All there is . . . and the rest of it

Today in Writer Unboxed Donald Maas wrote this:

The protagonists in fiction serve a similar purpose. We look to them as models. What we want from them is not just entertaining stories but examples of how we can feel, see the world, conduct ourselves, grow and change. We admire them, learn from them, celebrate them and return to them over and over for inspiration. Click here for the rest of it

Ah ha! That's why I can't get into some stories. I can't relate to the characters. The book I just finished reading had such mean characters. I didn't like how they acted in their world and I wouldn't want to experience it again. The actions they took were small and greedy. They were all fighting for survival, but only for themselves. Or at least that's the way it felt to me. Not one of them took a larger view. It was all for money or political power. Murder, rape, betrayal.

I'm sure there are people who enjoy this book for it's near future scenarios. What I used to call "After-the-bomb-dropped" stories. Only here it's an "After-the-climate-broke story". Which is well thought out. But there are no heroes in this book. No one to turn the corner and bring hope back. Every decision just makes things worse.

Thanks to Donald Maas for helping me figure out why this didn't work for me!