Book meme: Day 23!

Day 23 - Most annoying character ever

Wow, this is hard. I would probably have to say Holden Caulfield... or Sal Paradise. Like I've said, I can recognize the historical importance of books like The Catcher in the Rye and On the Road -- but I don't think they're amazing now, and their narrators are so irritating, so ridiculous, so self-obsessed...

I read both books when I was a kid (maybe I was twelve or thirteen) on the recommendation of adults in my life, and (I know I've said this before!) it took me a long time before I could trust those adults again. Did they really think I would like those characters? Did they think I was like those characters? Did they think I would learn something from those books, or find something of my life in them?

(They should have given me Ginsberg if they wanted me to find something of my life in writings from what, to me, at twelve, was "a long time ago" -- now, Ginsberg I could relate to! But I didn't read him until I was fourteen and "Howl" was referenced in a pop song I liked.)

Anyway, those characters. Yes. Most annoying!

How about you guys? Don't let your energy flag -- this is the home stretch, and talking about books is awesome! What character do you find the most annoying of all time?


( Other days of the book meme )