Hot take: Unreliable narrators

Have any favorite unreliable narrators, or favorite books (either because or in spite of) that feature unreliable narrators?

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We Were Liars by E. Lockhart and Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (I think that qualifies?) are the two that immediately come to mind. I've read both of those books twice, they're so good.

The much lamented Gene Wolfe is on my mind today, and he was the master of the unreliable narrator. Obvious examples are Severian in the Book of the New Sun - he has perfect memory, or so he claims, but he lies and omits key details - and Latro in Soldier of the Mist and sequels, who cannot remember more than a day; he writes the truth, as he sees it, but anything he doesn't write is lost both to him and the reader. Wolfe's narrators are unreliable, but Wolfe plays fair - if you read very carefully with full attention to detail, you can figure out what's really going on.

New Sun is Wolfe's masterwork, but the "Soldier" books are far more accessible.

Tara Westover in Educated: A Memoir. I can't seem to trust what she wrote no matter how acclaimed the memoir has come to be.

The Turn of the Screw is a famous example.

Baudolino, by Umberto Eco. The Island of the Day Before is also suspect.

Lolita, for sure.

Seconding Gene Wolfe, all the way.

Can we also say Herodotus? ;)

>4 lilisin:

It's not meant as an artistic choice in that book, is it? I mean, I'm assuming the author is claiming the book is truthful?

Beside the already mentioned Gene Wolfe, other unreliable narrators I enjoyed were in Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks and The Prestige by Christopher Priest.

>6 amysisson:

Because it is a memoir we sure hope the author is being truthful about everything but I just couldn't seem to trust her. The book rubbed me the wrong way because I couldn't understand why she wrote it. And so questioning her motivation made me question her.

>7 Jarandel:
I would go for The Affirmation by Priest. Maybe also The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks.

>8 lilisin: Hi.
I guess I assume she wrote it because she needed to get the story out of her in order to heal. Also, in the area she lives in, there are other people who are in similar situations. Perhaps she thought it would help. It's true that she doesn't seem to have any other job, so perhaps she just wants to be a writer. In the book she seems to document instances when her memory differs from that of her siblings. That made me think that she was being as truthful as she could be. It's certainly possible that she may have gotten some things wrong that happened when she was very young, but no one has come out and said she is a liar.

>10 krazy4katz: Her parents pretty much have called her a liar...through a lawyer. And that is odd considering her father's supposed views of society & the law.

>11 lesmel: Interesting. I didn't know that. I wonder what her siblings have said.

The Debt to Pleasure by John Lanchester. A travelling food critique is exactly NOT what this book is about. I read it slowly at first, because I'd told a friend I'd read it. Then I got to a point where it really caught on, and I read it to thee end, and the promptly read it again.

Gillespie and I by Jane Harris. It's a Victorian-era mystery set in Scotland, mostly in the home of a painter. The female narrator of this strange story seems totally trustworthy--until you hit the part where you go, "Wait a minute! What just happened?" and start paging backwards. then read it over again.

John in A Prayer For Owen Meany. I felt like he was up to something through the entire book. Turned out to be a real Joseph... you know?

Interesting topic - the books I enjoyed include:

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
The Beast Must Die by Nicholas Blake
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh
Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney
Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey

A bleak but compelling read is His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet. The text is composed of several (fictional) historical documents, including witness statements, trial records, and especially a memoir written by the accused at the behest of his attorney. The accused, a seventeen year old Highland boy living in poverty in a family increasingly persecuted by the local constable, never denies his culpability. The story that unfolds is how this apparently gentle young man came to commit a brutal murder.

>17 thesmellofbooks: Loved this one, too! It was terrific on audio.

On the topic of Educated, her parents have said exactly what I would expect them to say. Having grown up in Southern Idaho, not far from where she grew up, I also have to say that I believe everything in the book.

I finished Sometimes I Lie not that long ago and enjoyed it until the end, which just completely confused me. I'm also currently reading My Lovely Wife and though I don't know the narrator is unreliable, I'm suspicious. I think maybe I need to stay away from them for a while because I just feel betrayed by this last one for some reason. Which is strange because the dude isn't real!

My favorite unreliable narrator is Eugenides from The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. I almost feel as if I'm giving something away by stating that he is one, though. There are some amazing plot twists in that series!

Working with elementary-aged kids, I like to use Jon Scieszka's The True Story of the Three Little Pigs as an example of a picture book with an unreliable narrator.

Atonement by Ian McEwan - Briony is a thoroughly slippy narrator.

Too Like the Lightning, by Ada Palmer! I loved this series.. it's so clever and has many layers, and you can hardly trust anything the narrator says

The butler Stevens in the Remains of the Day uses stiff and controlled language to tell his supposed life story because he's ashamed of the terrible choices he made in his life, such as supporting Hitler, choosing to ignore his father's illness, and deliberately turning his back on an opportunity to be loved by a good woman.

I really enjoyed An Instance of the Fingerpost, by Iain Pears. Multiple unreliable narrators, whose accounts, taken together, comprise the novel.

Can I really trust anything you write in this thread?

>25 anglemark:, absolutely! I have perfect recall and I am honest to a fault. I also own a $1M yacht.

My favorite was already given in >13 JanesList: (The Debt to Pleasure by John Lanchester), so I'll add Assumption by Percival Everett. That's another book that, when you finish it, you'll immediately want to go back and reread it.

Ooh good topic. A recent revelation for me - I never knew of such a thing until I read The Woman In The Window by A.J. Finn and The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins recently. Loved them and loved the unreliable narrator device.

Just finished one: The Boswell Brothers by Philkip Baruth.

Definitely We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Merricat gives you a perfectly frank description of herself in the first paragraph, then leads you off where she wants you anyway.