1. Do you go into a novel with the assumption that the narrator will be reliable? Why?
Well, most of the books I read have that structure. I do expect other things from certain authors, most notably gene wolfe, of course.
2. Do you actively assess a narrator's reliability? Do you do it often? Are there triggers that make you stop and judge the narrator's reliability?
Not really. The Latro books is of course one such occasion, as it keeps resetting many things, including his reliability.
3. Do you prefer books with unreliable narrators? Why?
Nope. I don't prefer either way, there are many more important factors. However, as camilla stated, those who experiment with unreliable narrators often know how to write to begin with. You won't see paolini or goodkind do unreliable narrators... (unless you feel they narrate it themselves and feel that you can't trust them)
Feel free to hijack this into a discussion on reliability vs. unreliability, a critique on the concept of "realistic" vs "fantastic" fiction with regards to narrators' reliability (I'm looking at you, Larry), implicit misogyny in the assumption of certain narrative archetypes, etc.
(Or how horses can type with hooves, because I am pretty seriously sure that they can't. Unless they have, like, MEGA big keyboards.)
"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world" - Calvin.
Unreliable narrators: yay or nay? Or neigh? And if so, and you are a horse, how are you typing?
- 12/03/2010 05:20:09 AM
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Re: Unreliable narrators: yay or nay? Or neigh? And if so, and you are a horse, how are you typing?
- 12/03/2010 09:12:23 AM
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I enjoyed reading the Bayard.
- 12/03/2010 11:55:09 PM
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Re: I enjoyed reading the Bayard.
- 14/03/2010 10:56:54 AM
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Re: I enjoyed reading the Bayard.
- 16/03/2010 10:37:35 PM
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I don't mind either way.
- 12/03/2010 10:18:03 AM
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I think it's fairly logical that genre fiction doesn't employ it as often.
- 12/03/2010 01:21:06 PM
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I think that unreliable narrators tend to be written by more experienced or skillful authors.
- 12/03/2010 06:56:06 PM
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