Patricia Highsmith manipulates our sympathies in The Talented Mr Ripley so expertly that we find ourselves rooting for a brutal killer
Do you only read books containing “likable” characters? Are you put off if there’s no one to root for in a novel?
This debate has been buzzing in the literary community for quite a few years, but I sometimes wonder if it’s been exaggerated. I’ve rarely heard people complain that they “didn’t like any of the characters” in a novel. What I have often heard is people complaining about people who make this complaint. When I googled “likable characters” I came across articles in the New York Times, The New Yorker, and here in the Guardian, all worrying over the issue – but fewer actual people who were upset because they couldn’t find someone “nice” to to take sides with in a book.
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