Likeability

[anghara]

In one of the most polarizing (series of) books I know, books which you either despise or passionately defend against all blasphemers, there is a character known as... Thomas Covenant. (yes, I see you all out there, alreasy bristling and taking your positions. But relax. In this instance, he just the lede, and an example

Comments

[seawasp]

In general, a character has to be likeable for me to spend much time with them. It's not *IMPOSSIBLE* to overcome this, but a nonlikeable protagonist is akin to making the author swim while connected to a ball-and-chain. A few utterly extraordinary authors and books may overcome it somehow, but I sure ain't betting on it

[bunsen_h]

My reaction to T.C., and analysis, are much like yours. If you've got a genuinely unlikeable protagonist, you need to give the reader other reasons to continue, outweighing that negative reaction. I've seen T.C. referred to as "Thomas the Whiner".

For the T.C. books, in addition to T.C. himself, there were Donaldson's wanderings through a thesaurus, and oh my god the *names*, as disincentives. There are some nice bits of writing there, but they have a lot of negatives to overcome. I may reread the first two trilogies at some point, but I'm not going to try any of the more recent books.

[pameladean]

My problem with Thomas Covenant was not that he was unlikeable. It was that he was boringly unlikeable. He wasn't funny, he never made any effort, he never changed, he was portentous and self-centered and he was NOT a teenager. Just give me SOMETHING. A dream, wittiness, the occasional glimmer of perception, a unique and believable voice. I don't really ask for much, but Covenant did not provide ANYTHING and he was, especially in the earlier parts of the story, my only way in. I didn't want him as a companion.

P.