You Can't Judge a Character

If you're looking for a review of Arrowsmith, you'll have to wait a couple of more weeks. This book has been a challenge for me. I really like books where I can identify with the main character or I actually care about the main character, I'm not there yet. I feel like this book is a chore, but we'll get into that more when I review it.

What I want to write about this time is one of the characters in the book. His name is Max Gottlieb and he is a professor of bacteriology at the university Martin Arrowsmith (the main character) attends. Martin has a fascination with Dr. Gottlieb, but through a falling out they separate and go their own ways. The author takes a break from Martin and focuses on Dr. Gottlieb. When I first started to read this chapter I was not at all interested. I pictured Dr. Gottlieb as a dark, bitter, angry man and maybe a little bit dirty and smelly. No one likes him, his home life is not the greatest and yet he deserves it in a way because he doesn't try to get people to like him and he is very harsh and just plain mean. As I followed him through some rough stages in his life - loosing his job, loosing his wife (she passed away), taking a job that questioned his ideals - I began to find myself caring for this character. When he did finally get the job he longed for I celebrated and found myself truly happy that he could find some happiness and satisfaction in his life. He has now made a comeback in the book and is still the cranky, stern man, but I don't mind it as much and I was actually glad to have him back in the story. Have any of you met a character like this in a book? If so, which book and who is the character?