seems to take an unseemly pleasure in ( the characters ' ) misery and at the same time to congratulate himself for having the guts to confront it 
(ROOT (S (VP (VBZ seems) (S (VP (TO to) (VP (VP (VB take) (NP (DT an) (JJ unseemly) (NN pleasure)) (PP (IN in) (NP (-LRB- -LRB-) (NP (DT the) (NNS characters) ('' ')) (-RRB- -RRB-) (NN misery)))) (CC and) (VP (PP (IN at) (NP (DT the) (JJ same) (NN time))) (TO to) (VP (VB congratulate) (NP (PRP himself)) (PP (IN for) (S (VP (VBG having) (NP (NP (DT the) (NNS guts)) (SBAR (S (VP (TO to) (VP (VB confront) (NP (PRP it))))))))))))))))))
(ROOT (S (VP (VBZ ) (S (VP (TO ) (VP (VP (VB ) (NP (DT ) (JJ ) (NN )) (PP (IN ) (NP (-LRB- ) (NP (DT ) (NNS ) ('' )) (-RRB- ) (NN )))) (CC ) (VP (PP (IN ) (NP (DT ) (JJ ) (NN ))) (TO ) (VP (VB ) (NP (PRP )) (PP (IN ) (S (VP (VBG ) (NP (NP (DT ) (NNS )) (SBAR (S (VP (TO ) (VP (VB ) (NP (PRP ))))))))))))))))))