A book with an unreliable narrator

[Juanita]

Picking up on the conversation from the general 2017 discussion thread, how do we pick this book? Does knowing that the narrator is unreliable going into the book, spoil the book for you?

I like the suggestion of A Million Little Pieces Oprah's Book Club by James J. Frey, who famously made up parts of his published-as-nonfiction book. (And along with Jonathan Franzen brought about the end of Oprah's (original) Book Club.)

[Booklover]

I'm looking forward to re-reading Wuthering Heights for this prompt.

[Dani]

Lolita
HH is like the textbook definition of an unreliable narrator.

[Dani]

Vanity Fair
Endless Night
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
The End of Alice
Life of Pi
Fight Club
A Clockwork Orange
American Psycho
The Great Gatsby
The Catcher in the Rye
The Screwtape Letters

[Mike]

Maybe it's early, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what HH is.

[Dani]

Mike wrote: "Maybe it's early, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what HH is."


Humbert Humbert, the protagonist in Lolita

[Mike]

OK, thanks. Looking at your original comment, I see Lolita now, but it's next to your name so I skimmed over it thinking it was part of your name!

[Bill]

I'm planning on reading some H.P. Lovecraft. His narrators always begin by saying they are crazy.

[Nadine in NY]

This is one of my favorite "sub-genres" (if it can be called that) so I'm very excited to see this category! Of course, you can never REALLY know if a book has an unreliable narrator until you read it, so it's hard to choose a book to read. I keep a bookshelf of "unreliable narrators" if anyone needs ideas, my shelves are public.

Here are my possibilities for this category - if anyone has read any of these and can tell me if they qualify (or not) for an unreliable narrator, please do!:
Fight Club (Palahniuk),
American Psycho (Ellis),
We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Jackson),
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Hodkin),
Elizabeth Is Missing (Healey),
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves (Fowler),
The Good Soldier (Ford),
The Widow (Barton),
The Lifeboat (Hogan),
The Wasp Factory (banks)
The Silver Linings Playbook (Quick),
On the Jellicoe Road (Marchetta),
Rebecca (du Maurier),
The Ice Twinss (Tremayne),
The Good Girl (Kubica),
Villette (Bronte),
Under the Harrow (Berry),
The Night Sister (McMahon).
Bone Gap (Ruby),
The Killer Inside Me (Thompson),
Among Others (Walton),
Fingersmith (Waters),
All the Missing Girls (Miranda),
Night Film(Pessl)

[Juanita]

Now that I think about it (view spoiler)[ The Girl on the Train (hide spoiler)] would work but I feel knowing that is a spoiler hence the spoiler tags

[Lindi]

Juanita wrote: "Now that I think about it [spoilers removed] would work but I feel knowing that is a spoiler hence the spoiler tags"

I don't think so Juanita! (view spoiler)[The reader already knows she is an alcoholic, we just don't quite know the extent of how unreliable her narrating is. (hide spoiler)]

[Nadine in NY]

Juanita wrote: "Now that I think about it [spoilers removed] would work but I feel knowing that is a spoiler hence the spoiler tags"

I don't think that's a spoiler, for the exact reason that Lindi gives. And I do find it part of the appeal of that book. I like books with "broken" protagonists like that.

[Rachel]

What about I Never Promised You a Rose Garden? I read this once before but I have no memory of it whatsoever, but the main character has schizophrenia.

[Megan]

I am seeking out a psychological thriller for this category, as the reader is never quite sure what to believe.

[Lindi]

Gonna go with The Catcher in the Rye for this one.

[Sharmon]

This one is hard ......because the fun part of the Unreliable Narrator is not knowing that he/she is unreliable.

[Tara]

What about a book where the narrator is suffering possible psychosis or memory loss such as Before I Go to Sleep or The Pocket Wife?

[Nadine in NY]

Yes a book like Before I Go to Sleep definitely works as unreliable

[Melanie]

Flowers for Algernon!

[Karen]

Juanita wrote: "Now that I think about it [spoilers removed] would work but I feel knowing that is a spoiler hence the spoiler tags"

I had the same initial thought, Juanita!

[Marilyn]

Wuthering Heights
Rebecca
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
The Sound and the Fury

[Michele]

One I read last year would fit this prompt. Challenger Deep

It's YA and not too long.

[Jackie]

Frankly I think you could make an argument that almost any book written in the first person has an unreliable narrator, because they are definitionally offering an edited version of events. Not to mention the natural bias everyone has. The question for me will be just how unreliable do I need the narrator to be for me to count it...Do they need to be a pathological liar? Actually, that would be fascinating...

[Cindy]

Listopia Unreliable Narrators

[*Layali*]

Cindy wrote: "Listopia Unreliable Narrators"

Awesome! Thanks, Cindy!

[Shannon]

Rachel wrote: "What about I Never Promised You a Rose Garden? I read this once before but I have no memory of it whatsoever, but the main character has schizophrenia."

I love this book. One of my favorites.

[Shalayne]

Made You Up

[Sukriti]

How about Catch-22? I dont know if the narrator is really unreliable but it seems like it.. I am yet to read the whole book..

I would also recommend Crime and Punishment for this.. it goes in Been in the TBR list too long category for me..

[Tina]

The Name of the Wind and The Song of Ice and Fire series came to mind for this

[Kayla Rae]

Michele wrote: "One I read last year would fit this prompt. Challenger Deep

It's YA and not too long."

I read this last year and it's SO good. And I'm halfway to being an actual, certified librarian, so you can add it to your "recommended by a librarian" list as well.

[Kayla Rae]

We Have Always Lived in the Castle is very good and pretty short.

[Luisa]

i would recommend The Drowning Girl by Caitlín R. Kiernan.

It is absolutely great book :)
(it also fits in story within story prompt)

[JoAnna]

My hubby's idea is to save this category and when reading one for another category that turns out to have an unreliable narrator, swap it to this category and find a new one for the other. That way, you won't ruin it for yourself by proposefully choosing a book you know has an unreliable narrator. I like it.

[Sofie]

Shannon wrote: "Rachel wrote: "What about I Never Promised You a Rose Garden? I read this once before but I have no memory of it whatsoever, but the main character has schizophrenia."

I love this boo..."

Me too! I don't know if I dare read it again but I remember it being really good.

[Sofie]

I'd recommend The Prestige by Christopher Priest but I think I'm going to read The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes

[Ariane]

Drood by Dan Simmons is excellent for this. Atmospheric and historical and gripping, a favorite of mine.

[Amanda]

Defending Jacob and We Need to Talk About Kevin would both be great for this. They're on similar topics and are the type of books that stays with you a long time. I thought both were brilliantly written.

[Gina ⏃]

Would you consider Libby from Dark Places as an unreliable narrator??
This book is in my TBR for way too long and I'm trying to fit it in any prompt :P

[Rachel]

Amanda wrote: "Defending Jacob and We Need to Talk About Kevin would both be great for this. They're on similar topics and are the type of books that stays with you a long time. I tho..."

These are both excellent books. I'm not sure Defending Jacob is really an unreliable narrator though.

[Nadine in NY]

Gina wrote: "Would you consider Libby from Dark Places as an unreliable narrator??
This book is in my TBR for way too long and I'm trying to fit it in any prompt :P"

No I didn't think she was unreliable, just misinformed and (obviously) pretty messed up from what had happened

[Ashley]

Two other options that don't appear to have been mentioned yet are The Girl on the Train and the notorious Gone Girl.

[Gina ⏃]

Nadine wrote: "Gina wrote: "Would you consider Libby from Dark Places as an unreliable narrator??
This book is in my TBR for way too long and I'm trying to fit it in any prompt :P"

No I didn't thi..."

Too bad... I was really hopping it fits, but thank you for your response.

I'll just have to read it for fun (:

[Heather]

I think this fits. She is unreliable/confused about what took place. It is on a Goodreads list for unreliable narrators. :)

[Amy Beth]

Having a bit of a problem with this one because it seems like if you know that the narrator is unreliable, that's kind of a spoiler. But I may be the only one who feels that way. I think I'll fill this one in after the fact.

[Nadine in NY]

Amy Beth wrote: "Having a bit of a problem with this one because it seems like if you know that the narrator is unreliable, that's kind of a spoiler. But I may be the only one who feels that way. I think I'll fill ..."

Seems like we are two groups of readers! You're not alone to say it seems like a spoiler. And I understand not wanting to be spoiled for a book, I hate spoilers. But I'm in the other group, I never saw this that way - I may know the narrator is unreliable, but I don't know what is truth and what is false, so I read it to figure it out (or, as usually happens, find out - since I never figure these things out).

[Amy Beth]

Nadine wrote: Seems like we are two groups of readers!

Yes, it's interesting to see the differences! :)

[Dayna]

What about "I'm Thinking of Ending Things"? I have it on my TBR and don't know what exactly it's about, but I think the narrator is unreliable.

[Lora]

What about a book like Prodigal Summer with more than one narrator? Do you think this would work for this category?

[Sundhus]

How about "and then there were none" by Agatha Christie? Would this work for this category?

[Nadine in NY]

Sundhus wrote: "How about "and then there were none" by Agatha Christie? Would this work for this category?"

I don't think so. We are accurately told all that is happening.