Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Top Ten Biggest Jerks In Literature

 Thanks to Lindsi from Books, Sweets and Other Treats for making our button!

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists! Each week we will post a new Top Ten list  that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists.


I've (Jamie) been too stressed out with life....we had to put down my dog and it was Mothers Day..which if you talk to me on Twitter or visit my personal blog, you know it was a hard couple of days for me. That being said, I have literally had no time to sit down and work on this week's topic. However, I put the call out to my bookish friends to help me out and I would feature them on the blog this week! You get by with a little help from your friends, I suppose. So, make sure you check out all their blogs/Twitter accounts because they are all wonderful!

Anyways, the other week we did top ten mean girls in lit..so now we're on to the biggest jerks..all those jerky guys in books..those who truly WERE asshats and those who just acted like one but could be quite loveable! Check HERE for future topics.


1. Heathcliff from WUTHERING HEIGHTS- This man is jerkalicious. He's a jerk lollipop. He's on the good ship Jerk. He's all "CATHERINE! We are SOUL MATES because we were both BRATS as CHILDREN!" And she's all "Meh." And he's all "VENGEANCE!" And she's all "...whatevs." And then he proceeds to spend his entire life tormenting little children, beating women, and starving himself in the name of love. Except by love, he really means creepy, obsessive, someone-needs-a-hobby jerkitude. (Amanda from Dead White Guys)

2. Haymitch from The Hunger Games:
jerk: n. Slang A foolish, rude, or contemptible person.
Haymitch Abernathy is a jerk.  He is foolish when he has been drinking and he is rude and contemptible when drunk or sober.  At his best, Haymitch is sarcastic, self-indulgent and condescending.  He calls Katniss “sweetheart” on a regular basis because he knows she hates it. He doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him and he doesn’t hesitate to tell someone how he feels about them.  With that said, I love him.  He may be my favorite character from The Hunger Games trilogy.  It’s not Haymitch's fault that he is a jerk- it is President Snow’s.  You see, Haymitch was the victor of the 50th Hunger Games.  Because of Haymitch’s questionable play in the arena, Snow had his mother, brother and girlfriend killed.  Haymitch turned to the bottle to forget about his time in the arena and the losses it caused.  You can't blame the guy.  Haymitch is a jerk, but he is a jerk with a big heart and good intentions. (Kelly from The Lemme Library)

3. Stephen Clayworth from Clarity by Kim Harrington. He starts off as a jerk and then there are a few moments where you think he might redeem himself. Maybe he's just     misunderstood?.... nope.....total jerk. (Jen from Lost in The Library)

4. Wesley from The Duff by Jody Keplinger. He's a womanizer- thinks he's God's gift to women (I hate guys like that) He's the reason I stopped reading the book, though I'm told I should give it another try. Does he redeem himself? (Jen from Lost In The Library)

5. I'm going to group two characters together for this, because they're so similar. Even with all of their swoon-worthy moments, two of the leading men from Cassandra Clare's books - Jace from The Mortal Instruments and Will from The Infernal Devices - earn a spot on the top ten jerks in literature list. While it's easy to hate obviously evil characters, these two sarcastic, arrogant bad boys that toy with emotions and break hearts for no particular reason are infuriating in their own right. Will and Jace will insult you, lie to you, and crush your heart, even through the barrier of the pages of their respective books (@Chloesays)

6. Dave from Anna and the French Kiss. He's pretty much the Frat Boy From Hell. He's kind of like that guy at the bar who won't leave after you decline his offer to buy you a drink about ten times. He treats women like objects and lies to his friends about what went down with said women which I can't stand. But the CLINCHER is the scene where he says in what I assume is an appalled tone "You mean you actually wait in line for the bathroom?" Ew.  ( Jenn from Booksessed)

7. Henry McAllen from MUDBOUND (The Literate Housewife)

8. Prince Humperdinck from Princess Bride -- If you thought he was a douche in the movie, just wait until you meet the book version. (@OhEmGillie)

9.  Cole from Jennifer Brown's BITTER END (Nora from The Bookery )

10. And now for my own pick...August from Water for Elephants. I wanted to kill this guy. What a jerk...slapping his wife around, throwing people off trains and abusing animals? I couldn't like him even when he tried to act charming.


39 comments:

  1. aw I love Haymitch! Sad hes on teh list.

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  2. Hahahah I loved number one! :) Oh man, this was awesome! I'm surprised Mr. Dursley didn't make the cut. Didn't anyone tell him hoarding mail (in America, at least) is ILLEGAL? Also, lying for years upon end is a completely jerkish move, too.

    -Farrah

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  3. Haymitch made it onto my list as well. I had to limit myself to only one Harry Potter character and went with Malfoy. Now I'm kinda wishing I put Snape instead...

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  4. Great list. I have still to type mine out but Heathcliff is definitely on there. I even considered Jace too. Especially in the most recent book.

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  5. Sorry about your dog, Jamie.

    Great list. Heathcliff was one of the first characters I thought of.

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  6. Great list, love what you wrote about Heathcliff. It summed him up very well! He is on my list too.

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  7. August! Completely agree! He's one of the most evil characters I've come across in a book! Great list! :)

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  8. Heathcliff would be at the top of my list too. He is the Mayor of Jerktown. I hope he and Catherine have a very miserable eternity together.

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  9. I picked Prince Humperdinck and August too!!! Nice list :o)

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  10. Awesome list! I also included a stress relieving rant about Heathcliff

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  11. I wish I'd thought of August...he was a pretty despicable person. I didn't know most of the others on your list, though I got Mudbound for Christmas and hope to get to it soon.

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  12. I want to read Wuthering Heights just to see how bad Heathcliff really is. He sounds like an awful character who is a lot of fun to read.

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  13. Excellent friends! They made a great list. I agree about Haymitch, but I picked a different jerky guy from Hunger Games.

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  14. My contribution is added. I have branched out a little, but managed to keep it interesting.

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  15. I have a characters from both the Hunger Games AND Harry Potter! Ha.WIN. haha!

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  16. I agree with Farrah. Mr Dursley (and by extension his wife, but she's a woman, so she doesn't count) belongs on this list too.

    From the classics, I also think Mr. Wickham from Pride and Prejudice deserves a place of honor. He seduces young women for their money, is dishonest in his dealings with his fellow man, doesn't take responsibility for his actions, and makes himself out to be a victim when he is the one wronging others. He's a slimy weasel of a jerk.

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  17. Ha...great post :D Jace and Will are the boys I hate to love oh-so-much!! They are jerkalicious!

    And I agree with Susanne that Mr. Wickham deserves to be on that list...that gold-digger!

    I'm kinda debating on adding Barrons because as delectable as he is, we gotta admit that he was a serious dick in the beginning of the Fever series, lol.

    ♥Isalys

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  18. Heathcliff!!

    I loved Wuthering Heights. Without him the novel can't exist..!!

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  19. ^ What she said. Haymitch is pretty freaking awesome!

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  20. Such good choices1 I totally, TOTALLY agree with #1.

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  21. I totally agree about Heathcliff! Mega Jerk!

    Sorry about your dog, that's so sad. :(

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  22. Humperdinck, Humperdinck, Humperdinck! I'm not a witch, I'm your wife!

    Sigh, I love the Princess Bride.

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  23. loved your list--I think it's kind of funny, but many of those jerks you do learn to like. And without the jerks the story wouldn't be as entertaining. Loved that you listed Heathcliff!

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  24. August and Haymitch are great choices! I had Jace and Will on my list:http://wp.me/pzUn5-pJ

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  25. Haha love your summary of Wuthering Heights.

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  26. So I am just getting started on Top Ten Tuesdays... I didn't go with the prompt today though. I link to it with the Mr. Linky but I have barely had time to write let alone read lately so anyway Thanks for the inspiration.

    Caite

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  27. So sorry to hear about your dog! Haven't read most on this list, but definitely agree with Heathcliffe!

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  28. I've combined my list with the Mean Girls list from a couple of weeks ago because I missed it at the time. Heathcliff was shortlisted but Angel Clare of Tess of the D'Urbervilles was my no.1 jerk.

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  29. I stopped reading The Duff for the same reason! I was like, EW, and gave up only a few pages in. It's nice to see I'm not the only one.

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  30. I totally had a sick thing for Heathcliff LMAO! He was damaged and that was his way of coping for me teehee. I know I'm a secret freak apparently teehee.

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  31. Thank you for including my suggestion in your list. I share your feelings about August from Water for Elephants. Beyond hateful.

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  32. I haven't read a lot of these but great pick with Humperdink!

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  33. Love the first one especially. SO funny! Heathcliffe - a mixed up fellow and a true jerk.

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  34. I haven't had time to participate recently, but I centainly do love popping in to see the question and as many of the posts as I can!

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  35. For The Duff. You should totally give it another try. It will surprise you, I personally liked it. You should give it another try, definitely!

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  36. LOVE this list! I'm going to have to think about my own... ~ Jen @ A Book and a Latte

    P.S. I'm a new follower :). Though I've been following/pestering you on Twitter for a while! @bookandlatte.

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