Tuesday 10 May 2011

Top Ten Tuesday - Jerks!

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.



1. Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte). I bet he is going to make quite a few lists. Since Catherine made my top ten mean girls it's only fair that Heathcliff made this one. He is just as selfish as Catherine and goes through life in a perpetual tantrum. He never learned to grow up or the valuable lesson that you can't have everything you want. Didn't care that he made other people miserable in the process.

2. Nathan Price (The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver). His fanaticism was dangerous and put his family in danger. Their safety and health didn't even enter his mind once. He did have horrific experiences during the war but surely that's no excuse for what he then put his family through.

3. Alexander Zalachenkov (Millenium series - Stieg Larsson). Truly an evil man. Used the fact that the Swedish Government wanted to keep him happy as an excuse to do what he liked to women. Then in turn he gave his daughters the same treatment. There is a huge list of disgusting things he put his daughter through just to keep her quiet.

4. Lestat de Lioncourt (Vampire Chronicles - Anne Rice). Has been alive along time and still his only concern is his next amusement. He's selfish and prone to dangerous tantrums if he doesn't have his own way.

5. Draco Malfoy (Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling). So his parents didn't help for being who they are (and for giving him a name like that). Still, don't really need to explain why he is a jerk.

6. Uriah Heep (David Copperfield - Charles Dickens). I was about 12 when I first read this book and I still remember Uriah Heep giving me the creeps. Reason enough for him to be on this list.

7. Darryl Van Horne (The Witches of Eastwick - John Updike). Don't want to spoil the book for anyone who hasn't read it. Lets just say he does some not nice things in the end. Truthfully though he is another character who just gives me the creeps.

8. Dex (One Day - David Nicholls) I loved this book. Dex though is a bit of a jerk through most of it. I didn't actually like him until near the end. He's arrogant and a little bit selfish. He does redeem himself mind you but it takes him a while.

9. Ignatious J. Reilly (Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole). He's intelligent but arrogant and he believes that he is far superior to everyone around him. The result is chaos wherever he goes. He's also disgusting.

10. Dorian Gray (The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde). I disliked this character so much and I don't think his friend can be entirely blamed for what happens to Gray. In the end it's Gray's own vanity and selfishness that lead him into doing anything to keep his youth and beauty.

Found this difficult to do. I actually don't think Dex deserves to be on the list with the rest (mainly because he redeems himself).

14 comments:

  1. Great list. We have three of the same characters (Heathcliff, Draco and Dorian), and I agree with Van Horne (have only seen the movie, but he's bad enough in that). Then there's Lestat - how could I have forgotten him?

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  2. Great list. I have heard so much about Lestat that I think I am going to have to read the books. He sounds like a very interesting character.

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  3. Heathcliff didn't make my list, but Hindley did. I see Heathcliff as a tortured villain, and Hindley as the real jerk.

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  4. Ignatius J. Reilly definitely! I despised him so much I couldn't even finish the book. Great list.

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  5. Oh God, Dorian Gray is such a jerk!! How could I have forgotten him?! Loads of people have got Heathcliff on their lists- I guess that I just find Cathy so much more annoying that I forget about his own jerkiness...

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  6. David Copperfield at 12 is pretty impressive! Great commentary on Dorian Gray.

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  7. Darryl is a great choice. I totally forgot about him.

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  8. Yes, Nathan sucks!

    Here's mine:
    http://carabosseslibrary.blogspot.com/2011/05/top-ten-tuesday_10.html

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  9. great list! Heathcliff is a definite jerk too. Such a noob. Nathan Price as well, he completely got under my skin.

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  10. I almost put Nathan Price in my list but I saw him as more pathetic and idiotic. And a total nutcase.

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  11. Ohh Lestat! He is a tool, isn't he. Awesome list.

    Rachel-Endless Reading

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  12. I have to admit that I only got halfway through Dorian Gray. I'm going to attempt it again at some point, I'm just glad I'm not the only one who didn't like him.

    You're the second person that I've seen with Uriah Heep on their list. That name brings back such bad memories. He's one of the most unsettling characters ever created.

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  13. Sorry everyone, I have been out all day which is why I haven't responded.

    Bibliophile, I haven't seen the movie believe it or not. Jack Nicholson creeps me out in general so I can't watch it. The character in the book is horrible though.

    Anne, the first few Vampire Chronicle books are good. Worth reading if you like vampire stories. Lestat is a complete jerk but he makes for great reading.

    Suey, you're right, Hindly is horrible! Actually most of the characters in the book are.

    Birdie, He really is horrible and I honestly didn't think I was going to like the book because I knew straight away I didn't like Ignatious. In the end though I had to finish it because I also found him funny (whilst cringing).

    Bibliomaniacs, I probably didn't get a great deal of it to be honest. Now I only have vague memories of it. I should probably read it again. And thank you, I could never understand why I was supposed to feel sorry for Dorian Gray.

    Ilevinso, he was indeed a nutcase.

    Reading Rachel, love it! Yes he is indeed. Still, he made those first few books (although his story did get boring eventually).

    Gabriel, I hated the book Dorian Gray. I do like a good classic and all my friends who love classics rave about this book. I still haven't confessed to them that I hated it. I don't think he was a particularly nice character to begin with so don't get how I am supposed to feel sorry for him. As for Uriah I think your description of unsettling says it all.

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  14. Dickens does write an icky bad guy with a terrible name. I had totally forgotten about Nathan in The Poisonwood Bible.

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