Thomas Covenant, of the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, I don’t remember the individual titles
Affectionate-Flan-99 on
A Confederacy of Dunces. Ignatius Riley is the original incel.
Sage_Planter on
He’s not an incel, but the main character in “Culpability” by Bruce Holsinger was pretty insufferable at times (to me).
Legitimate-Record951 on
Not an incel, but the protagonist is 100% asshole in **HELP! A Bear is Eating Me!**
gh-ul on
Annie bot by sierra Greer. About a guy who gets a high tech sex robot and yea, he’s very punchable.
Prestigious-Bus5649 on
The first story in {Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte}
Ok-Try-6505 on
Go back to the ancient texts ANY book of the diary of an oxygen thief is infuriating, the main character isn’t really an incel cause SOMEHOW girls get with him but he’s such a misogynist it took some serious effort to get though it without pure rage
landomonium on
Perfume by Patrick Suskind, it takes place in the 1700s but I’d say the protagonist fits that category
Hatherence on
Triton by Samuel R. Delany. Also published with the title Trouble on Triton
Gibbon’s Decline and Fall by Sheri S. Tepper follows multiple characters, one of whom is a completely infuriating man.
Connie Willis is an author who, imo, writes really infuriating characters, but I haven’t read anything by her that features someone we would today refer to as an incel.
Background-Factor433 on
Okonkwo from Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Not an incel, but sexist and abusive.
Atsubro on
*I’m Starting To Worry About This Black Box of Doom* by Jason Pargin.
It really dives into the kind of delusion and entitlement a young man has to build to think and act that way.
Nome550 on
Maybe “You” by Caroline Kepnes?
ValuableSky7575 on
Ok technically not the protagonist as it’s interconnected short stories but rejection by tony tulathimutte has a few characters like this and all the stories are centered around that theme
Pocket_Sevens on
Money by Martin Amis. Certainly not an incel but close enough
NorthernPossibility on
*Perfect Days* by Raphael Montes is about a narcissistic incel who becomes obsessed with a girl he meets at a party to the point where he drugs and kidnaps her.
The book is from his point of view and is genuinely hard to read because of how obtuse he is to the ways in which he causes genuine harm to everyone around him. By the end of it I personally wanted to beat him to death with a hammer
SneakyWasHere on
Starter Villain
Pipernation4 on
Hard to really call Roskolnikov the protagonist of Crime and Punishment but he’s the main character.
Ambitious-Camel-7546 on
Post Office. By Charels Bukowski.
Maybe more ashole than incel. But deffenetly insufferable. Not a good person but does a great job painting a scene.
ShaggiemaggielovsPat on
I think Lazarus in Heinlein’s books are who incels think they are- he’s just awful, god complex
emccm on
The Stalker – Paula Bomer
Former-Chocolate-793 on
I always come back to Use of Weapons by Iain Banks
dumptruckulent on
*The Sun Also Rises*
The_Cow_Tipper on
The Catcher in the Rye
dalidellama on
The Flashman Papers by George Macdonald might also do you, Flashman is an utter shit. He gets away with it all, though, so maybe not.
nealpolitan on
Child of God – Cormac McCarthy
Amodernhousewife on
Y’all might hate this, but Stoner
DarwinZDF42 on
The first two Dresden books? Thankfully there’s quite a bit of character development as the series progresses but you can *hear* the fedora in the first book.
28 Comments
Thomas Covenant, of the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, I don’t remember the individual titles
A Confederacy of Dunces. Ignatius Riley is the original incel.
He’s not an incel, but the main character in “Culpability” by Bruce Holsinger was pretty insufferable at times (to me).
Not an incel, but the protagonist is 100% asshole in **HELP! A Bear is Eating Me!**
Annie bot by sierra Greer. About a guy who gets a high tech sex robot and yea, he’s very punchable.
The first story in {Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte}
Go back to the ancient texts ANY book of the diary of an oxygen thief is infuriating, the main character isn’t really an incel cause SOMEHOW girls get with him but he’s such a misogynist it took some serious effort to get though it without pure rage
Perfume by Patrick Suskind, it takes place in the 1700s but I’d say the protagonist fits that category
Triton by Samuel R. Delany. Also published with the title Trouble on Triton
Gibbon’s Decline and Fall by Sheri S. Tepper follows multiple characters, one of whom is a completely infuriating man.
Connie Willis is an author who, imo, writes really infuriating characters, but I haven’t read anything by her that features someone we would today refer to as an incel.
Okonkwo from Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Not an incel, but sexist and abusive.
*I’m Starting To Worry About This Black Box of Doom* by Jason Pargin.
It really dives into the kind of delusion and entitlement a young man has to build to think and act that way.
Maybe “You” by Caroline Kepnes?
Ok technically not the protagonist as it’s interconnected short stories but rejection by tony tulathimutte has a few characters like this and all the stories are centered around that theme
Money by Martin Amis. Certainly not an incel but close enough
*Perfect Days* by Raphael Montes is about a narcissistic incel who becomes obsessed with a girl he meets at a party to the point where he drugs and kidnaps her.
The book is from his point of view and is genuinely hard to read because of how obtuse he is to the ways in which he causes genuine harm to everyone around him. By the end of it I personally wanted to beat him to death with a hammer
Starter Villain
Hard to really call Roskolnikov the protagonist of Crime and Punishment but he’s the main character.
Post Office. By Charels Bukowski.
Maybe more ashole than incel. But deffenetly insufferable. Not a good person but does a great job painting a scene.
I think Lazarus in Heinlein’s books are who incels think they are- he’s just awful, god complex
The Stalker – Paula Bomer
I always come back to Use of Weapons by Iain Banks
*The Sun Also Rises*
The Catcher in the Rye
The Flashman Papers by George Macdonald might also do you, Flashman is an utter shit. He gets away with it all, though, so maybe not.
Child of God – Cormac McCarthy
Y’all might hate this, but Stoner
The first two Dresden books? Thankfully there’s quite a bit of character development as the series progresses but you can *hear* the fedora in the first book.
Confederacy of dunces?