Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
What we're reading

Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

Original poster

Characters from books you HATE (that you're not supposed to!)

157 replies

Shiningdew · 09/09/2015 20:03

I have just finished The House I Grew Up In (Lisa Jewell) and I liked it but I couldn't stand Meg, the oldest daughter.

I got the feeling she'd really, really annoy me if I knew her Grin Smug, judgemental, bossy and mumsy.

I also didn't like Jill, of the Ruby Ferguson pony books, as a kid. She was always so intolerant of anyone nervy round horses!

Who are yours? I'm sure I have more ...

OP posts:
hackmum · 10/09/2015 07:57

I agree about Lucky Jim.

And Tony Parsons, though having read Man and Boy I wouldn't want to read any of the others.

And a big LOL for "Atticus was a bit of a preachy bastard." That's heresy in some circles.

wanderings · 10/09/2015 07:43

YY to the Robin in Chalet School.

Yes, I got bored with the Robin, especially the way that she and Joey were so delicate: one sneeze and they were practically on their deathbeds. (But I daresay I need to be educated about how good modern medicine is, and maybe in the 1930s people really did die from colds...)

SerafinaScoresby · 09/09/2015 22:57

Also Lyra Belacqua got on my nerves a bit. But as you can probably tell, I loved Serafina Pekkala and Lee Scoresby.,,

TheSpottedZebra · 09/09/2015 22:51

TheFallenMadonna - When I was doing O level English, I had to write an essay titled "Jane Eyre is a cloying prig. Discuss". I agreed. My teacher made me rewrite it

A kindred spirit! Let's club together and sue the arse off your teacher. I was cruelly and wrongly marked for an essay that was something to do with 'Lessons we can learn from Jane Eyre'. I misunderstood the book and picked the wrong lessons, apparently.

YonicScrewdriver · 09/09/2015 22:49

Any self portrait male character in a tony parsons book.

LastAnni · 09/09/2015 22:49

Not a character but I could not stand Eat Pray Love. Elizabeth Gilbert came across as the most self-absorbed self-indulgent mindless pain in the arse. Tedious. However, I've recently read The Signature of All Things and it is stunningly good. She is clearly an observant and intelligent person, so I guess I just disliked the voice of Eat Pray Love.

BoneyBackJefferson · 09/09/2015 22:48

Katniss Everdeen so whiny

any main character in any Tad Williams book, But especially Simon.

Moln · 09/09/2015 22:44
SerafinaScoresby · 09/09/2015 22:41

This one might be a bit unpopular.. Scout and Jem Finch. And Calpurnia. Atticus was a bit of a preachy bastard too.

PurpleDaisies · 09/09/2015 22:28

I agree with lots of these.

I hated One Day because both of the characters were so irritating.

Also agree with Becky Bloomwood from the Shopaholic Series. I quite enjoyed the first few books despite wanting to dislike them (mindless fun) but as they go on she just seems more and more shallow and pathetic.

I can't stand either of the main two characters in Twilight. Bella is an indecisive wimp and Edward is a control freak.

lorelei9 · 09/09/2015 22:21

YY to the Robin in Chalet School.

As an adult, I don't finish books if I hate the character that much. I would have hated Breidget Jones if I'd read it, I'm sure. Have given up on a few books for that but can only remember Apple Tree Yard. No idea how that did so well.

Also thought Carrie Bradshaw pathetic but tbh I'm not sure what I saw in that show now. Witty dialogue, yes, but central premise of relationships? Couldn't watch it again. I think the New York factor drew me in too.

TheFallenMadonna · 09/09/2015 22:20

And yes to the Little Women. And everyone in Wuthering Heights.

Moln · 09/09/2015 22:18

Everyone in Pride & Prejudice. Dicks, the lot of then.

TheFallenMadonna · 09/09/2015 22:16

When I was doing O level English, I had to write an essay titled "Jane Eyre is a cloying prig. Discuss". I agreed. My teacher made me rewrite it Hmm

MsMargaretCarter · 09/09/2015 22:16

Mary Poppins in the book is quite a difficult character to like. I love the books though.

Will get flamed for this, but fecking Anne Shirley is a right PITA.

SerafinaScoresby · 09/09/2015 22:14

Bang on re Fanny Prive.

Also that Angel Clare in Tess of the Durbervilles. What a fucking cock.

BeetlebumShesAGun · 09/09/2015 22:14

Briony in Atonement. Precious little fool.

Castrovalva · 09/09/2015 22:10

I want to punch Jayne Eyre, but then all the Bronte works make me stabby.

I blame being dragged round that bloody parsonage ten million times when I was a kid.

SerafinaScoresby · 09/09/2015 22:10

Agree about heathcliff and Cathy, Harry Potter, and Jane eyre. Also adding Jon snow.

Robertaquimby · 09/09/2015 22:08

The Robin from the Chalet School, revoltingly angelic child.

The main character from Night Waking. If you want to do your academic research, move back to Oxford and put your kids in nursery. Don't move to an uninhabited Scottish island with a baby and a toddler and whine about it.

SerafinaScoresby · 09/09/2015 22:06

Darrell Rivers. Fucking goody goody.

MamaMary · 09/09/2015 22:05

Every single character in Ian McEwan's Sweet Tooth.

wanderings · 09/09/2015 21:59

Yes Yes FairNotFit, I can't stand Joey Bettany either because she's so damn perfect! I found the book about her, Phoebe and the cello tedious beyond belief.

Also I can't stand Hermione Granger, another "perfect" character. She spends so much time lecturing everybody about following school rules and ethics (house-elves - strewth!), yet when she breaks rules herself, or slaps Malfoy, she does it with no shame at all, and she's often made out to be a hero.

As for Dumbledore, we do learn at the very end he wasn't such a fantastic character.

Lowdoorinthewall · 09/09/2015 21:56

Mum, Dad and Peter in Horrid Henry. God- no wonder Henry is horrid. I'm right there with him.

NotCitrus · 09/09/2015 21:53

Bridget Jones. Whingey bore.

David Copperfield. Drip. Though his wife was worse but she was only in the book so she could die 'romantically', so doesn't count.

Swipe left for the next trending thread