Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Bridget's Top Ten Most Frustrating Characters EVER

For more info on Top Ten Tuesday & the future schedule go here!


1. Mrs. Norris - Mansfield Park, Jane Austen. Mrs. Norris must be one of the most flat-out evil characters in all of literature--but not in a Count Dracula or Pennywise kind of evil. The petty, mean, horrible-person-but-totally-human kind of evil that Jane Austen so excels at writing. Every time she opens her mouth I want to punch her in the face, and the reason she’s so frustrating is because I CAN’T PUNCH HER IN THE FACE BECAUSE SHE’S A FICTIONAL CHARACTER.

2. Fanny Price - Mansfield Park, Jane Austen. Fanny is almost as frustrating as Mrs. Norris because of her refusal to stand up to her! Ugh, I just want to shake her sometimes. But of course I can’t because, you know, she’s fictional.

3. Katniss Everdeen - The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins. Katniss gets on my nerves for a lot of reasons. First, she’s resistant to be the symbol that all the districts need to unite against the capital, which I understand, but come on, girl, your people need you. Second, she then spends her time agonizing over which boy she wants--which, again, understandable since they’re constantly competing for her affections (and, of course, there’s the whole keeping-up-the-image thing with Peeta), but she really should have sat them both down and been like, “Guys, lay off, we’re like sixteen and we’ve got saving of the world to do. SO CHILL WITH THE HORMONES.” Cause yeah it’s nice to be adored and all but COME ON. And third because (SPOILER ALERT!!!) she winds up with Peeta in the end. Not that I wanted her to be with Gale, either, though. I wanted her to just be badass and awesome for the rest of her life, and maybe find someone who matches her in badassery and awesomeness. Peeta’s too wimpy and Gale is too underhanded. Sigh.

4. Stanley Uris - It, Stephen King. Okay, before I say anything else, I’ll just have you know that I LOVE everything about this book, even the characters that drive me a little crazy. Stan definitely does that...if not because (AGAIN, SPOILER ALERT) he commits suicide at the beginning of the book, but because while they’re kids, it takes him so much longer to get his ultra-rational, future-accountant’s mind around what’s happening right in front of his eyes. Compared to the other kids, he just seems weaker. But I do love his sense of humor so I guess he’s not SO frustrating.

5. Ma - Room, Emma Donoghue. As far as Room goes, I believe it deserves all the praise it gets, but one thing that really irritated me was how (again...SPOILER ALERT) when they actually escape, the mother just seems to completely give up on life rather than trying to help her poor son assimilate into a world that he has never known and doesn’t understand. Obviously she went through a hell of a lot of trauma, but it struck me as really selfish that she should retreat into herself and ignore what’s going on around her.

6. Rachel Creed - Pet Sematary, Stephen King. Due to some early trauma concerning a very sick sister, Rachel is ultra-resistant to any talk of death and insists there is “nothing natural about death,” despite her doctor husband striving to make her see that death, like everything else, is a part of life. As a pretty rational person myself with little patience for such irrationality, Rachel really annoyed me. I personally felt that the trauma she experienced only excuses her own fear of talking about death; it does NOT excuse her insistence that their young daughter be shielded completely from ever learning about or experiencing death, because that can be just as crippling as a traumatic early experience like Rachel’s.

7. Harry Potter - The Harry Potter series, J. K. Rowling. I’m really only referring to the angsty teenage Harry we see from about Order of the Phoenix on, where he’s all “OMG, nobody tells me anything! I’m going to go sulk in a corner!” I mean, most of the time I understand where he’s coming from (especially when I was first reading these, since I was an angsty teenager myself), but it got pretty frustrating at times. (For those of you who haven’t seen it, you need to check out Wizarding Angst by the Potter Puppet Pals people. It’s amazing. But my favorite will always be The Mysterious Ticking Noise.)

8. Maxim de Winter - Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier. I just finished Rebecca the other day and WOW, it was amazing. I loved every word, but Maxim de Winter definitely frustrated me a bit, especially with his general refusal to explain his moodiness to Mrs. de Winter, until the truth about what’s bugging him has the very real potential to destroy them. (On a side note: it was also really frustrating that you never learn Mrs. de Winter’s name!!)

9. Almost everyone - Mile 81, Stephen King. For those of you who haven’t read it, Mile 81 is a short story/novella by Stephen King about an evil car that basically (sorry...SPOILER ALERT) eats people. It’s part of King’s charm but also super frustrating that every damn person from every damn car that stops to see if the muddied up car sitting at the Mile 81 rest stop needs help gets eaten by said muddied up car, until (of course) a kid figures out how to vanquish it.

10. Scarlett O’Hara - Gone With The Wind, Margaret Mitchell. I’m sure I’ve said this before, but most of my dislike of this book is due to my dislike of Scarlett. I didn’t find her to be a sympathetic character at all: I found her to be a whiny rich girl who pouts when she doesn’t get her way and who doesn’t deserve the love she desires from Ashleigh OR the love she gets from Rhett, or from anyone else, for that matter.

Phew. Who do you guys think are the most frustrating characters ever?? Add your links below!


78 comments:

  1. Ah, so glad I'm not the only one who gets frustrated with Katniss. Don't get me wrong, she is one of my favorite female characters ever written, and there's loads of things I like about her, but I found her really frustrating how out of touch with her emotions she was, especially in the first and third books.

    Also, HP5 Harry is my least favorite. There are way too many caplocked sentences in that book.

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  2. Oh my I completely agree with some of these. The others I have no idea because I haven't read those books with those characters in them. Great post!!

    Kimberlee
    www.girllostinabook.com

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  3. I totally agree. Katniss drives me bonkers! And anxsy Harry was definitely annoying glad it wasn't that long lived.

    marissa

    http://raegunwear.blogspot.com<

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  4. I thought about putting Scarlett O'Hara on my list too, though more because she doesn't see that Rhett is perfect for her until it's too late. I also have some Jane Austen characters on my list, she has a real gift for depicting frustrating people (and also rendering them amusing).

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  5. Oh, how could I forget Scarlett?! great list!

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  6. I haven't read all of these, but the ones I have made my list too--Scarlett definitely topped mine. Great picks.

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  7. I have to agree about Katniss, but mainly in Mockingjay. It's like she morphed into a completely different character. She was a puppet, and not a very good one at that. Not to mention she spent most of the book blacked out, drug riddled, and making no decisions for herself.

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  8. I'm so glad I'm not the only one annoyed with Rachel. And Scarlett is a pretty frustrating character too. Angsty Harry is annoying, but Wizarding Angst is pretty funny. Katniss is a great character but she can be kind of frustrating at times. Great choices!

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  9. Oh, I completely agree with you about Harry. There were so many moments that I wanted to reach into the book and shake him in hopes to knock some sense into him!! Great topic!

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  10. I've seen quite a few lists with Katniss, but I wasn't really annoyed by her. But Harry - yeah, totally get it :-)

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  11. Scarlett's on my list too. I never felt frustrated with Harry, even at his mopiest. Figured he earned it, more or less. LOL - the Potter Puppet Pals and the ticking noise -- one of my favorite things ever.

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  12. Great list! People often said that about Harry (before I'd read them) but thankfully I never felt that way... But I'm sure I would quite agree about Scarlett! I've never read the book/seen the movie, but from what I hear...OMG I would KILL her. hahaha ;)

    Sierra @ Yearning to Read

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  13. Why didn't I think of Ma?! I totally agree with you on that one!

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    1. I was waiting for some backlash on that one but thankfully haven't gotten any (yet). But she really drove me a little crazy in the second half of the book.

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  14. Haha Bridget, I think our tastes are very similar as regards annoying characters! Scarlett is on my TTT list too and I'm sorry about having forgotten putting Fanny Price on it. :-D

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  15. I completely agree with you about angsty Harry! Also, I looove The Mysterious Ticking Noise. Snape Snape..

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  16. Argh of course Harry! I should have put him on my list. Darn.

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  17. Yes! Harry was so annoying in Order of the Phoenix! Book 5 is probably my least favorite because Harry is so gosh darn moody! Though the fifth movie was surprisingly fun and might be the only movie that I might of liked better than the book. Umbridge was kind of comical and I like Fred and George in that movie. :)

    Lauren @ Hughes Reviews


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  18. Oh poor, Fanny. Yeah I definitely wanted her to grow a backbone some of the time. And REBECCA is one of my favorite books, but Maxim was annoying at times. Definitely too secretive, and he didn't help his new wife to assimilate as much as he could have.

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  19. Scarlet O Hara is a great one! Totally forgot about here. Okay, technically I haven't read Gone With the Wind, but I saw the film and I'm one of the only women I've ever met that hated it! Mostly that's because I don't like Scarlet's character. My sister, who loves it, always gets mad at me for bashing it, but, what can I say? Scarlet is frustrating! :D Great list.
    My TTT.

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  20. I agree about Scarlett, too! I also really like your 'almost everyone' comment- I came very close to assigning this to everyone in A Great and Terrible Beauty- those girls make me crazy. I laughed that someone else has had that response to a book, too. Great TTT.

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  21. Ah yes, Order of the Phoenix. It is kind of funny that Mrs Norris is so frustrating character in Mansfield Park but rather similar Umbridge is a high point in OotP, especially the movie.

    Because yes, when seeing the topic the first characters to come to mind were Mrs Norris and Fanny Price. The only Austen book I actively dislike because I want to slap every character repeatedly until they get better.

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    1. I can't believe I forgot to put Umbridge on my list! She's even more evil than Mrs. Norris.

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  22. I'm in! this is such a great idea, and i'm completly agree with harry, he's so frustrating when he's an angsty teenager (well i'm an angsty teeneager myself but...) anyway thanks for such a good section x3

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  23. And now I must go watch wizarding angst...

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    1. That's the first thing I did right after I read this post. Hilarious.

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  24. Haha, I also put an "almost everyone" on my list! Sometimes everyone is so frustrating that you can't just pick one character. :) I liked that you included some Stephen King characters--I did too. While his stories are great, sometimes his characters leave something to be desired.

    Thanks for sharing your choices!

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    1. I almost always love all of King's characters, even when I hate them, just because they seem so REAL. I think he has a huge talent for writing characters, even if some of them ending up super annoying.

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  25. Great list! I wholeheartedly agree with your Harry Potter sentiment.

    Here's mine!
    http://kristasdustjacket.blogspot.com/2013/01/top-ten-tuesday_29.html

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  26. Rebecca is one of my all time favorite books. We read it in high school and I LOVED it.

    I love all of your selections!!

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    1. I LOVE REBECCA. I just finished it the other day, my review's going up on Thursday at my blog (nothanksidratherread.wordpress.com) and it was so hard to write because I couldn't even think cohesively about the book through my haze of love.

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  27. I never thought about the points you made about Katniss but I do agree on some levels! Great meme I just joined and did my own list

    http://sincerelystephh.blogspot.ca/2013/01/top-10-most-frustrating-characters-top.html

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  28. Wow! that was quite the list. I got along quite well with Katniss :) kelley—the road goes ever ever on

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  29. I cannot believe I forgot Scarlett O'Hara! EVERY TIME I see the film or reread the book it all just comes flooding back. I just want to smack her!

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  30. Such a varied list. I totally agree with Maxim de Winter, but wasn't that a fantastic novel!

    Please come and check out my Top Ten list.

    Paperback Princess

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  31. Thanks for the interesting topic. I'm also giving one lucky winner a $5 Amazon Gift Card, so be sure to drop by and list your Most Frustrating Characters. We also have some other goodies up for grabs.

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  32. Sorry guys. Here's the link to the contest http://youngandtherestless.thereadersroundtable.com/?p=495

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  33. I couldn't get past my number 1.... Can't wait to see what everyone else wrote.

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  34. OMG, Mrs. Norris! Actually, I'm pretty sure I would love to punch every single Mansfield Park character in the face, though Edmund the least. Still, his idiocy over freaking Mary definitely earns him a punch. Fanny's the worst one for me. She's so freaking passive that I can't even. Oh wow, there's fanny. Ha!

    Hmmm, I see your point on Katniss and that's an interesting one, because I've not seen anyone really complain about her before. I actually liked how she mostly ignored the whole romance thing, that her focus was surviving, but, yeah, might have been better if she took five minutes to be like "not thinking about love right now so chill the eff out, guys."

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    1. She had interesting points about Katniss. I included her in my top ten because there was no real character development. She stayed heartless until the very end, even when (SPOILER ALERT) she has kids with Peeta. I got the feeling that she didn't even like them. That was weird for me.

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    2. I didn't feel like the end was very sincere...she was just kind of like, yea, so I've got kids, with Peeta, and...yeah. Woo-freakin-hoo.

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  35. Great post, Bridget! And I totally agree about Scarlet. I can't believe I forgot about her!

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  36. Love the List!! Kat stressed me out at times too!

    Here is mine :)

    http://www.abookishescape.com/2013/01/top-ten-tuesday-3.html

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  37. Good topic - got some of my frustrations out!

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  38. Scarlett frustrated me, too, but I ignored her mostly. :D
    And Harry did get a bit annoying with his "No one tells me anything!" rampage. He did have a point, but so did the people who told him nothing.

    http://thereadersshow.blogspot.com/2013/01/top-ten-tuesday-1.html

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  39. Scarlett! Great choice! I should have put her on my list!

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  40. Yes! I forgot how annoying Harry was in book 5. I hated him in that one! I try to give him a little slack for being 15 and having so much responsibility but usually I forget to. :-) Great list!

    Here's my TTT :-)

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  41. I agree with Scarlett and Harry Potter in The Order of the Phoenix. Angsty chracters can be really annoying sometimes. Great list.

    The Book Voyage

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  42. Uh oh, I have Mile 81 here on audio. Didn't he already write that story and call it Christine?

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    1. Haha, it's different from Christine, and the characters were mostly frustrating in the sense that YOU know what's wrong, but THEY don't, and they all keep falling into the same trap.

      It's a good story though :)

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  43. The Mysterious Ticking Noise is my favorite too! And I can totally understand the frustration with Harry - he seriously had some issues in his day. But he wouldn't have felt as real otherwise!

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  44. Scarlett made my list too.. and I am guessing a few others would have made my list as well if I had a top twenty!! (actually my #10 is left wide open for the characters I missed)

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  45. So in agreement about your Stephen King entries. I think in general he does a good job doing all sorts of characters, but sometimes he seems to forget that a character can't be so bothersome that it makes you want to throw the book...

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  46. "I found the source of the ticking. It's a pipe bomb!" "Yaaaaaaaaay!"

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  47. Harry Potter is probably the least cool wizard in the whole group. He's kind of a pain in the ass.

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  48. I love Harry Potter books but I agree with you on this one, the more I read the books, the more I dislike him. The movies made him even worse!

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  49. Thank God! Finally, someone who dislikes Scarlett O'Hara as much as I do.

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  50. Agree with a lot of these! Especially Harry Potter, hehe, that boy has too much angst! This was a great top ten topic! :-)

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  51. I love top ten, is a great idea. I'm in!

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  52. I really enjoyed this! Especially the King-ian characters. Love me my SK, but sometimes he creates very annoying characters! :)

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  53. This is a great list! I can agree with Katniss, Maxim, and Ma (just finished Room the other week). We can love books as well as characters...while also wanting to throttle them!

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  54. Harry Potter, though I love the series, annoys me, too!

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  55. I LOVE the Harry Potter series, but he has is shining I'm going to be an annoying boy teenager moments!

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  56. Great idea for a top ten, and I liked your choices. I put Mrs Norris on my list too, along with Dolores Umbridge, Romeo Montague and (perhaps controversially) Thorin Oakenshield.

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  57. Katniss wasn't on my list, but she is a close runner up. She had some poor decision making skills, plus holy teen angst (fair enough, I suppose she is a teen)!

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  58. You one million percent said it right about HP. I love him normally, but yeah, that was the most annoying 75ish pages ever when he was waaaaah no one is telling me stuff.

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  59. Wow! This prompt has generated a lot of ranting (in a healthy way). I didn't write about frustrating characters, but I did write about a genre I currently find frustrating...dystopia.

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  60. Oh, Scarlett isn't any better in the book? Definitely have no reason to read it, then.

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  61. Scarlett O'Hara. Omg. I want to SMACK her, lol.

    www.katlovesbooks.blogspot.com

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  62. I must agree about Katniss but it's Peeta who really get's me. I know it wasn't all his fault regarding the way he acted in Mockingjay but I was still really mad at him anyway!

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  63. Wow, why are you hating on King's characters, lol. Just kidding. I was kind of like "really Stanley, really" at the beginning of that book/movie too. I put Peeta down for Hunger Games for similar reasons.

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    1. Haha, I LOVE Stephen King, and I love his characters, and I love that he can create characters that you just want to throttle...but that doesn't stop me from, you know, wanting to throttle them.

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  64. Totally agree with you on Mrs. Norris and Fanny! I LOVE Jane Austen, but I really disliked Mansfield Park (and it breaks my heart to say that because I WANT to love it but some of it is such a drag).

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