Top Ten Tuesday (September 1) – Top Ten Characters you just didn’t click with

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and The Bookish, where each week bloggers are given a new Top Ten Theme to blog about. This is time is the case of a special kind of characters – the ones you aren’t drawn to for whatever reason but that have things in them you somehow like/ consider (otherwise I don’t see the point of this exercise).

Here’s my pick of the week – I’m sure I can come out with more, but these ones are off the top of my head (a few because I’ve read and/or heard of them recently in a way or another).

  • Daenerys Targaryen, A Game of Thrones and following, GRRM. Why: For somebody that wants to be a political leader, she’s naively dangerous, and it shows. Too bad that others pay the price. (Incidentally, I’m quite fond of Cersei Lannister, but this is for another list)images
  • Quinn Dexter, The Night’s Dawn Trilogy, Peter F. Hamilton. Why: He’s the bad guy, fine, but he’s just too bad to be believable. At the end, he looks pathetic instead of fearsome. 

  • Adso of Melk, The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco. Why: I know it’s supposed to be a coming-of-age novel – among all the other things – but this youngster is a bit annoying. I started feeling some sympathy for him only toward the end – but, by then, transition to adulthood was made.blogger-image-1914158870
  • Ender Wiggin, Ender’s Game, OSC. Why: Nothing personal, really. Probably because I perversely liked more his brother, the sociopath Peter. (I know, I should see a shrink).
  • Georgia Mason, Newsflesh Trilogy, Mira Grant. Why: Georgia has all of the sharp intelligence of her brother Shaun, but nothing of his humour and charm. Sorry, George, I still prefer the original end of Feed (and not Fed, the alternative one written by the author for the first book of the series). newsflesh
  • Amuro Ray and his good guy colleagues, Gundam, Manga Series (I know this is a bit off-topic, but I can’t help, since I often thought about it). Why: Gundam is one of the examples where bad guys are so much more interesting than their counterparts to constitute a phenomenon almost embarrassing. I am not the only one here to think this way (so, maybe, the Gundam’s creators should see a shrink too).pap
  • Jernau Morat Gurgeh, The Player of Games, Iain Banks. Why: I simply *loved* this book, but Gurgeh is the last person in the universe anybody can emphatise with. 48958.JPG.square-true_maxheight-285_size-285
  • Severian The Torturer, The Book Of The New Sun, Gene Wolf. Why: Somehow for the reasons I put Gurgeh in this same list. I admire them for their acumen and skills, but at emotional level I can’t relate.
  • Dorian Gray, The Portrait of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde. Why: This was an easy one. Who can even notice Dorian with Lord Henry Wotton around?
  • Pretty much anybody in The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins. Why: Not my cup of tea, but I knew it in advance. Just wanted to give it a try to prove myself right 🙂

I look forward to reading all your lists – for more characters to analyse!

7 Comments

  1. Kristen Burns

    I put Dorian on my list, too. Henry was definitely the most interesting character with all the best lines whereas Dorian was unlikeable and not particularly interesting either.

    Reply
    1. Stephen P. BIanchini (Post author)

      Can’t but agree with you. Where did you post you TT?

      Reply
      1. Kristen Burns

        Here: http://wp.me/p6ovgw-fQ

        🙂

        Reply
        1. Stephen P. BIanchini (Post author)

          Thanks, going to stop by 🙂

          Reply
  2. Carrie

    I didn’t put Dorian on my list but completely agree! My TTT

    Reply
  3. Stephen P. BIanchini (Post author)

    Thanks Carrie – going to have a look at yours now 🙂

    Reply
  4. brennancm

    Yes, Lord Henry really put Dorian in the shade.
    I could never bring myself to care about Holden Caulfield or any of the stuff he went through in Catcher in the Rye. Maybe I’d like it better if I reread it now, except there’s already more than enough to read without giving that book a second chance.

    Reply

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