To ask which book characters irrationally annoy you?

[WaterBird]

I'm currently reading the play "The Rise and Fall of Arturo UI" by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht (though it takes place in Chicago). There is a fairly minor character (at least at the point in the play where I'm at) called Young Dogsborough, whose father is a major character in his 80's. Any time the son says anything, it is to unnecessarily agree with the father. For example if the father says, "They've gone", the son will then say "My father says they've gone."
Which book characters have you felt annoyed by?

Totally agree about Wuthering Heights. St John is awful ( but preytwo dimensional)

I see Catherine from Wuthering Heights mentioned on the first page - that was who I came on to mention. Awful narcissistic woman.

And agree about James Potter as above- the only character in the whole thing with no sympathetic qualities at all.

Franklin Plaskett I think is meant to be awful so I don't count him on my list.

Has anyone said Mr Bennet? Can't bear him. Would be up for parental alienation these days!

Contrary to everyone else on this thread I like Marianne!

Scrolled back to see if Got was mentioned. All the Starks who died at the red wedding were good riddance. Shame he had to give one of them an undead reawakening.

Someone said all the characters in Wuthering Heights. I don't agree. Young Cathy (the dd) is lovely. And Hareton is pretty good too.

@Ribbonsabox yes, that was Katherine Mansfield! Words were to the effect that she was never sure whether Helen was got with child by Leonard Bast or the fateful forgotten umbrella. All things considered, it must have been the umbrella. I don't think Mansfield liked EMF all that much. She once complained he was a 'rare fine hand' at warming the teapot, 'but there ain't going to be no tea!'

Dumbledore
He made everything unnecessarily difficult and cryptic WHY NOT JUST TELL PEOPLE WHAT THEY NEED TO DO/ WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN

Because there would be no books otherwise, I know, I know.

I thought the way he treated Harry was pretty awful.

Summer my biggest bugbear! Who the fuck pads to the bathroom

Is it meant to be endearing, cute, sexy?!
Couldn't she just get up to go for a piss!!

Tbh the more JK Rowling tweets, the less I like the HP books.

Apropos of nothing:

Dumbledore is gay.

Buckbeak is trans.

Hermione started the #metoo movement.

Fuck off!

After further re-read of thread (great thread BTW OP): so glad to see people expressing their disdain for thug Darrell and class bitch Alicia in the Malory Towers series rather than the much-maligned perpetual victim, Gwen. Awful, awful characters: even more so because the author tries to align readers' sympathies with them and make us bullies by proxy! We see through you, Enid.

I also agree with PPs: Hilary Wentworth from St Clare's deserved spanking with a hairbrush, smug little conformist that she was. ...

Is Gwen the one who's Mum had the temerity to be sad she was leaving, and that was a "poor show".

And then the poor little girl wanted to be proud on parents visiting say so she made up that she did have friends and was included in teams and stuff? Makes me sad even now!

@lazylizzy glad I am not alone. Loved your comment. Can't she just get up and go for a piss

Tbh the more JK Rowling tweets, the less I like the HP books.

I don’t mind dumbledore being gay, as it made a certain kind of sense, but all the other revisionist bullshit is annoying.

Hermione could have been black.

Actually Hermione should have hooked up with Harry.

Just own the fucking story you wrote woman.

Ha ha Summer I have given up on books as soon as anybody pads anywhere. Just tells me the author is shit

Yes Kate in SH novel - flowers in Attic is annoying and selfish and so is her mother Dulcie

Exactly, Laurie!

Stop trying to use your children’s books to make you relevant, ffs.

I mean Field

Mind you most of Virginia Adams characters are dreadful

Definitely Lucy in the Narnia books, preferred Edmond

Secret 7 saps apart from Suzy and her accomplice

Grace in Thomas Hardys Woodlanders

Some of the Poldark characters

Luke Bloomfield? in Shopaholics is so perfect and sanctimonious

Angel Clare in 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles'! Horrible prig who personifies the 'double standard'. I agree with those who mentioned Alicia in the Malory Towers books. I can tolerate Darrell in the first two or three books, as it's fairly normal for 12 or 13 year olds to be a bit insensitive, and she does admit that she has faults; but when she's just as insensitive and more smug at an older age in the later books, she loses me. And on a different level: EVERYONE (except the children who suffer horrible fates) in John Irving's 'The World According to Garp'. Apologies to anyone who likes it, but it must be one of the nastiest books that I've ever read!

I agree - the second generation are mostly OK. The first Catherine is fairly awful though, and Heathcliff is an unmitigated abuser. I do like the book in the same way as I like some of the harsher and bleaker old myths and legends, but I don't find it a beautiful romance.

And I can't believe that I didn't mention the most annoying of the entire lot (not evil like the 'Garp' characters- just intensely irritating): Pollyanna!!! AARRGGGHHHH!!!!

Not Anne Shirley herself, but the way L.M. Montgomery rams her down the reader's throat as being so special. Calling her "Anne of the starry eyes" and having all these people with hard hearts fall under her spell, and saying how Anne makes all the other little girls look so ordinary and having people try to mimick her because they admire her so. I actually love the Anne books but find this kind of worship a bit much.

Angel Clare -fecking hypocrite.

Ginny Weasley -in the later books when she becomes hot and everyone fancies her. J.K. hits us over the head with how feisty she is. Possibly because we're getting Harry's perspective and that's what he sees, but still annoying.

And, oh god, yes, Julian from the Famous Five. So pompous and sexist. His little sister doesn't want to be part of the adventure so Julian, who is after all male and therefore too important to stay behind and babysit her, assigns the task to poor George, who DID want to be part of the adventure but is only a girl.

Winnie the Pooh. Greedy and selfish.

And yes, Darrell Rivers and all the other good old English schoolgirls who sneered at any girl who didn't like rushing off to play hockey or lacrosse.

Marius in Les Miserable. Unbelievably insipid!

Someone mentioned John Irving. I have everyone in "Until I find you" and I don't like the book at all.

Fitzchivalry Farseer in Robin Hobb's Farseer series. It is by far my favourite book series of all time (which is saying a lot!) but Fitz just makes me want to grab him by the shoulders and shake some fucking sense into him!

Also many already mentioned upthread!

Yy, some of these characters are supposed to be annoying, such as the ones in The Slap, The Great Gatsby

YYY to Holden Caulfield, everyone apart from Irene and Marjorie at Malory Towers (frankly, hiding in the music room and playing piano for 7 years seemed like a pretty good survival strategy in that place)

Briony in Atonement. Actually anyone in any Ian McEwan books is pretty annoying, but I did want to knock Briony into the middle of next week after about page 10.

Daisy Buchanan - the nastiest bloodsucker of a group of privileged parasites. Gatsby was an idiot but what on earth did he see in her?