> But everyone's being too theoretical here. Let's
talk specifics. A
> good example of an unreliable narrator is Dave's
Fast Lane. We come
to
> realize fairly early on that the narrator is
withholding and/or
spinning
> certain information, wilfully lying to the reader. I
think the key
> phrase here is "we come to realize" -- Dave, the
author, has played
> fair. The reader (at least this reader, who isn't
very concerned
with
> figuring out whodunnit early, but does require that
whodunnit could
be
> figured out and makes sense) starts to recognize
there are cracks and
> omissions, that the narrator's story doesn't quite
hold up, that
> something is being hidden, long before the narrator
admits it.
>
Mark, thanks for the kind words. I tried hard not to cheat
with it, keeping Lane's behavior and thought processes and
self-delusions consistent throughout the book as he tries
hard to convince both the reader and himself that he's the
next Lew Archer--which he has good reason for needing to do.
What made it fun for me is that Lane follows a lot of the
standard hardboiled PI tropes that most readers of the genre
except as normal behavior, but in his case you can see it as
opening cracks to a deeply psychotic individual. Early on
after being hired to find a runaway girl, Lane beats the hell
out of the father when he discovers the man has been sexually
abusing his daughter. Most hardboiled PI readers gloss over
this and accept this behavior by a PI as normal, maybe even
desired, but in this case if the reader's paying attention
he'll see it as indicates something entirely different. Even
still, I've talked to hardboiled PI readers who didn't catch
onto Lane until Lane finally reveals it himself halfway
through the book. One national book reviewer quit right
before that point and wrote me a "helpful" letter telling me
while he liked the writing, I need to learn how to make my PI
more likeable, that Lane's behavior was beginning to make him
uncomfortable. Damn. The book succeeded, but the reviewer
never realized it. Anyway, the only place where I might've
cheated with this one was the title--Fast Lane gives the
impression that the book is the first of a hardboiled PI
series, kind of like "Hard Rain".
Juri--your question, as long as you're playing fiar and the
detective's behavior is consistent and makes sense, it's
fine.
--Dave
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