Are We Too Concerned That Characters Be ‘Likable’?

[Kirsten]

I ran across this question in a recent New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/boo...

What do you think? I remember a couple years back I read a thriller where the main character had no redeeming characteristics, yet the book ( ) was quite enjoyable.

How about you? Have you had experience similar to mine? Or do you put a book down if you dislike a character?

[Michael]

I did not like the main character so much, but the story is so good, the writing is superb. I will read anything else in this series, despite my reservations about the main charater. He might even grow on me. Who knows?

[Dee]

I don't care so much about likability, but I need to have something that is kind of relatable...for example, I hated both of the characters in Gone Girl - yet, I gave it 5 stars because it was so well-written, intriguing etc

[Natalia]

I don't think it's important that they be likable—I think it's important that they be relatable, which isn't necessarily the same thing. Even a villain, even the most disturbing character, should be complex enough that we see aspects of our humanity in them. Sometimes, that's what most scary and yet compelling...when we can relate to someone we don't like because in some way we understand where they're coming from. We might see a dark side to a character that we recognize in ourselves, and realize that what separates us from them is what we do with those feelings, and the choices we make. Basically, the characters should make us think.

[Kirsten]

Natalia wrote: "I don't think it's important that they be likable—I think it's important that they be relatable, which isn't necessarily the same thing. Even a villain, even the most disturbing character, should b..."

Yes, but in the book I cited, I'm not sure he was relatable. As I recall, he was totally irredeemable. Unlike, Dexter, who although being a serial killer, was not just likable but seemed to struggle like we all do.

[Coqueline]

Natalia wrote: "I don't think it's important that they be likable—I think it's important that they be relatable..."

Agree with this. I love reading about flawed characters, but those books I hate/avoid because of the characters tend to have unrelatable characters. Probably why I always struggle (and lately just avoid) with classics.

[Caitlin]

I like having at least one likeable character but flawed characters, sarcastic characters, scared characters, and strange characters are just as good if not better.

[Caitlin]

K. M. wrote: "I feel I should be able to like a main character, but I like it when a main character has their flaws and idiosyncrasies; sometimes that makes them even more interesting.

The protagonist can be a ..."

Agree with that whole heartedly

[George]

I don't mind an unlikeable main character, as long as they are interesting and their actions have credible motivations.

[Anfenwick]

I think I don't mind the main character being unlikeable so long as I feel the narrator has some distance from that. I can't quite say how that distance is created, it must sometimes be very subtle. If I think the narrator is unaware of or in favor of the character's unpleasant qualities,it turns me off a bit.

I read such a bizarre range of things. Recently, I loved Memoirs of a Porcupine about a serial-killing porcupine with multiple personality defects because the narrator is cleverly bringing those issues out. But I could not get into Tiger's Voyage. The YA protagonist's only crime is being very dim and obsessed about her relationships but the book goes on and on about it as if her obsession was perfectly rational and reasonable. They're both first-person stories btw.

[Mike]

I don't need the main character to be perfect - I'd be annoyed if they were. But I find I need someone to root for if the book's to really hold my interest.

[Mmars]

Great thread. I feel that in real life, honestly, we don't like some people, or perhaps we like some people more than others. If a book is "realistic" fiction, we should, therefore like or not like the characters. Or like some characters more than others.

[Claire]

George wrote: "I don't mind an unlikeable main character, as long as they are interesting and their actions have credible motivations."

Credibility is more important than likablity for me also. What characters do has to be motivated believably as well as any changes. I also think this credibility is more important than relatability. I like to read books from other cultures, and that sometimes inhibits spontaneous relatability, yet they can be credible and interesting.

[Annie]

George wrote: "I don't mind an unlikeable main character, as long as they are interesting and their actions have credible motivations."

So true! I don't care too much about whether I admire a character, but rather if the character is interesting. As long as I have some sort of desire to learn more about and follow a character, then I am happy.

[John]

I don't think Knut Hamsun's, or Dostoyevsky's, characters were likable...but certainly interesting, and authentic to their environment/inner world.

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

It depends. A great character can save a book for me, but a main character I can't stand will sometimes bring a book down in rating. There are exceptions, of course, like with Scarlett and Gone with the Wind. Hated her personality, but the book was too captivating to rate less for that.