Have you ever come across a fictional protagonist that you just can't stand?

[scarletwoman]

I'm a big fan of Scandinavian crime novels/mysteries, and over the past several years I've worked my through more authors than I can count. Almost all of them are authors of ongoing series featuring a particular central character - often, but not always, a police detective.

Authors like Arnaldur Indriðason (Iceland) and his Erlander series, Jo Nesbo (Norway) and his Harry Hole series, Karin Fossum (Norway) and her Inspector Sejer series, Anne Holt (Norway) and both her Vik & Stubo, and Hanne Wilhelmsen series, Henning Mankell (Sweden) and his fabulous Kurt Wallander series, Åsa Larsson (Sweden) and her Rebecka Martinsson series, Camilla Läckberg (Sweden) and her Patrik Hedstrom series, Jussi Adler-Olsen (Denmark) and his Department Q series - well, the list could go on and on.

Two dozen, three dozen, more? I've been working my way through nearly every Scandinavian author who's had their books translated to English, and my list of authors I haven't gotten to yet is still full of over dozen more names.

When I pick a new (to me) author to try, I always work my through their entire series in order, before I move on to the next author.

So, anyway, the next author on my ongoing list was Liza Marklund - for whom I've always come across a lot of hype. Her ongoing series features Annika Bengtzon, a crime reporter in Stockholm.

Oh. my. gawd. I cannot stand this character! I just finished the first 2 books of the series, getting more and more annoyed by Annika the more I read. She's weepy, prone to hyperventilating and incredibly irrational and/or inappropriate behavior, freaks out about stuff over and over again, and drove me increasingly more nuts as I slogged my way through book two. Since I already had book three on hand - and nothing else to read - I gritted my teeth and thought, "well, maybe she gets more stable...", since this story takes place when she's several years older and has gotten the man, the children, and the job she wants.

So, I crack open #3 and what is the first sentence I see?

I can't take this, Annika thought. I'm dying. She pressed her palms against her forehead, forcing herself to breathe regularly and calm down.

Has she suffered a painful bodily injury? Has some horrible tragedy befallen her? Is she faced with some life and death peril?

No, she's packing to leave for a summer holiday with her husband and children and is unsure if she's remembered everything she'll need to bring along!

I mean, GAAAAAAHHH!

No more Liza Marklund and Annika Bengtzon for me!

Hope I have better luck with the next author.

[pscot]

1. I've never really warmed up to Elvis Cole and his pal

Joe Pike. And Jack Reacher is nothing but a damned psychopath.

[scarletwoman]

2. What book(s) are those from? nt

[pscot]

5. Cole and Pike are featured in a series by Robert Crais

The Reacher novels by Lee Child have sold about a trillion copies. Surprising you haven't encountered them. Have you read the Martin Beck novels by Per Wahloo & Maj Sjowall? Still my favorite Scandinavian krimis.

[scarletwoman]

8. I've seen the name Lee Child pop up, but I tend to avoid any books categorized as "thrillers".

I did a quick look-up of Robert Crais - doesn't look like my thing, either.

I read the entire Martin Beck series quite some time ago - yeah, Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö are definitely among the best.

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. I have read all of the Child books, as soon as I could get them.

excellent escape reading.

Much the same as the Rain series by Barry Eisler...

try the first 2 Lee Child "Reacher" books, you might be surprised.
but avoid the one movie, 'cause no way is Tom Cruise anywhere near the book, or the character.

[SheilaT]

19. I got handed my first Jack Reacher book a couple of years ago.

Not the kind of thing I normally read, so I just expected a couple of decent hours of escape. I was hooked on the spot and promptly started reading the entire series in order. Love them.

I've just finished the first Rain book and intend to read the rest. Again, not the sort of thing I read a lot of, but both of these series are well written in my opinion.

[dhill926]

38. yep, worked my way thru the Reacher books pretty quickly….

pissed I have to wait for new ones now haha…Will have to check out that Rain series.

[rrneck]

4. I listened to Persuader and was not impressed.

How unimpressed? The Tom Cruise characterization was better.

[pscot]

7. That's funny

[Mz Pip]

36. I love Robert Crais

I think L.A. Requiem is one of my all time favorite crime novels. I've read every Elvis Cole/Joe Pike book he's written.

[dhill926]

39. same here.....

and then finding out Cole and Harry Bosch were kind of related. Cool…

[rrneck]

3. Ignatius J. Reilly, but I think that was the idea. nt

[scarletwoman]

6. A charater who's unsympathetic on purpose, I get.

The thing is, Annika Bengtzon is supposed to be some kind of feminist heroine - to read the gushing reviews of Liza Marklund's books.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

9. I never could cotton to Anna Karenina.

[scarletwoman]

21. I started trying to read that book years ago, but never got more than a couple chapters in.

So I can't really comment on the character. What I read felt like a soap opera - a bunch of aristocrats fooling around and then agonizing about their reputations. All I could think was, "Who cares?"

I suppose if I were really interested in that period of Russian history, I'd work my way through it. But at this point in time, I'm disinclined to do so.

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. Scarlett O'Hara

I just wanted to smack her.
And I know I am not alone.

[scarletwoman]

18. I can totally relate.

Although it's probably close to 50 years since I read Gone With the Wind, I can still remember feeling that way about Scarlett O'Hara.

That's also how I feel about the Annika Bengtzon character from my OP - I just want to smack her!

[Nay]

31. Oh, yeah. Could not stand Scarlett, although I liked the book. She was a

self-aggrandizing little psycho.

[TexasProgresive]

12. There have been novels that the character development

was so poor that they never seems real. The story might be good but the people are not. I can't give examples because these books drop out of my memory.

Now I have a real beef with G.R.R. Martin and his Game of Thrones series. The first is that he is an old man and he keeps stretching out the series. 2nd he killed off all the characters that I loved and I have no desire to read another book in the series even if he lives long enough to write it.

[SheilaT]

20. George Martin is NOT old!

He's a full month younger than I am!

I'm probably going to see him this evening and I'm going to tell him what you said!

Actually, I personally don't generally read long series so I've never read Game of Thrones nor watched any of the series. But I really will be seeing him tonight, I'm pretty sure. Going to an event here in Santa Fe with Connie Willis (my all time favorite writer) at the theater George owns here.

[TexasProgresive]

24. Sheila, you're not old

but if you get a chance with Mr. Martin tell him my concerns.

Have fun or as my wife says, Eat dessert first, life's short!

[SheilaT]

29. Tonight's event was great because Connie Willis

is wonderful and George is pretty interesting himself.

I actually restrained myself from telling him someone said earlier today he's old. I will admit, if you see him and see me you would take me for about a decade younger. No vanity there!

Actually since I hang out with s-f authors every chance I get, and since I live in Santa Fe, I'm sure I'll eventually get around to telling him the story. I'll especially enjoy telling him he can't be old because he's a month younger than I am!

[TexasProgresive]

30. Sheila, Can you recommend one of Ms. Willis' books

That would be a good introduction to her. My novel reading is fairly eclectic. I like SciFi, Mysteries, some fantasy and historical novels. Then there's Fannie Flag, Barbara Kingsolver and Isabel Allende; how do you classify them?

I just found out last week that I can "check out" Kindle books from Amazon through my library.

[SheilaT]

32. Oh yes!

My personal favorite of all of hers is The Doomsday Book. Somewhere later on in this century time travel has been invented/discovered (the details of that aren't part of the story) and it's in the hands of historians in Oxford, England. Various trips to the past using historians have already been done, and now a trip to the early 14th century has been planned. Things go horribly wrong.

Connie has a particular almost chatty style that I happen to like a lot. One thing I especially love is how she'll have a character thinking one thing, while saying something completely different. Something like (and I'm totally inventing this on the spot; it's not an actual quote from one of her books) "What a stylish outfit you're wearing," Merrilee told Ginger. Why in the world Ginger would think green was her color, and didn't she understand that this outfit made her look like a sausage in a too-tight casing? Merrilee thought.

She has written two other novels that involve the time-travelling historians. They are not an actual series, as you can read them in any order. The next one is To Say Nothing of the Dog where the historians go to Victorian England to try to find a hideous piece of Victoriana, and the third is a single novel published in two volumes: Blackout and All Clear, which are about WWII. If you pick up those, it is crucial you read them in that order, as it really is one novel published in two pieces. If you pick up All Clear first you won't have a clue what's going on.

She is currently working on a novel about telepathy, which is running late, so it probably won't be out until late next year at best. She also has one about Roswell in the works, which I'm also eager to read. She's not a fast writer, alas, but you are discovering her (assuming you like her books) at a point where she's got a fair amount of work out there. She's also a writer of many short stories, and has at least two or three anthologies out there.

Hope you like her!

A couple of other s-f writers I just love are Robert J Sawyer and Robert Charles Wilson. Especially the latter. Try his A Bridge of Years or Harvest. For a long time his earlier works, of which these are two, had gone out of print but now they're back. In the first one a man buys a long abandoned house and discovers that in the basement there's a doorway leading to a tunnel which takes him to NYC in 1962. Why that tunnel is there and what happens after he starts using it is the novel. I just love it. In the second aliens come to earth and offer everyone on the planet the opportunity to give up their physical bodies and join them on a galaxy-wide journey. The novel centers around a few of those who decline the offer. I also like that one a lot.

Personally I've never been able to read the Game of Thrones series. I'm not one for high fantasy. I've never been able to get into Tolkein. In science fiction I like time travel, alternate history, ones that could be considered sociological or anthropological as well as a lot of very hard science fiction. Not fantasy. I've read some of Fannie Flag, but nothing by Kingsolver or Allende. They've just never quite grabbed me when I've looked at them. I read a lot, about two or three books a week typically. I read widely, almost every genre except romance or westerns. I also read as much non fiction as I do fiction. I also have very eclectic tastes.

I have a good friend who reads only mysteries, and I just can't begin to imagine reading one and only one genre.

[getting old in mke]

33. Willis gets about seventy-five thumbs up from me, too.

_Three Men in a Boat_ was one of my dad's favorite books and it was a hoot seeing parallel events in _To Say Nothing of the Dog_.

More Hugos than pretty much anyone, too.

I am so with you on being unable to imagine reading one and only one genre.

[TexasProgresive]

34. Thank you so much, Sheila

I will put those on the list. I don't get to read as much as I like- lucky to read 1 book a week.

[Lex]

13. What in particular do you like about the Scandinavian crime novels/mysteries?

I recently watched (via Netflix) the BBC series "Wallander" starring Kenneth Branagh which is set in Ystad, Sweden and is based on the Swedish novelist Henning Mankell's novels. I really enjoyed the series.

I'm considering reading Mankell's novels. Your post caught my eye and left me wondering what you like about the Scandinavian novels/mysteries in particular?

[scarletwoman]

16. Great question! I'm not quite sure how to explain it.

Each author is different, of course, but there tends to be a general spareness about the genre. The protagonists tend to be no-nonsense (save the character that inspired this thread), the Scandinavian ethnic character tends to be somewhat stoic, and lends itself to understatement, to a realist view of the world, to keeping emotions private and contained (save the character that inspired this thread), and to intellectual rigor. There are also nuggets of very dry humor - typically Scandinavian - which I also love.

Many of these books have detailed descriptions of place, of cultural traditions, history, as well as food and drink - all fascinating to a Scandanaviophile like myself. I love to mentally explore the streets of Oslo and Stockholm, the forests and mountains, the sea coasts and islands of a part of the world I would dearly love to visit - but may never have the opportunity to do so outside of books.

My paternal great-gandparents were Norwegian immigrants, so I've always been interested in that part of my heritage. Growing up with a big Norwegian extended family, I feel like I get the characters who people these books.

In a nutshell, I just really enjoy hanging out in that part of the world.

As for Henning Mankell - my personal opinion is that the Wallander series is one of the best I've ever read. If you want to try it, I suggest you start at the beginning and work your way through in order. Wallender evolves and grows older, and when you get to the final book of the series, you'll feel like you're bidding farewell to a longtime friend whom you've come to care about very much. I've never seen the TV series, so I have no idea how well they follow the books.

[Lex]

27. Thank you for that explanation.

I remember now that I enjoyed Stieg Larsson's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." I think that the "Wallander" BBC series must stay fairly true to the books because the story lines and the cinematography are very stark but beautiful in a spare way.

Definitely going to give some of the authors you mention a try. Thanks!

[scarletwoman]

28. Thank YOU! I'm so glad my explanation made some sense.

If you get into Mankell, I think you might also get into Arnaldur Indriðason. He's definitely one of my favorites.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

41. Try the original Swedish films of Wallander

There are three seasons. The first is on Hulu Plus, mistakenly filed under "British TV," but it's the Swedish series. The second and third are on Netflix.

Krister Hendriksson, who plays Wallander, seems more like the character in the books than Kenneth Branagh does. Wallander is supposed to be depressed, but Branagh makes him seem as if he's spent the night in an alley after a bender.

[scarletwoman]

42. Hey, Lydia! How interesting to see you pop up in this old thread!

Thanks for the tip on the films, although it's doubtful I'll be able to make use of it. Up here in the boonies I'm still on dialup, so any kind of streaming video service is completely out of the question.

I'm satisfied with just reading books. I'd rather let the characters live in my head than have someone act them out for me - and probably fall short of how I imagined them anyway.

[Goblinmonger]

14. Ethan Frome

Sweet Jesus. I know it is a "slave to his upbringing" kind of Realism, but just don't like him.

[scarletwoman]

17. I've not read the book, I had to look it up.

After reading the wikipedia page about the book, I must admit it sounds dreadfully depressing and not something I'd ever be inclined to read. I greatly dislike grotesque domestic dramas. The character of Ethan Frome sounds like a shallow, spineless ditherer.

[raccoon]

15. Funny you'd say that. I just read CHARLEY'S WEB by Joy Fielding. I didn't like Charley (a woman)

to begin with and almost quit reading it.

I stuck with it, though, and I'm glad I did.

[scarletwoman]

23. Well, I am predisposed to dislike any female character named "Charley".

I'm happy hanging out in Scandinavia for now, so I'm disinclined to read American books. I make an exception for John Sandford - because his novels take place in Minnesota, which is where I live.

Yes, I'm a very opinionated reader.

[Curmudgeoness]

22. My first thought was Gatsby,

but then I started thinking of all the arrogant rich people who populate novels, and I can't say that I liked any of them.

But then you mentioned that you didn't like the heroine in your story, and that took me in a different direction. I almost always hate the heroines in modern novels, especially the mysteries. They are always more like comic book characters who are super heroes with super powers, they are not normal women and they make me crazy. One of the first that comes to mind is the female character in The Da Vinci Code.

[scarletwoman]

25. This may be a crass generalization, but I often find that male authors creating female heroines

tend toward unreality.

One of the things I appreciate about the Scandinavian male authors is that they seem to generally create self-directed and intelligent female characters without trying to endow them with special female powers. They're clever, they work hard, and they enjoy themselves without coming across as stereotyped.

One of my favorite female characters is Hanne Wilhelmsen from a series by Anne Holt, a Norwegian crime novel writer. Hanne ends up in a wheelchair after being shot; she's an older woman, a lesbian, agoraphobic, cranky and does not suffer fools gladly, and her only "superpower" is the fact that she's intelligent and observant. She's someone I'd love to know in real life.

[Curmudgeoness]

26. If it is crass, I am also guilty.

I will have to pay attention to whether it is always the male authors who make the female heroines into Superwoman. But I think that you are right. It must be something in the culture here in the US.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

35. Two protagonists from the same author, Steven Donaldson

He wrote a series of science fiction novels, "The Gap". I read the first one, The Real Story, and loathed it. Thermopyle, the protagonist, is not a flawed hero, nor really an antihero. Rather, he is an unmitigated bastard with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. He is a thief, murderer, thug and rapist. He destroys the only friend he ever had for no apparent reason. When Thermopyle gets into trouble, Morn, a woman whom he has repeatedly beaten and raped, feels sorry for him; making it blindingly obvious that Donaldson has never known any women who have been raped. The reader is also supposed to feel sorry for Thermopyle, even though Donaldson has not given the reader the slightest reason to feel sympathy for him.

Donaldson is also the author of the Thomas Covenant series. Covenant is unpleasant because he feels guilt. He goes on and on, page after page, book after book, kvetching about his guilt. At one point, he feels guilt about what a different character has done. In the second series, Covenant is unconscious for a couple of hundred pages, making me think "Thank God I do not have to listen to him whine about his guilt."

[SheilaT]

37. I recently started the latest Bridget Jones book

and gave up after two chapters. A fifty-one year old woman with two small children and a toy boy lover whose entire sense of self revolves around whether or not said toy boy responds immediately to her text messages is beyond tiresome. Plus, in the first chapter or so she has an email exchange with some mothers of the primary school her kids attend, and it reads more like what a 13 year old would write.

It was awful that Bridget had not matured one iota over the years.

[Wolf Frankula]

40. Lola In Booth Tarkington's Seventeen

She talks baby talk constantly. She is an irritating fool.

Wolf