Dave wrote:
"To me it's simple, it it makes sense for the character to be
unreliable
(especially if it makes sense only within the irrational
thought process of the character), then the unreliable
character usually works."
I agree. Reliability and fairness are two very different
things. Reliability is a function of the narrator, whereas
fairness is a function of the author.
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.
And that's a narrator who is purposely unreliable. There are
others who are trying to be reliable, but can't, due to
drugs, psychosis, amnesia, whatever. But the determining
factor for me is whether or not the reader can (not
necessarily does) figure out that the narrator may not be
telling the truth, and can start to see the truth that is
being withheld, and understand the source of the
unreliability.
Perhaps one of the ultimate unreliable narrators is the one
in Robbe Grillett's Jealousy. It takes a fair amount of time
to even determine there is an on-scene narrator, at the same
time the reader realizes the narrative of the same scene
keeps shifting as the narrator becomes more and more
paranoid.
Mark
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