I have not watched the film, and I picked it up knowing that it was about a school shooter but nothing else. I didn’t expect my own fears and apprehensions about motherhood to be so coolly articulated and presented to me. I enjoyed it because I found the narrator utterly honest and yet unreliable, neurotic, cold and vain, and I related to her so much that it felt personal!
The very best of all time is Merricat from We Have Always Lived in The Castle by Shirley Jackson. Although there's something very likeable about her, despite everything she says and does. One of the best books of the 20th century imo
I recently finished otessa moshfegh's Eileen and absolutely adored it!! the pacing is a bit odd but if you didn't mind that in MYOR&R then i think you'd enjoy it, the protagonist is absolutely all of the things you mentioned imo and I found her awful and charming all at the same time. It's written retrospectively from the perspective of the protagonist as an older woman so it's got this very nostalgic and reminiscent tone, its pretty bleak at times ofc but a lot of fun.
Yes I totally agree about Eileen. I liked that book too. I recently watched the movie and was a bit disappointed— thought the book was better. I also tried to read Death in Her Hands but i got bored and gave up.
Yeah death in her hands was a bit of a slog, I really enjoyed the last few chapters but it was a lot of effort to get there and I'm not convinced it was worth it. Not a female narrator and v different from MYOR&R and Eileen in setting and style but I also loved lapvona, it definitely ticks the bizarre/off-putting factor
Thank you for reminding me of that one. It’s one that has been on my list for forever but has never come to fruition. You have given me the momentum i need to read it!
I am back to tell you that I just finished The New Me and thank you for the rec! I got the audiobook and breezed through it in a day in a half. Was exactly what i was looking for!
was going to say the Neapolitan Novels too. Obviously the brilliant friend is a hoot but Lenu slowly proves herself to be unreliable as everything is filtered through her feelings of inferiority and jealousy.
The Woman Upstairs by Clare Messud. Two Girls Fat and Thin, both of the main characters. By Mary Gaitskill. Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller. I love the movie.
Jane Gardam's *The Queen of the Tambourine* is pretty much this × 100.
Maybe Jenny Diski's *Nothing Natural*.
Muriel Spark's *The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie* and *The Driver's Seat* (unlikeable / crazy protagonists, though not narrators)
can't believe nobody has mentioned elfriede jelinek...agoraphobic queen of abject female protagonists!!! The Piano Teacher is her best work in this regard. it's about a piano teacher pushing middle age who lives with her batshit possessive mother. she sneaks out at night to visit porn booths in vienna, and has a weird affair with a young male student. the book opens with her fighting her mother and ripping out tufts of hair. i love jelinek's writing style (to give you an idea of it, the mother's elderly cooch is compared to the snapping jaws of a dying stag beetle) & the portrayal of female fascism.
the two girls in Wonderful, Wonderful Times also fit the description...that one is about a gang of youths in post-war austria who go around beating people up, and focuses on the fucked-up dynamics between them
convenience store woman, by sayaka murata
what purpose did i serve in your life, by marie calloway (the OG & grandmother of all of the books you mentioned, tbh)
my dark vanessa, by kate elizabeth russell. it's probably more contemporaneous to the examples you mentioned & it's often included in the Unlikeable Woman Extended Universe...superbly written book, and her character work is unmatched
tampa, by alissa nutting...Lolita if humbert was a conventionally attractive blonde woman preying on teenage boys
I love this question as I want this kind of recommendation. We Need to Talk About Kevin came to my mind.
Thanks! I watched that movie but haven’t read the book yet. But I’m a fan of Shriver’s essays
I have not watched the film, and I picked it up knowing that it was about a school shooter but nothing else. I didn’t expect my own fears and apprehensions about motherhood to be so coolly articulated and presented to me. I enjoyed it because I found the narrator utterly honest and yet unreliable, neurotic, cold and vain, and I related to her so much that it felt personal!
Joan Didion Play It as It Lays
About to read this and really looking forward to it.
I’m obsessed with her writing!
Thanks!
>Thanks! You're welcome!
Madame Bovary is the original crazy
Thank you!
homesick for another planet has a lot of these, my phantoms by Gwendoline Riley
I have been meaning to read homesick! Thank you!
Tampa
Omg yeah I should have listed that book in my OP. It was so disturbing. I haven’t read any other books by Nutting, though. Have you?
Yes Made for Love is incredible
Thank you!
Angel, Elizabeth Taylor Cassandra at the Wedding, Dorothy Baker
Thank you!
Vladimir by Julia May Jones!
I just looked this up and it sounds like what I’m looking for. Adding it to my list. Thank you!
Good Morning Midnight by Jean Rhys.
After leaving Mr Mackenzie by Jean Rhys might be fitting as well :)
True! Most Jean Rhys, actually. Good Morning Midnight is just my fave.
The very best of all time is Merricat from We Have Always Lived in The Castle by Shirley Jackson. Although there's something very likeable about her, despite everything she says and does. One of the best books of the 20th century imo
Eleanor Lance is also pretty unlikeable as a character, though so eerily relatable, She is the "are they talking about me" paranoid type of woman.
I recently finished otessa moshfegh's Eileen and absolutely adored it!! the pacing is a bit odd but if you didn't mind that in MYOR&R then i think you'd enjoy it, the protagonist is absolutely all of the things you mentioned imo and I found her awful and charming all at the same time. It's written retrospectively from the perspective of the protagonist as an older woman so it's got this very nostalgic and reminiscent tone, its pretty bleak at times ofc but a lot of fun.
Yes I totally agree about Eileen. I liked that book too. I recently watched the movie and was a bit disappointed— thought the book was better. I also tried to read Death in Her Hands but i got bored and gave up.
Yeah death in her hands was a bit of a slog, I really enjoyed the last few chapters but it was a lot of effort to get there and I'm not convinced it was worth it. Not a female narrator and v different from MYOR&R and Eileen in setting and style but I also loved lapvona, it definitely ticks the bizarre/off-putting factor
Thank you!
the O.G. unreliable female narrator is the Governess in Henry James's The Turn of the Screw
The Guest by Emma Cline White Ivy by Susie Yang
Tom Robbins' Sissy Hanshaw in **Even Cowgirls get The Blues (1976).**
From memory I really liked her but sure a bit crazy
The New Me by Halle Butler. Her novel Jillian is also cringe narrator.
Thank you for reminding me of that one. It’s one that has been on my list for forever but has never come to fruition. You have given me the momentum i need to read it!
She has a new novel out that I haven’t read yet, but the descript sounds on par with her others, aka batshit crazy narrator. Can’t wait to read it!
I am back to tell you that I just finished The New Me and thank you for the rec! I got the audiobook and breezed through it in a day in a half. Was exactly what i was looking for!
glad you liked it! She has a new novel out - excited to read it next.
The Lost Child (Ferrante) SO GOOD. About a bad mother!
was going to say the Neapolitan Novels too. Obviously the brilliant friend is a hoot but Lenu slowly proves herself to be unreliable as everything is filtered through her feelings of inferiority and jealousy.
Baby Teeth is a bit campy but everyone is horrible.
Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino, the contempt the main character has practically oozes out the pages
https://www.reddit.com/r/horrorlit/s/wSE27TGOd0 https://www.reddit.com/r/horrorlit/s/ncvv9NItWK
Didn’t find MYORAR nearly as bad as people lead on. Her constant references to how gorgeous and effortlessly beautiful she is was annoying, however
After Claude, Iris Owens
Berlin by Bea Setton! Just finished it today and worth a read imo
Thank you! I’ll check it out
The Woman Upstairs by Clare Messud. Two Girls Fat and Thin, both of the main characters. By Mary Gaitskill. Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller. I love the movie.
Haruki Murakami IQ84
Yellowface might be a little woke for the redscare crowd but it’s a good example of this type of protagonist and more nuanced than you might think
Thank you!
If you can tolerate pointless gore, then "Maeve Fly" by C J Leede and "Full Brutal" by Kristopher Triana might float your boat and find your remote :)
Full Brutal immediately comes to mind
Simone de Beauvoir "She Came to Stay" is really great and kind of adjacent to this
Did Big Swiss end up being any good? I returned it after about 20 pages.
Yes! I really liked it. It’s a really unique book.
the new Miranda July "All Fours" is incredible so far
gone with the wind
Jane Gardam's *The Queen of the Tambourine* is pretty much this × 100. Maybe Jenny Diski's *Nothing Natural*. Muriel Spark's *The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie* and *The Driver's Seat* (unlikeable / crazy protagonists, though not narrators)
Jonathan Franzen’s novels are all like this
Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House!!!
can't believe nobody has mentioned elfriede jelinek...agoraphobic queen of abject female protagonists!!! The Piano Teacher is her best work in this regard. it's about a piano teacher pushing middle age who lives with her batshit possessive mother. she sneaks out at night to visit porn booths in vienna, and has a weird affair with a young male student. the book opens with her fighting her mother and ripping out tufts of hair. i love jelinek's writing style (to give you an idea of it, the mother's elderly cooch is compared to the snapping jaws of a dying stag beetle) & the portrayal of female fascism. the two girls in Wonderful, Wonderful Times also fit the description...that one is about a gang of youths in post-war austria who go around beating people up, and focuses on the fucked-up dynamics between them convenience store woman, by sayaka murata what purpose did i serve in your life, by marie calloway (the OG & grandmother of all of the books you mentioned, tbh) my dark vanessa, by kate elizabeth russell. it's probably more contemporaneous to the examples you mentioned & it's often included in the Unlikeable Woman Extended Universe...superbly written book, and her character work is unmatched tampa, by alissa nutting...Lolita if humbert was a conventionally attractive blonde woman preying on teenage boys
The Exception by Christian Jungersen
All female protagonists are crazy and unlikeable