Books with unlikeable characters

[Booklover23]

Ok so not very Christmassy but I am a fan of an unlikeable protagonist.

Any recommendations for my last book of the year?

Yellow face
Atonement
A ladder to the sky* very unlikeable protagonist!

American Psycho.
Lolita.

ooh I’ve not read Atonement but really like the other two - so that’s a great shout.

Also if you haven't read it
We Need to Talk About Kevin

The Wasp Factory

Not sure if the Seventh Son by Sebastian Faulks would come under this category. Not the best-written book I've ever read, more of a rapid sketch of ideas than finely crafted, but very thought provoking. Characters not particularly created to be liked or sympathised with, certainly not consistently. Main protagonist maybe a bit more so, 'the seventh son' himself, but not the others.

I am Charlotte Simmonds by Tom Wolfe (lot of bad sex, mind you!). I read this when it came out in 2004 and dipped back in recently after seeing an article that mentioned it, and it was quite strange to see the 2000s and their attitudes as a different time. The protagonist isn't a baddie and is quite vulnerable but isn't easy to warm to. None of the characters are, mostly down to immaturity and environment.

We need to talk about Kevin probably wins the prize for this!

I was going to suggest Mania, also by Lionel Shriver - I actually stopped reading it for a bit as the narrator was so mean about her own child that it became a bit of an unpleasant experience, but I picked it back up and am glad I did.

The Last Cuckoo by Maria Frankland has an extremely unlikeable narrator

Emma has always annoyed me. And Cathy and Heathcliffe aren't very lovable.

Vanity Fair ? You can't help but admire Becky's determination and grit but, my word, she certainly schemes her way through the world

I think a lot of Elena Ferrante books have fairly unlikeable women at their heart. My Brilliant Friend has Lenu who just follows a useless man at the expense of her children and you want to give her head a wobble a few times.

Any of John Updike’s Rabbit books. He’s a self centred awful man who messes up other people’s lives and is unaware that he is the author of his own destiny.

Normal People - two utterly unlikeable characters.

Strange and Norrell by Susanna Clarke.

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, I am sure it’s told by Aunt Lydia.

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh.

Lolita, obviously.

I've just finished Life In The Palace by Carol Birch- full of unlikeable characters but very good. (Also full of misery though.)

Alfred Bester's Stars My Destination.

Remains of the day by kazuo ishiguro (good film too)

The Last Days of Jack Sparks.

I read a Diary of a Wimpy Kid book to see why the kids love them so much (I’m a primary school teacher). I literally couldn’t work out which - if any - of the characters I was supposed to be in sympathy with, they all seemed utterly unpleasant.

The Real Charlotte by Somerville & Ross. Charlotte Mullen and Roderick Lambert are brilliantly drawn, horrible people. Gerald Hawkins isn’t great either.

The Catcher In The Rye for me.

White Oleander by Janet Fitch is another. Absolutely nobody comes out looking good.

What Lies Between Us or The Good Samaritan, both by John Marrs. I hated some main characters so much, they're fantastic reads.

Gone Girl

Lie With Me by Sabine Durrant

One Day by David Nicholls, pair of saps.

Also hated Ursula in Life After Life.

Two books that everyone else seemed to love!