The comfort of unlikeable characters and why we do not need to like who we read about

There is a particular kind of discomfort that comes from spending time with characters you do not especially like. They make poor decisions. They frustrate. They resist redemption. They say the wrong thing, choose the wrong person, protect themselves when they should reach out, or pursue what they want with a moral flexibility that makes you shift slightly in your seat.

And yet, more often than we might admit, they are the ones who linger. I can think of so many books that are true of this, and we always reach for them.