# Any books with unique main characters?



## bobolob (Mar 14, 2011)

So I've always loved reading. Not too long ago, I use to pick up any book and read it. Then respectfully put it down if it was terrible or read it over again if it was good. During my reading obsession I was trying to write my own novel. Looking back the storyline wasn't half bad, but the main character was the stero-typical flawed-but-amazing-awesome-good-guy. Eventually, I came to realize  The more I read, the more I saw boring main characters surrounded by an awesome story line. 
Sooo in short... do any of you have recommendations for a book with amazing main characters. I just read Darkly Dream Dexter (after watching the show on the internet a few days ago). While the writing was a bit rushed, I loved it. Dexter is truly a unique character. I'm just in the mood to see some awesome characterization I guess.


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## Terry D (Mar 14, 2011)

You might look at a couple of series by Dean Koontz; Odd Thomas was the first in that series, and Fear Nothing.  The main characters in both series have unique characteristics.


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## yingguoren (Mar 16, 2011)

I would suggest going back to the classics for unique characters. Writers such as Tolstoy and Dostoevsky were masters of characterisation, and I think that Victor Hugo's creation of Jean Valjean is a brilliantly flawed hero.

Some modern novels that I think have great characters are Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre and anything by Michael Chabon.


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## Tom88 (Mar 16, 2011)

One that comes to mind was Stephen King's The Stand, Nick was a deaf-mute and had a very engaging personality and way of life. Though his "main character" privilege was shared with a handful of others.


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## mephet (Mar 20, 2011)

I personally really liked the MC in Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, which portrayed a personal journey from a push-over office guy to an adventurous adult through a wonderfully surrealistic urban fantasy story. In addition, Scott Westerfelds Leviathan -series tells a steampunk adventure from the PoVs of a sheltered prince in hiding and a feisty young girl serving on an airship by pretending to be a boy. They aren't extremely different or new characters per-se, but they have definite voices and lovely, _subtle _characterization that makes them unique and understandable.


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## Loulou (Mar 21, 2011)

Garp in _The World According to Garp_ by John Irving.  Unforgettable.  A lot of people would say Holden Caulfield in _Catcher in the Rye_ and he certainly is a card.  The main couple in _Revolutionary Road_ by Richard Yates - Alice and Frank Wheeler - are so real and achingly tragic that they've stayed with me since I read it.


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## ppsage (Mar 21, 2011)

Anybody in _One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest_ but especially the narrator, Chief Bromden.


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## good_i_mean_well (Jun 7, 2011)

whoops, wrong thread.


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## Prinkes (Jun 18, 2011)

John Green books have kinda lame main characters, but his side characters often steal the show with their uniqueness and quirks.
And from the Inkheart Trilogy, we get Dustfinger. He's one of the best characters I've ever read. He's my favorite literary character, hands down. 
I also agree with the suggestion of The Stand - Nick and all the others were absolutely fantastic to read about. (Trashcan Man anyone?)


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## sir_vile_minds (Aug 12, 2011)

Simon Kernick has a recurrent character called Dennis Milne who is a corrupt cop. An English version of Dexter, if you will. He appears in (in order)The Business of Dying, A Good Day to Die and the Payback. Read them in order to get the full story of Milne.


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## procrastin8or (Aug 15, 2011)

Valentine Michael Smith is quite possibly the most unusual character I have ever come across. He is the protagonist in Heinlein's _Stranger in a Strange Land._


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## moderan (Aug 15, 2011)

The narrator of Thomas Tryon's *The Other* is an unusual character, as is the narrator of Daniel Keyes' *Flowers for Algernon*. There's always *Archy and Mehitabel *or *the Metamorphosis* if you want to go inhuman, or *Animal Farm.* Science fiction is usually the home of the most creatively-drawn narrators. You could look up Gully Foyle, too.


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