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Phillips101
25th July 2008, 11:24
Hello everyone.

I was hoping that you could recommend me a book in which the protagonist meets a deseredly grisly end, or just an end in general.

Books where they have a good, interesting villain (I'll use Voldemort because I'm pretty sure everyone knows about him) - they always seem to have a protagonist that is as boring as the villain is intersting. Harry Potter ¬.¬ I was rooting for Voldemort all through the series, even though I knew Potter would win, and boy did it annoy me...

So, any book recommendations where the protagonist dies/fails? The villain need not be likeable, even vaguely, I just want a dark book. Bonus points for people who can recommend a book where the protagonist is as righteous and cringeworthily representative of ideals like Potter is :)

Thanks for your help.

PS - I'm not really a miserable old man :P I just want a change.
Kell
25th July 2008, 12:31
I'd be VERY interested in any answers that come of this one as I would dearly LOVE to see the bad guy get away with it whilst doing away with the good guy for a change!
slywaka1
25th July 2008, 14:43
Hehe, won't we be giving away the ending/twist if we answer this?!!!!

The only ones that slightly fit this description that I can think of are The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal, in that Hannibal gets away. But Starling doesn't really meet an end...... And I tend to think of Hannibal as a good guy anyway. I suppose it depends how you look at it....

Good question!!!

Anna
Phillips101
25th July 2008, 14:47
Hehe, won't we be giving away the ending/twist if we answer this?!!!!

The only ones that slightly fit this description that I can think of are The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal, in that Hannibal gets away. But Starling doesn't really meet an end...... And I tend to think of Hannibal as a good guy anyway. I suppose it depends how you look at it....

Good question!!!

Anna

Ah, I've read both of those :( And yeah, I think of Hannibal as a good guy. In those sort of books though, I didn't think it would be important that Starling died, because she was never opposing Hannibal (well, she was, but she was so incompetant I knew he would come out on top :P)

YEah, you would be giving the ending away a bit. Unless you cunningly lie about the exact requirements it fills:P
sloth
26th July 2008, 10:49
In terms of 'dark books' many of Derek Robinson's war novels might fit the bill - in particular 'A Good Clean Fight', 'War Story' and 'Piece of Cake'. It tends to be the idealistic ones that either get corrupted or die, and the level of dark-black humour he manages is remarkable. I think you might like them!