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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Top Ten Tuesday: What a Jerk!


Today over at The Broke and the Bookish we are talking about JERKS. Yeah, so I think I can come up with some jerky characters! But first let me just say that jerks, in my mind, are different from villains. Jerks you have really truly no patience for. Villains have something about them that sometimes make you feel for them. Jerks, you never feel for. Am I right? What do you think?

1. Ambrose from The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (Ugh, he is awful!)
2. Zan from Back When You Were Easier to Love by Emily Wing Smith (He's on the list since I just read this one and he is at the top of my mind... hopefully this isn't too much of a spoiler!)
3. Harold Skimpole from Bleak House by Charles Dickens (This guy defines the word jerk.)
4. Felix Carbury from The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope (You hope he can redeem himself, but it soon becomes clear that this is impossible.)
5. Hindley Earnshaw from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte ( I blame him for everything that's wrong with Heathcliff!)
6. Fernand Mondago from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (Gah! What was he thinking!?)
7. Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling (Never once felt sorry for this dude.)
8. Mayor Prentiss from the Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness (A creepy scary jerk.)
9. Mr. Wickham from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (Slime all around.)
10. All the sons in The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck (Seriously, how could they?)

Do you agree with my list? Do you "feel" for any of these guys? What characters come to mind for you on this subject?
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16 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 10, 2011 at 6:37 AM

    Wow! Great choices! This topic is one I have to scour my brain too much for.

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  2. Erin in BostonMay 10, 2011 at 7:31 AM

    I agree with all your choices but one - Draco Malfoy. I felt sorry for him because he was a kid just trying to emulate and please his father. Want to talk about jerks? I think Lucius Malfoy takes the cake. One might even call him evil.

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  3. ibeeegMay 10, 2011 at 7:47 AM

    Interesting list.
    While I did not like Ambrose, I certainly appreciated his antagonistic character. A jerk; yes, indeed.
    Malfoy; I felt a tad sorry for him. He was his father's puppet, you know.
    Mr. Wickham; for certain he is slim though and though.
    The sons in The Good Earth; geesh, I love that book and it is on my All Time You Must Read list (books I really hope my children read at some point during their lives,etc) so I am ashamed to admit that I do not clearly remember the sons. It has been many years since I read the book; I should re-read it at some point.

    A list for myself; golly, I don't think I could come up with one. You always impress me with your lists. Your memory is something. You claim that you are able to read for the overall story, but golly woman, you certainly have a knack for remembering characters...all of them, it seems. :D

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  4. LisaMay 10, 2011 at 8:28 AM

    Draco made my list too. I just hate how he tried to be just like his daddy, instead of thinking for himself.

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  5. BibliophileMay 10, 2011 at 8:33 AM

    I agree with Draco, Hindley and Wickham. The rest of the books I have either not read or so long ago that I don't remember much about them, but I'm sure the rest are good choices too.

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  6. Megan B.May 10, 2011 at 8:53 AM

    Yours is the first list I've looked at other than my own. Somehow I know Wickham and Malfoy are going to be on a lot of lists. :)

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  7. SarahMay 10, 2011 at 9:08 AM

    Wooo! I'm so happy to see Ambrose on your list! He's such a creep!

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  8. AnneMay 10, 2011 at 9:22 AM

    Great list! I almost put Fernand on my list too, he is a definite jerk. Hindley Earnshaw was a great choice. You are right, how he treated Heathcliff was horrible and had an effect on the person Heathcliff became.

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  9. PriyaMay 10, 2011 at 9:26 AM

    I always thought of Draco more as a coward than a jerk! He was a big bully though; I never felt sorry for him either!
    Nice list!
    Here's mine: http://peskypiksipesternomi.blogspot.com/2011/05/top-ten-tuesday-is-original.html

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  10. JennyMay 10, 2011 at 9:26 AM

    Malfoy is on my list too but I actually felt sort of bad for him in the end. It took me awhile to come up with a list I'm impressed you slapped one down so quickly.

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  11. Two BibliomaniacsMay 10, 2011 at 10:16 AM

    Great call on The Good Earth! Harold Skimpole was such a horribly great character. I couldn't stand him.

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  12. Jenni ElyseMay 10, 2011 at 10:47 AM

    Good list. I didn't put Draco on mine. Instead, I chose Percy because he basically throws his family under the bus just to get higher up in the Ministry of Magic.

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  13. kayerjMay 10, 2011 at 11:19 AM

    I agree with all your choices, especially Earnshaw. I read once in an edition of Wuthering Heights that was used in a literature class that Heathcliff was a gypsy foundling and as such was socially beneath the Earnshaw's. So even though Kathy loved him so fiercly his social standing did not allow her to marry him. Heathcliff was basically a slave to the Earnshaw's. That along with the abuse inflicted on him daily did turn Heathcliff into a monster, an unloved monster. I think that's why he has been included on so many lists today.

    kaye—the road goes ever ever on

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  14. Melissa (i swim for oceans)May 10, 2011 at 11:36 AM

    YESSSSSSSSS to Mr. Wickam! How did I forget him?!??! :)

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  15. gautami tripathyMay 10, 2011 at 9:02 PM

    These are TOTAL jerks!

    Here is my Top Ten post!

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  16. EllieMay 11, 2011 at 2:29 PM

    Malfoy and Wickham made it onto a lot of lists this week!

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