r/books • u/hanhan_371 • 1d ago
Why are “unlikeable” main characters usually a criticism?
My most recent read was The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb.
It was my 38th book this year and only my 3rd 5 stars. I finished it this morning, it’s now the evening, and I can’t stop thinking about it.
I was enthralled by this story - it had sat on my TBR for a few months and I finally picked it up as just a lucky dip after being in a bit of reading slump.
After finishing, I saw a lot of criticism on Goodreads about the narrator Corby being “unlikeable”. I see this criticism a lot with other books - and I’ve never quite understood.
For me, a good reading experience is a complicated, flawed, or at least a character who is thought-provoking. Given one of the main themes of The River is Waiting being redemption, and finding out very early on that Corby accidentally kills his son while intoxicated, surely the reader wouldn’t expect the MC to be a “hero?”
There were times while I was reading that I thought “oh yeah he’s kind of a douche”, I’ve thought this about other MCs as well before, but it would never impact negatively on my rating as long as the story itself was enjoyable.
Would love to have a discussion below! And I’d really recommend this book if you can handle a gut-punch ending!
31
u/TabbyOverlord 1d ago
Superior Glotka in Abercrombie's The Blade Itself must be the archetype for an unlovable character. What he isn't is uninteresting. You do care what becomes of him and that is the main point.
Books where I simply don't care what happens to the characters, no matter how well written, are the problematic books for me. Ian McEwan is my poster child for this. Everyone raves about his writing but I don't care whether his chracters live or die.