Are Likeable Characters Important in a Good Novel?

[Chris Tusa]

I'm wondering . . . when you read a book, are you looking for characters you can relate to, characters you like, etc.? Or, are you simply looking for a good story and good writing? Have you read and loved a book containing characters you didn't admire (relate to) or even like?

[Nishita Kumar]

It depends on the book, I think. In a fast-moving adventure/thriller, I don't really care for character development. But in books about relationships, chick-lit, I do want characters I can relate to

[sari]

If I do not like a character or at least feel empathy for him/her I will put the book down no matter what the plot is. I tried reading James Rollings the Domsday Key because of the plot, but I just could not get into any of the characters so the story held no interest for me. I don't hang around people I do not like, and I don;t read books about characters I do not connect with.

[nicole henke]

i dont necessarily have to LIKE the character- but I have to have the story to back up their behavior and keep plot line going. this way i dont get sidetracked in not liking a character and NOT wanting to read any further

[Joana]

When I look for a book to read I look for a book with an interesting plot and good writing. Characters don't have to be likable so much as believable.

[Nikola S]

For me, it is important that the characters are STRONG, not if they are good or bad. Examples: Cruella DeVil, Severus Snape...

[Karoline]

I understand about Snape. Garg I was soooooo mad at the end of Half Blood Prince I wanted to spit in his eye!!!!! lol.

[Lisa Armstrong]

I don't know that likeable is the right term. But I think that characters that you make a connection with is essential. For example, Javert in Les Miserable is a character that I love to hate! Mainly because he provides the perfect counterbalance to Jean Val-Jean. Without one or the other, there is no story. Is Javert likeable? Not to me. But where on the surface he represents to good, honorable, upright, legal representation of the honest man -- inside is everything that I love to hate. His inability to forgive, to change, and to allow others to change is what makes him so weak in his character that he shines the light of rectitude on ValJean. I don't think I am explaining this very good -- but I thing the thing that is essential is characters that are real -- and that there is some kind of connection to. But even if it is all bad -- that still requires the engagement of the reader.

[Karoline]

I like a good story and good writing. I've read some books where I had not attachment to the characters at all and they were still great reads :)

[Alexis Lennert]

it depends on the reader, but i think its always a little fun to read about a character you don't like or disagree with. its always good to look at life from a different perspective. if the story is good people will like it even if they don't like the characters completely.

[Michelle Hesje Nelson]

I always appreciate great writing...but I find that I never fall in love with a book where I don't relate to the main character(s)....This was the case when I watched the film version of "Gone With the Wind"....appreciated the work, hated Scarlett O'Hara and therefore did not ultimately rate the film well....but I do intend to read the novel this month to discover if I can appreciate the work better in literary form......Great question.....

[Leonard Daniel Hernandez]

I do believe likeable characters are important to a good book. If an author has great charcters than the story will shape around them based upon their decisions and actions. As much as I care about the characters I have invented as an author, it is my villians that push the hereos to their limit of what they will do and what they cannot do and bring life to each story. I have always enjoyed thinking up new villians for my books, and implementing them into my stories. I think the key to having an excellent villian is designing them in a way that is completly contradictory to your hereos. For me, I often illustrate my villians first then create their back story and write it down in a black journal, (Befitting of the darker things). Personally, the best villians are the ones that us as readers cannot get enough of, villians that are so vile in their nature our intrests are drawn to them. After all, what would a story be without the ghosts waiting in the dark.

[5peasinapod]

I don't know as in likable I would want to hang out with this person is important. What I do think is important is if you can relate in some way to the character or the conflict in the story. If the character development is low or cheesy, I typically wont finish a book.