Passible sexism, what?

[bookpire.livejournal.com]

Hi I'm a long time watcher of this group, though I’ve never posted before. I’ve been reading posts on here for about six months or so, and I thought I’d be less creepy stalker like and actually say hi. ^^ Actually I have a rather big problem that I need some input on from fellow urban fantasy fans, and I don’t think there’s any better place to get opinions from a feminist view point then here.  

See I’ve been reading the ever loved Dresden Files series after my friends called it ‘the Tolkien of Urban fantasy’ and seeing it praised all over the net. I was pretty damn hyped up to get my teeth into them after a long and painfully dull semester of work, picked up Storm Front on the way home and starting things while riding the late evening train.

I can quite honestly say that Storm Front is probably the worst none romantically lead urban fantasy story I have ever read. Dear god the level of disappointment I felt, at least the Anita Blake series started good and went down one bar one book at a time. Heck I can honestly say Guilty Pleasures towers over Storm Front in terms of almost everything.  I even skips the final confrontation with the villain, something I have never done even while reading books like Anita Blake. But it’s the first in a series right, And Jim Butchers just testing the waters? I did some research, went to sources I trust including someone who had a list of ‘what to read instead of Anita Blake’ and found that the Dresden Files were at the top. She said the series start to become epic amazing in the third and fourth books.

So I read the second book, it was okay. ALOT better then the first I have to say. (lol rhythms) I liked JB’s ideas about werewolves and the different types, so it gave me hope for the third book; maybe it would really start becoming epic.

Let me just say, I am a somewhat feminist like in my tastes, and I imagine some people reading this now and have finished some of the DF novels  are either laughing or raising a brow at what I’m getting at.

After reading three books in this series, I can honestly say I hate Harry Dresden with a passion. Not as much as our good old crazy ass Ms Blake, but dammit to heck I hate this guy so much I couldn’t even understand WHY until I had stopped spazing on the floor. So here’s what I’m asking,

Am I the only one who wants to punch him in the face so hard the sexist, chronic nice guy bullcrap flies right out of him? Seriously Harry Dresden is loved by so many people, yet he’s probably one of the more frustrating protagonists I have ever read. In the first three books his problems all relate to him trusting, protecting or feeling sorry for women at some point in the story, since you know their his greatest weakness and all that. All the females in this universe are apparently so attractive JB has to describe their appearance and compare them to ‘cheerleaders’ or call them ‘all leg’ and what not. Harry justifies his sexism by calling it chivalry, and the story obviously agrees with him, and the only ‘badass’ female character so far seems to be a woman who needs rescuing from her own stupidity, though in truth I read it as Harry not giving Murphy enough information to work on, hence giving her a REASON not to trust his lying ass.

Also a little piece of interesting trivia, in every book I’ve read a woman has been either naked at some point or wearing something revealing and sexy. And let’s just forget about the Harry naked in Storm Front scene where Susan tries to sex him up under the influence of a magical spiked drink.  

When this happened again in the second book I thought ‘oh hey well that’s it, Harry is going to learn not to hold back information from women just because his Y chromosome feels a need to protect them. Then I read the third book, and I seriously wanted to outright murder Harry for not laying a ghost to rest by force because AGAIN it was a woman and he felt sorry for her.

Yeh I know people are going to say ‘well yes that’s Harry’s character flaw’ and good characters have them. But the fact that his weakness resolves around beautiful women in distress feels like such Nice Guy Syndrome. I’m glad Susan is gone, considering she had ‘boring love interest’ printed against her forehead right from the start.

I’m beside myself with confusion because people I respect and know have good taste in books love this series. Am I just over reacting? Or does anyone else feel this way? Should I pick up the fourth book? I’m kinda scared the main focus will be Harry angsting over losing Susan. X-x so I just don’t know.    

Comments

[ex-naomi-ja.livejournal.com]

I didn't have the same problems with Harry as you, but I didn't enjoy the series especially and gave up after book four (which I felt was the weakest of the four I read). I just didn't click with Harry's world, I guess.

[volatilesublime.livejournal.com]

I feel that your post deserve a response much more clever than I am feeling at the moment. I may come back after I've had some time to think and make another reply about the highly-sexualized (which my spell-check is telling me is a typo, wtf) view of women in the Dresden Files.

My short response is that when I first read Storm Front, I was rather underwhelmed; but I liked the magical rules of the world and the way they were presented well enough to pick up the second. The fourth book, Summer Knight, is one of my favorites of the series simply because that seems to be about where Butcher really started to get his feet under him. Plus, it deals with the Fae as both allies and antagonists, and it returns to their mythic origins as mad godlings/ nigh-omnipotent troublemakers with their own bizarre sort of laws and strictures.

Fun fact, in case you haven't heard this (and if you already have, I apologize): The Dresden Files were pretty much directly inspired by the Anita Blake series. Butcher was more focused on writing high fantasy at the time, but he really loved the urban/ noir feeling of the world in the AB series. One of his college professors suggested to him that he write something in that vein, and what came out was pretty much Storm Front.

[bookpire.livejournal.com]

Yeh I heard he was inspired by AB, didn't know his proffessor suggested it tho. Huh the more you know. 8 )

I've heard the fae in the Dresden world are great, but it's kinda hard to love creative world building when the actions of the main character keep taking you out of the world. I guess it's just I problem I have, I wish it didn't ruin everything else for me. 8c

[tooimpurenangel.livejournal.com]

Can't stand Harry. Love the series. Is that weird?

Ugh, the part in SF where he talks about annoying Murphy with his ~chivalry~ and doing it anyway? WHARGARBL!
It actually gets worse. Proven Guilty is just really gross and makes me feel dirty, but I think the world-building is brilliant.

[bookpire.livejournal.com]

Yeh this is pretty much how I feel about it, the urban world that is the Dresden universe is creative and beats the pants of the AB series. But just like Anita, I just wish we weren't seeing it through Harrys POV. 8/

...I'm scared to ask, but isn't Proven Guilty about Molly? The underage wizard girl? Oh God do I wanna know?

[solarom.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I think you're reacting, and I really think you're taking "feminism" to a lever where it really doesn't need to get. Basically, turning in into a prejudice against men. If a guy says in his head that a woman is "all leg" it's not sexist. It's not very elegant, but not sexist either, or at least not more sexist than any one of us going inside our heads "Look at that ass!" when a guy passes us on the street. Let's face it, in a moment like that we're not at all concerned with what kind of a person he is or what really moves his soul. It's a sexual reaction, and given that DF is written by a man, who obviously likes women is it really that much of a surprise that a lot of the books revolve around Harry's relationship|partnership with various ladies? Sure, it gets corny sometimes, but I think that's merely a mark of an inexperienced writer (not limiting yourself, getting too carried away and emotional with your writing, trying to sound cool and fully and naturally failing) and it does get better as the books go on.

[subtle-shades.livejournal.com]

But if there are *only* hot women in the narrative or Harry only helps hot women, then it's getting icky and sexist. It's also icky if every girl Harry meets needs his help/protection/dick/whatever. And Nice Guy Syndrome (if that's what Harry's the embodiment of) is out and out gross.

I admit, I haven't read any of the Dresden Files but from the sounds of it, the writer of the above post might just hate the series and/or character. That's not misandry, just a difference in taste. (And seriously, where do you get that the writer of the post hates men? She hates Harry Desden which is a totally acceptable response to a literary character - unless your dislike of Anita somehow marks you as a misogynist.)

Just my two cents.

[straussmonster.livejournal.com]

It does take a while, but Harry's chauvinism 1) bites him in the ass 2) people call him on it. I think it's a rather deliberate character flaw.

[loree.livejournal.com]

That's what I get from it too. Once the series gets its legs he knows it's a problem, does it anyway, and repeatedly gets his ass kicked for it.

[darkmanifest.livejournal.com]

When I started reading the books, I was so happy for a writing style I found genuinely funny and world-building I adored that I was willing to gloss over the sketchiness towards women (the Molly fetishism, whoo boy). Probably the main reason I can manage that is because Harry almost never has a relationship in the course of thirteen books, so at least his bullshit is largely irrelevant to the actual story and action. (I'd even go so far as to say that Harry's sexism is supposed to be an embarrassing weakness stemming from his limited interaction with women. You know how people say a chauvinist guy must spend a lot of time in his basement alone? That's literally Harry's entire life. I'm trying to remember if any characters find his behavior quaint, but mostly I just recall people mocking him for it). And when you take Harry's objectifying out of the equation, the female characters are all badass. Murphy, Molly, Luccio, the Leanansidhe, Ivy, Sigrun, Lara Raith, Justine, all the queens of the faerie courts...very cool.

Also I really appreciate Butcher's love for kicking Harry in the face. So when Harry annoys me, I take comfort in the fact that not a single book can go by without him being made a complete fool of or suffering untold injuries (without any rapid healing magic), which is really rare in this genre. But you're not wrong about the skeeviness, at all. I can get past it (barely), but I completely understand people who can't.

[bookpire.livejournal.com]

hmmm, maybe the first books didn't show the female characters in the best light. I have heard Murphy gets better. I understand that Harry has this flaw, but there are hints that not all of it is just the character. I have to ask, from book four onwards, are there still women dressing in revealing clothes or becoming naked for no reason? Also do problems start to stream from things happening that didn't involve Harry doing something stupid or holding back infomation? Because that would be a plus.

[threeringedmoon.livejournal.com]

I tried the first few and gave up. I didn't like Harry, and the world building and reasonably literate writing didn't make up for it. My husband has bought them all, and every once in a while I look at the series on shelves, but the urge goes away quickly.

[baeraad.livejournal.com]

I used to be a big Harry Dresden fan, but I eventually soured on the series. I felt that Harry just turned into too much of a self-righteous douchebag in the end, all while the entire universe was lining up to tell him how wonderful and saintly he was.

And, having re-read the first book since then... yeah, I hear you. There is something deeply annoying about Harry's attitude towards women. That scene early on when he races Murphy to the door so he can open it for her, even though he knows she hates it when he does that, kind of says all you need to know. Harry, you douche - chivalry is an iffy enough concept as it is, seeing as it rests on the view of women as fragile flowers who need to be treated gently so as not to wither and die. But if you have to be chivalrous, you need to understand that it's about being kind and thoughtful and even servile - if you are forcing it upon a woman, then it's not chivalry anymore, it's just a way of putting her down to make yourself feel like a big man!

[subtle-shades.livejournal.com]

Through a series of amusing events, I've actually got the first four books but I've never read them. I've got friends who say that Harry is wonderful and lovable and friends who say he makes them vomit in their mouths and try harder at kick boxing class. (Also, there are plot holes. The largest of which seems to involve no one noticing a dinosaur stomping around downtown Chicago during rush hour. Why there's a dinosaur and what it's doing in downtown Chicago, I've no idea.) What I've extrapolated from those rants is that Harry Dresden is something you either love or hate.

Personally, I don't feel that I need to put up with some imaginary character's sexist bullshit to get a good story to read. There are lots of books out there that won't make me breathe fire or want to stomp imaginary people into paste. If Harry Dresden makes you vomit in your mouth, find something better. He's popular but he's not all that and a bag of chips.

[killiara.livejournal.com]

Not just a dinosaur.

To stop a bunch of evil necromancers Harry gets a Bright Idea at the natural history exhibit at the museum.

That is ZOMBIE T-REX.

[graylor.livejournal.com]

I got sick of the series a couple books in, mainly because the only thing holding my interest was the magical system. If Harry's sexism is supposed to be a flaw, it's a flaw like Bella Swan's clumsiness in Twilight. There's an element where, at least to me, it felt like the authors were saying, 'Oh, it's a *flaw*, tee-hee, isn't it *cute*.' I wouldn't want to hang out with a guy with Harry's attitude in real life so I choose not to hang-out with him in his books.

[baeraad.livejournal.com]

Yes. This. I always got the impression that Butcher found Harry's (sigh) "old-fashionedness" more endearing than anything, and expected the reader to feel the same.

(and oh, this is such a pet peeve of mine - people who claim to be "old-fashioned" and "sentimental" when they are really just being reactionary. >_<)

[snarky-imp.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing by now you've pretty much figured out whether you wanna keep reading or not. Personally, I love Dresden. He's an ass (quite frequently, in fact) but there are consequences to his actions. Which is way more than I can say for Anita. I would not suggest reading the short story collection, especially the Murphy story (the original story in that book) because... yeah. It is just not a good idea.

I think Murphy gets to be pretty friggin' awesome, but Harry does spend a lot of the series unable to properly see it. And again, we do not speak of that story.

That said, I thought Guilty Pleasures was complete and utter crap and I wanted to punch Anita repeatedly. If the series hadn't come so highly recommended by someone I trust in all manner of book type things, I'd have assumed they were trying to annoy me. So... we seem to have opposite views on things. ;)

[bookpire.livejournal.com]

ptttt hey it makes the world interesting XD

[archanglrobriel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I read a few Harry Dresden books and I remember disliking H.D. very, very much.

[eldestmuse.livejournal.com]

"I even skips the final confrontation with the villain, something I have never done even while reading books like Anita Blake."

Clearly you never read Micah.

[bookpire.livejournal.com]

nope. nope not even under threat of death.

[cheeky-duckie.livejournal.com]

I agree that the first book was really underwhelming; I read it and liked it well enough, but didn't read another Dresden Files book for about a year. I picked up the fifth one while I was sick, and then read the rest of the series up to that point (I don't recall to which book -- it would have been sometime in 2008) and loved it. I went back and read the second, third and fourth books and remained underwhelmed. The world building is interesting.

That said, I very rarely pick up on sexism like that when I'm reading; it has to be pointed out to me. It also doesn't always take me out of the story. (Sometimes that worries me. >_>;) But you're right -- he does stink of Nice Guy.

[wyrdmuse.livejournal.com]

I can't stand those books for the same reasons you outlined. As a short woman, I can't stand douchebags who treat me like Harry treats Murphy. Not to mention Harry's world is incredibly white, despite the Chicago neighborhood he supposedly lives in.

I really don't recommend reading Butcher's other series, either. It was full of even more sexism and just grossness all around.

[viridian5.livejournal.com]

I tried the Dresden series but didn't stick with it for long because I hated Harry and his "old-fashioned" (sexist!!) tendencies toward women.

[zombiegoat.livejournal.com]

If you've written so much about how you have disliked the first few books in the series and its protagonist, why are you bothering to ask the community in general if you should keep reading?

[subtle-shades.livejournal.com]

It's natural to want to know if it gets better. I've known people who've slogged through thousands of pages of tripe on the promise of It Gets Better After X alone.

Besides, it's vaguely OT for a community which, honestly, hasn't had much activity lately.

[cherose228.livejournal.com]

Hi, all:

I had never heard of THE DRESDEN FILES until I saw the tv show, and then I went and bought every book that had been published to that date - 6, I seem to remember. I thought that the sexism was hilarious, given the context, and I also thought that, while he didn't seem to have his head screwed on too tightly, that at least he knew what his faults were, and tried his best to overcome them. Y'see, it's hard as hell to trust anybody, given his background. He was taught only too well and at too early an age that any and everybody always betrays him, including women.

Hang on with the series, and get them and read them in order. Believe me when I tell you that Harry Dresden grows and matures, and in a good way. I don't understand the remark about his having a "fetish" about Molly; again, in the later books that all gets explained and dealt with. Also in the later books, the situation with Susan gets resolved. Yes, he angsts about their relationship ending because he feels guilty about being the cause of the horrid situation that she finds herself trapped in, even though he wasn't the proximate cause.

As for the absolute nonsense that lkh "inspired" him to write urban fantasy, that's not the case. She made fun of book one of the CODEX ALERA (which, incidentally, I don't care for - want a sexist attitude? Read *those* books)which had just been published, if I'm remembering correctly, with some lukewarm and some rather bad reviews and arrogantly told him that A) he wasn't a very good writer and she wouldn't be caught dead reading anything that he wrote; B) he would never be a good writer and C) he couldn't write anything that even came close to her wonderful Anita - but that she hoped he'd try, if only so that she could give him advice on how to write compelling characters, good story lines, great plots and interesting sexual situations. She told him this in front of a roomful of witnesses which included Harlan Ellison - and Mr. Ellison made her pay dearly for being such an arrogant piece of work.

Mr. Butcher has already said that he's ending THE DRESDEN FILES within the next couple of books - and I for one will be sorry to see that happen.

[naeko.livejournal.com]

Hamilton is actually part of how Butcher got published (http://www.jim-butcher.com/jim) so I don't know where you heard that she's bagged on his stuff, but I seriously doubt it's true. People have been claiming this for years, but I've never seen any proof of it.

Also, he has a 20+ book plan for TDF, so it's got at least another 7-10 years to go, which I'm happy about. I love Dresden and the books.

[naeko.livejournal.com]

I'll say the same thing I say to everyone who bitches about Harry's supposed sexism in the early books: Just stop and go away. I mean, it's one thing if you're in a Lashouts-like comm about TDF and you're reading because you enjoy the badness (like watching a shitty SyFy movie: you think it's terrible, but enjoyable) but if you just hate the character and you're not getting any enjoyment out of it, walk away.

I love Dresden (as in, if he was real, I would probably devote my life to trying to nail him) and the books (the latest one being an exception; Ghost Story felt like "The Dresden Files: a clip show!). I don't think chivalry is an problem in real life, but in the books it's a problem because it's basically just a button Harry pushes that results in him getting punched in the face. It's written as a flaw that causes Harry to get into a lot of damn trouble.

I think the books are funny and clever, and I love the idea that Butcher's had a plan about the world and about his 20+ book series from the beginning, and that little things that you had forgotten about from book 2 WILL show up 10+ books later and make you go, "holy shit!" I have never heard anyone prior to this post bitch about how he sexualizes Molly (bwuh?) but I don't see it, either. However, if you don't like the camera through which you're seeing the Dresdenverse, then why keep reading? Don't do something that doesn't give you any enjoyment; it's as simple as that. It doesn't sound like, with many of us here and the Aniteverse, you're attached to the series and pissed that it changed; it just sounds like you disliked it from the beginning and let peer pressure talk you into repeatedly doing something you didn't like.

[bookpire.livejournal.com]

holy shit dude calm down. 8/ Yeh I did start reading the books because I'm part of the online book community and I see TDF's all over the place. It's not a situation like 'oh read this or you'll be lame' like back in school. I wanted to read them because I was tiered of not knowing crap when the series was brought up. Not trying to be rude, but you come off as if I've personally insulted your taste in fiction.

em...I apologize? >>;

The reason I even posted on here is because I needed to see if it was just my imagination, BECAUSE there are so many fans raising it. Heck I'm not going to argue if the books beyond the first three are good, I haven't said anything bad about them because I haven't read them. I'm just pointing out what I saw in the first three.

Also just stop and go away? That sounds like something an Anita Blake fan would say when people point out things in the AB series. 8/

[octaviaeight.livejournal.com]

Naeko, I used to be a hater like you.. until I took an arrow to the knee. Really? There is NOTHING more productive you could choose to do without lambasting people you don't know because they had a simple question about something they like that you didn't? Seems a little too much free time and hate is on your hands. I suggest a cup of tea.
Now... let's all notice that I didn't tell anyone that they were wrong? I found an opinion a little skewed and added my own "two cents," as the saying goes. Gosh DARN it, people, it's called "free speech." Also, it can be seen as "Freedom of Opinion."

[naeko.livejournal.com]

Show me where I said she was wrong.

[pastygothchick.livejournal.com]

I found the encounter with Agatha as an example of how potent Dresden-verse ghosts are. They can seem real to a person who knows they aren't.

"This was the hard part about dealing with really substantial, dangerous ghosts. They were almost human. They appeared to be able to feel emotion, to have some degree of self-awareness. Ghosts aren't alive, not really—they're a footprint in stone, a fossilized skeleton. They are shaped like the original, but they aren't it.
But I'm a sucker for a lady in distress. I always have been. It's a weak point in my character, a streak of chivalry a mile wide and twice as deep. I saw the hurt and the loneliness on the ghost-Agatha's face, and felt it strike a sympathetic chord in me. I let my arm go still again. Perhaps, if I was lucky, I could talk her away. Ghosts are like that. Confront them with the reality of their situation, and they dissolve."

He also reveals a sort of plan to deal with the ghost that doesn't work. When they have to go into the NeverNever to deal with the ghost it reveals more plot and sets the story going.

His treatment of Murphy had less to do with the fact that she was a woman and more to do with the fact that she was vanilla mortal and not supernaturally equipped to deal with a wizard or witch capable of ripping the hearts out of two people with a spell. (A spell that looks familiar in book 12.) Plus later it's explained that the supernatural fear humanity as a whole and dismiss humanity individually. Harry refers to getting humanity involved in something as "the nuclear option". He was walking a difficult line with Murphy. Telling her about the reality of the supernatural would put her at the mercy of some highly dangerous creatures and isolate her from other people.

In "Dead Beat" he has this conversation with another vanilla mortal:

"If I tell you this," I said quietly, "it could be bad for you."
"Bad how?"
"It could force you to keep secrets that people would kill you for knowing. It could change the way you think and feel. It could really screw up your life."

[bookpire.livejournal.com]

I probably wouldn't have minded or even took much notice of Harry's weakness towards the ghost if the last two books hadn't done this. I can't argue against the idea that he was being suckered into wanting to help the because that's how ghosts work in this universe. But on a personal level the whole scene read as Harry making a mistake in order to get the ball rolling for alot of stuff that happens in the book, just like in the second book. It baffled me that Harry didn't given try and follow up on why a female friend of his wanted to create a bitch powerful holding seal. He was worried about her and outright refused to give her infomation. Why didn't he try and find out what she was doing? Did he just think he was the only one who knew about this stuff? If he's a world weary wizard wouldn't he kinda worry about her going to a sketchy source for the same infomation and getting herself killed? And that's what happens! To me, it just feels like JB uses Harry's 'honor' towards women as a an 'acceptable' mistake so Harry can angst or when the plot needs to screw him over. The fact that the ghost was endangering new born babies but he wanted to be 'nice' to her was what kinda ticked me off the most.

Again I'm not necessarily right, people read things differently. I just wish the main character of this series had a better reason for getting into trouble then 'I did what I thought was right, now I must suffer.'

Yeh, I can't argue about him not wanting to be the one to endanger Murphy, it makes sense. But it's more like the way it's handled in the text that kinda rubs me the wrong way. I was cringing with pain in the first book when Murphy needed to be rescued and had to act in a way that can be sumed up like this.'I'm a silly woman and don't know any better so I'll just scream and threaten to arrest you even though we're both in danger right now.' It was a scene that was supposed to be played for comedy, but I found it more annoying then funny. Also from what I've read Harry never seems to learn his lesson about it, and keeps Murphy in the dark even when lack of infomation is already endangering her life. After the first book, you'd think he'd at least not try and do everything himself, but he does. Hell in the second book I don't think there are any real reasons for him to keep back infomation from Murphy at all. Come to think of it, why is he even working with the cops if he can only give them half truths? For the money? Get a real job Harry 8/ seriously this dude can't get a job delivering pizza on a bike? Then again I guess that wouldn't be cool enough.

[fadeinthewash.livejournal.com]

Several people upthread have mentioned what a dick Harry is for his treatment of Murphy and doing things like racing to open the door or calling her cute for his being so disrespectful and oppressive of her as a woman.

Personally? I always just saw them as having a sort-of jerk-ish friendship, like, I dunno, House and Wilson. House and Wilson regularly do dickish things to each other, but half the time the dickish things are done with the understanding that it's part of a game and retaliation is expected and even appreciated. I mean, jeeze, is every other person on this thread SO super-respectful and enlightened that they have never and will never do something to deliberately annoy any of their friends? Not even humming a song you know drives them crazy? Or is the extrapolated respect of women's autonomy and independence by dint of self-door-opening too serious to be joked around with by anyone with a Y chromosome?

And per the OP...
Harry justifies his sexism by calling it chivalry, and the story obviously agrees with him, and the only ‘badass’ female character so far seems to be a woman who needs rescuing from her own stupidity, though in truth I read it as Harry not giving Murphy enough information to work on, hence giving her a REASON not to trust his lying ass.

*scratches head* You read it a certain way, but you're believing that a different way is the truth? I read it the same way you did: Harry not giving Murphy enough info to work with. I thought it was pretty obvious that he didn't, and that it was treated that way in-story. It perpetually bites him in the ass until he finally gets a grip and starts doling out the info instead of being so secretive.

All the females in this universe are apparently so attractive JB has to describe their appearance and compare them to ‘cheerleaders’ or call them ‘all leg’ and what not.
I won't say it's not Male Gaze-y, but it's also, I believe, a call-back to the general noir genre. Jaded, scruffy PI sitting in his dark office, in strides a gorgeous femme fatale, cue exaggerated description of her beauty. It's even parodied on Prairie Home Companion with the Guy Noir skit. Not that that makes it better to anyone who finds that kind of thing offensive, but there is something of a context for it.

Also, if this, "After reading three books in this series, I can honestly say I hate Harry Dresden with a passion. Not as much as our good old crazy ass Ms Blake, but dammit to heck I hate this guy so much I couldn’t even understand WHY until I had stopped spazing on the floor." is true, then no, absolutely don't bother reading more; why even ask? I mean, "hate with a passion"? I've given up on series that I felt way more ambivalence towards than 'hating with a passion.' Kim Harrison's books, for instance, though that's another series that has a goodly amount of popular acclaim. *shrug*

[bookpire.livejournal.com]

I asked because it was driving me crazy. I can't really say any other reason other then I wanted to hear other peoples views on it. Also I hate the main character, but the world itself is interesting, blind hope that Harry gets better after the third book maybe?

[atypia.livejournal.com]

I think Harry's a pig, and the man who writes him is a pig. There's a short story he wrote that is just revolting misogynistic, if I can remember what it's called I'll comment with it.

[atypia.livejournal.com]

I've read all the books and the short stories, and I think it's the most recent short story that was in an anthology that had the story I found so gross. (and I just said story a lot!).

To me, he's very similar to Anita in that "I am so powerful and far more special than all the others!" way.

Personally, I found the more books I read, the more I hated Harry and the author. Finally reaching the point where I've just given up.