For some reason I've had a run of library books that are beautifully written and completely devoid of kindness between the characters.

Indeed! I've been finding the same thing. Especially in short fiction. I reviewed an entire antho at The Fix where I was hard pressed to find any characters who liked anyone at all. Writers talk about wanting to write "true to life." In real life people do like other people.

Glad I'm not alone in feeling this way. :D

I think in short fiction some people feel that the liking other people part is extraneous and therefore must be left out, but if that happens too many times in a row the antho or magazine starts feeling unrelentingly hostile to me. Balance, balance, balance!

Also I think motivating people is much easier if they actually like people. Or, y'know, places or things. Nouns. It is good to like nouns. Or possibly verbs.

Yes, balance! I've also thought that some writers are afraid they'll appear Pollyanna if they do so. If a character shows warm feelings then they might look "simple." Possibly, it's just more difficult to write a three-dimensional character who does show warm emotions and doesn't come off as corny. It's much easier to write a misanthropic, world-weary character with a world of problem.

Thanks for the add back. Oh, Jaime sent me here because she hears me complain about this a lot. *hee*

Yes. People, at least people I want to read about, have things they like and things that matter to them. Even if it's a story about someone who smashes things all the time, I want to read about their enjoyment of the smashing, or of the person they miss and whose absence is part of why they keep throwing pottery at the wall.

I think some writers have forgotten that nobody except maybe the writer owes a fictional character love or attention. I am not their characters' grandmother; I do not love the character unconditionally, nor feel obligated to spend the afternoon with him so he won't run into traffic.

That said, I don't insist on only likeable characters: but the others have to be interesting in other ways, and I have to be in the right mood to read about them. (truepenny's Felix Harrowgate isn't someone I'd want to be in the same neighborhood with, but in the right mood (mine, not his) he's fascinating.)

The neighborhood thing reminds me: when I think, "I know you in real life, and I avoid you in real life," that's much more of a deal breaker for me than when I run into someone differently/interestingly unpleasant.

For some reason I've had a run of library books that are beautifully written and completely devoid of kindness between the characters.

I have enough unkindness in my life right now that I really don't want it in my fiction. I don't necessarily want to read about "nice" people, but unrelieved nastiness -- no.