone With the Wind.
And while Scarlett did things that were unlikeable … I liked her. I understood her choices … even though some of them were wrong.I mean, she’s not the only woman to love (or think she loves) the wrong man. Her motivations were clear (to save her home) … and the character arc is there too. Who she is is revealed in her choices.
Haven’t read Kite Runner.
Kite Runner….yep. I read it. My hubby had just read it and convinced me to read it. I read it and throughout the story kept telling Ryan, “Oh my goodness, I can’t keep reading this. I have never read a book where I have LOATHED the main character like I loathe this guy.” Yet Ryan kept telling me to stick with it and I’m glad I did. Because there is a great message of redemption.
And you’re right Barb – he lived in hell on earth because of what he did.
I WROTE a book where the protagonist was unlikeable. My readers spent most of the time saying: “AUGH MARIAAAAN!” and whacking her over the head with 2x4s.
I think they kept reading because of the mentor, honestly. Though it turned out all right–Marian reformed by the end.
The only I can think of experiencing is Gone with the Wind–which I actually watched, not read. I hated Scarlett so much that I have basically zero desire to read the book, though I finished the movie. “Basically zero” except I’m sure its interesting…because she is.
Gone with the Wind is definitely one I was thinking about when I did the vlog. I was hoping somebody would bring up Scarlett!
She is such an unlikable character! Yet she’s been read by MILLIONS! Including me! That book hooked me. I couldn’t put it down. I read it as a junior in high school, I think.
So how did Margaret Mitchell do it?
My sister–who did read it–said that she was just so interesting, it didn’t really matter that she was annoying. Maybe the book version works better than the movie.
I suppose I’ll have to read the book to find out…
Katie, I think this is a great question about Scarlett. IMHO, the reason it works is that her motivations are so obvious and real.
I imagine that would get tiresome after awhile but then the whole war thing comes along and you have to admire her determination to protect those she loves even if you don’t love her.
Plus, the fact that Rhett loves her despite all her flaws makes her, if not likable, at least tolerable.
One more thing – she doesn’t get what she wants. I think that’s important. Seeing a character who is unlikable be rewarded is so very frustrating, but Scarlett is thwarted at every turn.
I had this conversation with someone recently about a Christian thriller by a very popular author, and I knew pretty quickly I didn’t like the characters. I was convinced that half the main characters could die by the end of the book, and I simply didn’t care. But there was a small thread of romance, so I had this hope that the hero would save the day.
Towards the end of the book, the protagonist became whiny and even more unlikeable. She made ridiculous choices, and I started to wonder if I really even wanted the hero to save her. That’s when I stopped reading.
However, the person I had this conversation with actually really liked the book. So, I guess my point is… I don’t know what my point is. Oh yeah, that sometimes I think there can be something unique about a character or a story that resonnates with a reader that might turn another off. When we bring our own pasts and experiences into the story with us, it allows us or prevents us from relating to certain characters.
Did any of that rambling make any sense?
Yes, it totally did! You’re right….is likability subjective? Could there be a character that I think is completely unlikable, but others like her.
For example – did some readers read Something Borrowed and actually LIKE Darcy?? If so, what did they like about her??
Interesting fodder to discuss, Heather!
And this cracked me up: So, I guess my point is… I don’t know what my point is.
Okay Katie.. going public with the fact that I liked Darcy.
Well, more like had a huge soft spot for her b/c she reminded me of a childhood friend of mine. So you know what? Heather is spot ON in her observation that our pasts influence our ability to like or dislike characters (and real people in life, for that matter). I’m sure my fondness for my childhood friend is exactly why I was empathetic toward Darcy from the beginning.
But also, I thought Darcy was misunderstood. In her own way, she showed affection to Rachel. I read the book too long ago to remember specifics, but I recall glimpses of Darcy trying to be a good friend in the only way she seemed capable of doing so.
Here’s the deal: If I like the other characters and the plot, I read on. I may even star the book at 4. But if the plot is weak, imo, and the other characters are just average, then I’ll read and skim through that character’s parts, only b/c I have this thing where I have to finish the book. I have put books down that are all of the above and just bad writing.
One example is The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen. Loved that book, hated Rizzoli–but I hear this character evolves over the series so I’m willing to keep reading because she’s a great writer and the other characters were great and the plot was amazing.
You make an excellent point Jessica. If the main character is unlikable, then the author better do an exceptional job writing a compelling plot line and a strong cast of secondary characters.
Okay, I’m going to think of some specifics for you and try hard to come back. But yes, I’ll keep reading a book even if the character is rubbing me wrong. Here’s why: If I see the potential for growth in that character or a relatable characteristic I can still get hooked.
Oh, forget coming back. I’m struggling with “liking” the MC so far in The Dovekeepers. She makes some hurtful choices, but I can deeply identify with her hurt and her position. Hoffman does an excellent job of bringing me into her mindset–that whole empathy deal. So, if I can empathize w/ a character and I trust they are going to grow…yep, I’ll still get hooked.
Excellent food for thought!
~ Wendy
As always, love your input Wendy.
Random questions for you….
Do you think you could read a book where you don’t feel empathetic toward the main character? Have you ever?
Or have you ever read a book where the character doesn’t grow? There’s not much growth to Darcy in Something Borrowed…granted, she’s not the protagonist. I’d love to know if she grows in Something Blue.
This is a great conversation. I really disliked the characters in Wuthering Heights and couldn’t finish. They were just so dark and I saw nothing redeeming in them.
Also, I didn’t like Katniss Everdeen from Hunger Games at first. She seemed rude, aloof, and crass at many points in the book. But I kept reading because she intrigued me. And then I grew to love her because she resonated as real. She had these incredible moments in which she surprised me. Her loyalty. Her sacrifice. Her depth. So even though I didn’t start out liking her, I’m so glad I stuck with her because her story and growth was incredible throughout the series.
Yes! Wuthering Heights! I couldn’t stand the movie adaptation for the same reasons. Awful characters! And yet they are beloved by so many.
And ditto about The Hunger Games. I still haven’t finished it because I don’t like Katniss. But I will force myself to finish it since you liked it. Sigh.
I’ve never read Wuthering Heights. I’ve watched the movie. So I can’t comment on that.
It’s funny that you two didn’t like Katniss from Hunger Games. This is more proof that what Heather and Barb are saying is very true. Character likability is subjective.
Because I really liked Katniss. Right when she sacrificed herself for her sister….she won my heart.
Agree. I loved Katniss too.
Interesting choice. Yes, I loathed Catherine’s character in Wuthering Heights. I never understood what Heathcliff saw in her
First, you do not loook like a talking head on The Office. That show is flat irratating with the wiggling cameras. You are not irratating.
Though I DO want to know how you keep your vlog posts so short. I did one for today and it’s over 3 minutes! Sigh.
Anyway…yes I have read books with characters I don’t like. I have gotten better about not finishing the book, however. There was a novel I read, a CBA title actually and I really liked the story line. Did not like the main character, and it was told in 1st person from her head, 3rd from all the others. The hero, on the other hand, made the story worth while in reading. I just wasn’t completely satisfied ever, with the heroine. She did make reading the book a bit difficult.
Julie Lessman on the other hand, really took a villian of a character in Charity and made her a wonderful heroine and a fun character. So maybe there is hope for Darcy.
Long enough comment, gotta run!
Ooo! Yay! Another Casey-vlog. I’m there in two seconds.
Short and sweet for vlogs is my motto. I do my best to keep all of them under two minutes. I think I’ve managed to do this for all but one.
I tend to yammer. Need to get better about that on the blogs.
Either that or my mouth needs an instant editing machine. Ha!
I pretty much disliked all the characters in Something Borrowed. I don’t think I would read a sequel. Try wearing a wig. I would recommend a big curly red one. That’s what I would do anyway (to avoid being a talking head).
I’m glad you clarified with the parentheses, because at first I was like….why would wearing a red wig help me enjoy Something Blue?? LOL!
I wish I could wear a red wig. I could try my impersonation of Bozo the clown too.
I have to agree though…..at first, I LOVED the main character in Something Borrowed (can’t remember her name). Her voice and her wit and her humor…loved! But then she started to annoy me because I wanted her to take a stand, grow some gumption (if gumption can be grown) AND ditch Dexter!!! Dexter annoyed me too.
This was a case, for me, where I enjoyed the movie more. I liked the characters more in the movie.
Regardless, there’s no doubt that Emily Griffin is a very talented writer.
How funny that I just wrote a post on this topic. I don’t finish books with unlikable characters and would NOT have read Gone With the Wind (but then one glance at the trillion page book would have done me in on that one). But I think characters like Scarlet, who have almost no redeeming qualities draw us because we have hope of their redemption (or comeuppance).
That works with me for movies because I can donate 2 hours, gambling that it works out at the end. But I don’t have that luxury with books. I read for enjoyment and if I’m not liking who I’m reading about, then I’m not going to keep reading.
curious….do you think Scarlett showed an adequate amount of redemption in the movie? Were you satisfied, or no?
Darcy was a character I loved to hate. I actually really like to read books with unlikable characters – I may get angry with them, sometimes very angry, but the emotional payoff at the story’s conclusion is that much more satisfying.
That said, if you like Something Borrowed, Something Blue is definitely worth the read. I won’t say anything beyond that and spoil it for you, but you should give it a chance. I think (I read it back in ’07, so it’s hard to remember) I actually liked it better than Something Borrowed. Emily Giffin did something pretty incredible with that book duo – I’ve read and enjoyed all of her books, and it all started with the soft pink cover of Something Borrowed in a used books shop.
But that wasn’t the question. Off the top of my head, the most memorable, most hated unlikable characters in my reading life? Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape
Oh, I hated them.
Love the vlog, by the way. Very personable, very likable. Not at all like a talking head (although I love The Office, so I may be biased).
Oops, unlikable PROTAGONIST. Got it now.
I really disliked Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs (and later Hannibal). I kept reading because I had a weird fascination with Hannibal Lector.
Me too! The book was just so well written and fascinating, that I had to turn each page. I never ended up liking Clarice, but loved Hannibal Lector!!
Oooo, Keri, you bring up a wonderful point! There are some characters that we love to hate! Made all the more awesome when they get what’s coming to them by the end.
Another character that I think of is Julia Valerian from the Mark of the Lion trilogy. Have you ever read that? Man…I couldn’t STAND her after the first book. But Francine Rivers did a brilliant job of writing her in such away that brought me from loathing, to pity, to hope, to joy that she found redemption in the end.
Very intriguing conversation! I hated Hannibal Lecter in “Silence of the Lambs” at first…but then kept reading and found him to be most interesting. He’s even better in the film!
I just finished a book and found it very hard to turn each page because I absolutely despised the protagonist. I found her to be too rude and angry. It ruined the whole book for me.
Blessings!
Ruth
I’d be curious to know what made you read to the end.
And you and Keri are making me want to read Silence of the Lambs!
This is a fun discussion. Yes, I keep reading, even when I dislike one of the characters, because I keep hoping for change or redemption or something positive to emerge from the heap of rubble.
Gone with the Wind is a good example, definitely. I hate Scarlett and yet I’m so compelled by her story. Her goals are so noble. She’s so strong and courageous. How does she make it go so wrong? And what was Margret Mitchell thinking with that ending?????
Probably the best inspy example of this is Sarah/Angel from Francine Rivers’s Redeeming Love. I mean, how well can you truly like an incestuous prostitute that commits adultery? The hero’s love and devotion save the first half of that story. I don’t hate Angel, not completely, because she’s had just enough tragedy in her life to make me somewhat sympathetic, and the transformation she undergoes as the story progresses is simply amazing.
I know…the ending of Gone with the Wind devastated me in high school. I couldn’t get over it. So I checked out the very inferior sequel (not written by M.M) and devoured it in two days. Trying ton convince myself that Rhett and Scarlett do find their way back to each other….even if it wasn’t cannon.
Great example with Sarah/Angel from Redeeming Love. However….I think her back story made her not likable, but what Wendy said. Empathetic. I would empathize with her…or sympathize. I always get those two words confused. We got a HUGE glimpse into why she is the way she is, which made her into an albeit, hardened character, but a sympathetic one.
I DID NOT like Darcy at all….and I was not sure I would like Something Blue. But after a while I did. Now Scarlet, I never had an issue with her. She was selfish and bratty in the beginning, but I never disliked her. Can’t explain it. The war changed her and even though she did a lot of things no woman would do back then, she did them out of fear. That scene, when she says “I will never go hungry again.” So powerful. I hated how she pushed Rhett away, but again, I think it was fear. I read the sequel too and saw the movie, and while I did like the HEA for Scarlet and Rhett…it felt fake to me since Margaret Mitchell did not write it.
Yep, it felt fake to me. But I so wanted it to be true! I remember talking to my English teacher in high schoo, who also read it. And she said, “I knew they couldn’t reconcile after Bonnie died. Too much had happened.” and I remember thinking, “Noooo! I want them to be together!”
Oh, wanted to mention…many people tell me they are not fond of my MC in A Bitch Named Karma in the first couple chapters. I can see it..and it does make me scared that people will put the book down and not continue on. BUT, her world completely crashes down around her not too far in…and that changes her.
I think as long as you make her sympathetic and redemptive….then you are okay. At least that seems to be the consensus here!
Outside the subjetivity of “unlikeable” qualities, experts agree the protag needs to be likeable in order for the reader to hang in there. I’ve struggled with this in a current wip, the Heroine needs redemption and will find it, but I didn’t want to lose the reader in the meantime. I added a few sympathetic characteristics here and there, but some pre-readers feel there’s enough to like, plus there are plucky and likeable secondary characters you bond with instantly. I would hope that’s enough to keep the reader hanging in there until the heroine works through her issues. Heaven knows as a break-in author, we don’t need to be adding any more resistance than what’s already there…
Great topic, Katie. I could go on and on…
Oh, and no one mentione The Language of Flowers. Rachelle Gardner recommended it to me when we were discussing my dysfunctional heroine. Anyone read it? If so, I am curious to know if you liked the heroine, and when you began to, because she’s really tough, and carries a lot of that through the book. I for one sympathized, but maybe not all people would.
Ooo!! The Language of Flowers. I LOVED this book. Great example of a character whose likability is subjective!
I actually liked her from the very beginning. Not sure why….as she’s not exactly likable. Maybe it’s because of her back story. I felt so sympathetic toward her. And she was unique and intriguing.
You’re so right when you say we have enough resistance without adding to it!
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous that my MC in my debut might not be completely likable. During edits, I had to do a lot of things to make her more likable.
Readers will always be subjective and we can’t control that nor should we mold a character simply to please everyone (since that’s not possible…), so it’s up to the editors to make the initial call. Praying they see what’s to love about my mc.
what a great discussion/chat you have going katie…i loved reading all of the postings….on the positive side…are there any characters that you loved…that you wish you can invite him/her to lunch?
ps..great vlog
Karen! So fun to see your name here in the comments! I’m so glad you joined in the conversation!
Oh my, yes! If I had to narrow it down to my absolute favorites….one of the top, if not THE top, would be Hadassah from Francine Rivers’ Mark of the Lion trilogy. Oh my goodness, I LOVED Hadassah. I was incredibly inspired by her. I would love to have lunch with her. Another is Skeeter from The Help. She’d be super fun to have lunch with!! There are a million more, but those are the two that pop into my head first.
What about you??
Aw, shoot, yeah, I love reading characters who are so bad they’re good, like Scarlett. Or Gwendolen in Daniel Deronda, or let’s not forget The Talented Mr. Ripley (a masterpiece as far as making a killer seem mostly normal–thus, scarier than anything!).
I think the key is to get their dialogue right, and the way they think. Then they become intrinsically interesting. Sometimes Scarlett did things we wouldn’t have done. But maybe we would have? I think, deep down we fear we could all be that bad (and we could, if not for the grace of God). So we’re rooting for that bad guy to get it turned around. But just like in real life, sometimes that doesn’t happen.
That said, some MCs are so full of profanity/godlessness that I can’t read the book. The Catcher in the Rye was one of those NO-READ books for me.
I have to admit, it’s hard for me to keep reading if I don’t like the MC. There have been books I’ve abandoned because of it.
One example–one that I had to read because it was a school assignment and not by choice–was Catcher in the Rye. Ugh, I think I chucked that book against the wall (thankfully it was a paperback!) a few times because I loathed the MC. I wouldn’t have finished it if I hadn’t been forced to read it
BTW, I saw your comment above and I agree–I love Hadassah too and it would be awesome to invite her to lunch. I’ve read The Mark of the Lion trilogy at least four times. Those books and Jane Eyre are the few I’ve read so often.
I’ve abandoned a couple of books because of an unlikeable character. If the storyline intrigues me, I might put up with them, but they’d better improve or I’m gone.
I stuck with Gone With the Wind, but loathed the ending.
I just finished Christa Parrish’s Home Another Way. The heroine is unlikable, but there were three things that kept me reading.
Right away it was clear that she had come from a painful past. I knew enough to be intrigued to keep reading to find out what had happened. Then the other characters were unique and likable. That helped. Lastly, knowing it was Christian fiction, I knew she wasn’t going to stay the same. She was going to grow and probably get better over time.
So I kept on reading and really liked the book. And I plan on reading more by Christa too.
By the way, Katie, I received your welcome packet and really enjoyed it. A great idea!