Skip to main content

Top Ten Characters I Just Didn't Click With

Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Glad this is a freebie because I was sad I missed this awesome topic just a couple weeks ago.

Characters can really make or break a story for me--though there are a few rare occasions where I like a book because I don't like a character.

1. Lee Fiora from Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

Lee's passive-aggressive personality turns me off so much--but I couldn't stop watching her sabotage herself.

2. Blue from Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

Blue was a big reason I didn't like the book as much as I wanted to. I just didn't connect with her. Her emotions were not convincing to me and it made the whole book droop.

3. Esther from The Fallback Plan by Leigh Stein

Esther's passive, insipid attitude is the reason I did not like this book at all.

4. Antigone from Antigone by Sophocles

Ok, I get where Antigone is coming from, but the fact that she was willing to sacrifice her sister's life (not just her own) to bury her brother was not ok.

5. Odysseus from The Odyssey by Homer

I do not understand why anyone likes Odysseus. He is a liar, cheater, and murderer. He sleeps with other women without a second thought, but kills women who do the same. Horrible hypocrite, to say nothing of how callously he treated his men's lives.

6. Aeneas from the Aeneid by Virgil

And while we're on the classics, I'm sorry, but I just can't forgive him for leaving Dido.

7. Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I've written about this before, at length, but Darcy just doesn't reform enough for me and I don't get what's so attractive about him. I JUST DON'T GET IT.

8. Arya from A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin

I know I'm in the minority, but I don't particularly like Arya. I can respect her in some ways, but I don't like her bloodthirstiness or how creepy she keeps getting.

9. Pamela from Pamela by Samuel Richardson

I've also written about this before, but the fact that Pamela happily agrees to marry a man who tried really hard to rape her says it all about the depth of my lack of relation to her.


10. Also, I'd write Macbeth, but I'm pretty sure nobody clicks with Macbeth (right?).

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Books with Single-Word Titles

Happy Top Ten Tuesday over at That Artsy Reader Girl! Books with Single-Word Titles These are all my favorite books that I could think of with one-word titles. A lot of fantasy, a few nonfiction (minus subtitles) and Kindred , whether you consider it scifi or historical fiction. Also two portmanteaus using the word "bitter." I suppose it's a word that lends itself to amelioration. 1. Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler 2. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore 3. Fire by Kristin Cashore 4. Heartless by Marissa Meyer 5. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini 6. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius 7. Stoned by Aja Raden (has a subtitle) 8. Educated by Tara Westover 9. Fledgling by Octavia Butler 10. Kindred by Octavia Butler

Feliz Ano Nuevo!

Speaking of cultures and society, I leave for Spain on January 9. Instead of continuing as a book blog with a specific goal for number of books to read in a year, Space Station Mir will become a chronicle for my adventures in Spain. Expect a post for each new place that I visit, with pictures! I also plan to continue reviewing books, however I will not make a set goal for number of books to read this year. I do pledge myself to read at least one book in Spanish that was not assigned for a class. In terms of my goals for 2009, I was not diligent enough in keeping track of them. Looking back, I've fulfilled some of them and not others. The greatest trend in my reading this year, which marks a huge deviation for me, is that I've read more non-fiction than I think I've read any other year in my life. I've finally developed the ability to sustain interest in non-fiction other than biographies. For a while, biographies were the only non-fiction I ever read, with the exception

Most Recent Books I Did Not Finish

 I feel like I've been DNFing a fair amount lately, mostly with review books. I feel obligated to read review books longer than I would if they were books I just picked up on my own. That said, I have a caveat in my Book Review Policy  that if I feel I am not the right audience for the book, I won't post a review. I try to avoid that by only picking books I genuinely think I will enjoy, but of course I can't always predict that before I read. Also, while book clubs have been a great way to get exposed to books I wouldn't normally read, tastes will differ and every once in a while, I find a book I'm just not willing to finish. I also want to say no shade to the authors or anyone who enjoyed these books--they just weren't for me. Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Most Recent Books I Did Not Finish 1. Caribbean Competitors by Poppy Minnix--LibraryThing review--This one sounded great and has a beautiful cover, but while the island setting was compelling, I just couldn't ge