"amoral" characters (book sympathizes with; or from the POV of)

[Anna]

More recs, please?!

[Ashley]

Don't know if you like Fantasy, but Prince of Thorns and its sequels have a very amoral main character.

[Anna]

I like fantasy but I didn't care about Prince of Thorns.

[Kate]

Try: The Dinner by Hermann Koch, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, and Mansfield Park by Jane Austen.

[Anna]

Thanks, from the books you recommended, I've read Mansfield Park and I love it.

[Kelly]

Consequences

[Anna]

Sorry, it doesn't look something I might enjoy. :(

[Lacy]

Bel-Ami

[Anna]

I've it on my "to read" list. :) *moves it "to read soon" list*

[Teri-K]

A couple of possibilities-
Iago in "Othello" and several characters in "The Great Gatsby". I've had a few interesting discussions about that idea in the latter book.

Personally I don't think Edmond Dantes is amoral. Misguided sometimes, but not without a moral compass of some sort, which is what amoral means to me.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Union Atlantic, one of the better works of contemporary American fiction I've read recently.

Summer House with Swimming Pool. Sleazy, smarmy, egotistical European physician and what happens to his family on a summer vacation.

Live Flesh if you want to spend a book inside the head of a rapist.

[Anna]

Thanks :)

[Stephen]

Haven't actually gotten to this one yet, though it IS in my TBR pile... How about The Screwtape Letters? Isn't it THE classic told from the POV of Satan?

Of course I may be wrong. I often am.

Also if "a Play's the thing" you might like Amadeus. The main character, Salieri, IS the less talented, bon-bon eating guy that plots Mozart's downfall.

And for a more contemporary bad guy, try Darkly Dreaming Dexter. He's the alliteration addicted anti-hero that spawned/inspired the popular TV series.

Two other contemporary baddies who get to tell their stories... The Talented Mr. Ripley and American Psycho have been chillingly evil enough to inspire their own movies as well.

[Anna]

Thank you very much!

[Stephen]

There's actually an entire Listopia list called "Rooting for the Bad Guy" https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6... Bound to be a few winners on there.

[``Laurie]

The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson is a great book.

[Ann aka Iftcan]

Villains by Necessity is one where the "evil" characters are all the ones that you will like. The "hero" characters are all wankers, so you won't mind rooting for the villians. (This is a fantasy book)


These next 2 books are Regency Romances by the great Georgette Heyer.

These Old Shades has another villain that is just delicious.

Devil's Cub contains yet another delicious villain.

[Joshua]

Wideacre

[Scott]

Lolita

Let the Right One In

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

A House and Its Head

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Adolphus Crosbie in The Small House at Allington. I think you can read any book in the series out of order.

[GracieKat]

Book of Shadows, to me the two main characters were pretty amoral (and unlikable)

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll is amoral, to me. Others might disagree.

The Witches of Eastwick

Sleep, Pale Sister, Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris

Shadows in the Asylum: The Case Files of Dr. Charles Marsh

The Haunting of Hill House, Elinor is definitely disturbed but understandable

Horns

Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Shutter Island

Belinda In The Pool, more of a novella and it's not the main character but his daughter

A lot of the characters in H.R. Wakefield's sort stories could be deemed amoral but sympathetic

I always considered Jane Eyre a bit creepy, maybe a shade amoral but that might be in the eye of the beholder

This might seem like a strange entry but The Last Unicorn. Maybe not a villain but she had no concept of the world other than as it pertains to her and little concern for it. So, I guess another eye of the beholder one. I'd be interested to know if anyone else thinks so.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

House of Leaves

Thinner

Blaze

The Vampire's Promise

These are all i have for now and some may be more of an ambiguous or unreliable narrator but must of them i think fall into the category you're looking for

[Anna]

Thanks!

[[deleted user]]

I'm not sure if you like this kind of book, but in Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life, the main character (view spoiler)[tries to break every single rule that his principal lays down (hide spoiler)]. I'd consider that to be amoral. :)

[[deleted user]]

Also, in Incarceron the main character is part of a gang of thieves. I'd definitely recommend this book.

[``Laurie]

Lobstergirl wrote: "is Scarlet that bad?

Scarlet does have her very amoral side. (She may not have much of another side...) She is a fiance and boyfriend stealer. She usually marries men either for their money, or to..."

Great comments about Scarlett - if not for that pesky Civil War I doubt Scarlett would've had the opportunity to discover her dark side. Scarlett does justify all her amoral actions with excuses but her will to live and her moral obligations to her family mainly dictated her actions.
If not for the Civil War Scarlett's killer instinct probably would've remained dormant.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Deep Water

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Behind a Mask.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Spring Torrents. Maria Nikolaevna.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Other by Thomas Tryon

A "bad seed" type of book. POV is a 13-year old boy.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Prime Minister

possibly also Alias Grace

[GracieKat]

I'm not quite done with it but FantasticLand is pretty good and could fit the amoral characters theme

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Dear Mr. M

[Electric]

An excellent classic would be The Sea Wolf by Jack London. Wolf Larsen has the mind of a genius but the morals of a devil. This classic doesn't sympathize with him and isn't told from his POV, but he is a primary character and the book thoroughly examines his way of thinking.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Her Every Fear

[Rosa]

Rich Again
East of Eden

[[deleted user]]

I have to say that in 50+ years of reading, no book has shaken me in its portrayal of amorality as much as McTeague by Frank Norris. Or perhaps I should say descent into amorality, because you do not see it coming at all, and when it does, it is pervasive and unequivocal. Oh, and anything by Patricia Highsmith, with maybe the exception of The Price of Salt/Carol.

[Rosa]

Black Alice, although with this and my other suggestions, I may be confusing amorality with sociopathy.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Razor's Edge. There's one amoral character. You don't find out until the end who it is.....

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Magus

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Debt to Pleasure

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Eileen

My Sister, the Serial Killer

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Silent Wife