Okay so the main character in this book is intelligent, but you also asked for selfish or thoughtless characters and I think Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively would fit this. It’s from the point of view of an elderly lady reflecting on her life and various relationships. She’s not a completely terrible person but she does make choices that hurt other people, and she’s not even always aware of the consequences of her actions. What I liked in particular was that throughout the book she recalls particular moments and things she said or did, but then the author will rewrite the same scene to show what happened in reality, usually with some subtle changes which reflect poorly on the MC. You also get the POV of another character telling their version of events that contradicts what the MC believes. I thought it was quite an interesting take on the nature of a flawed individual and how she sees herself, vs how the world around her sees her.
Okay so the main character in this book is intelligent, but you also asked for selfish or thoughtless characters and I think Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively would fit this. It’s from the point of view of an elderly lady reflecting on her life and various relationships. She’s not a completely terrible person but she does make choices that hurt other people, and she’s not even always aware of the consequences of her actions. What I liked in particular was that throughout the book she recalls particular moments and things she said or did, but then the author will rewrite the same scene to show what happened in reality, usually with some subtle changes which reflect poorly on the MC. You also get the POV of another character telling their version of events that contradicts what the MC believes. I thought it was quite an interesting take on the nature of a flawed individual and how she sees herself, vs how the world around her sees her.