Is it one of those that you found yourself flipping back pages, to see if you were remembering things correctly and/or going, "Oh hell, it was there all along"? Done well, I love those kinds of books, but I find that so many readers are so "instant gratification" these days, that they have very little patience for allowing a story to unfold.
These girls have the most beautiful dresses. And so do I -- how about that?
Kaylee ,'Shindig'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Barb - Sep 04, 2008 4:46:09 pm PDT #7247 of 28404
“Not dead yet!”
Polter-Cow - Sep 04, 2008 4:50:51 pm PDT #7248 of 28404
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
Is it one of those that you found yourself flipping back pages, to see if you were remembering things correctly and/or going, "Oh hell, it was there all along"?
Well, it was more like flipping back pages and going, "Oh hell, he totally made that up."
Connie Neil - Sep 04, 2008 5:10:30 pm PDT #7249 of 28404
brillig
I have to confess, I hate unreliable narrators. I don't like liars, and I don't like having to second guess everything that's going on. Dazzle me with the convoluted plot and relationships, not with the convoluted perceptions that are telling the story.
Steph L. - Sep 04, 2008 5:14:59 pm PDT #7250 of 28404
this mess was yours / now your mess is mine
I have to confess, I hate unreliable narrators. I don't like liars, and I don't like having to second guess everything that's going on.
Two words: Nelly. Dean.
Ye gods, as much as the rest of Wuthering Heights annoys the CRAP out of me (seriously, Cathy? Heathcliff? GET OVER YOURSELVES), I wanted to beat Nelly Dean to death with a shovel.
Connie Neil - Sep 04, 2008 5:16:04 pm PDT #7251 of 28404
brillig
umm, who's Nelly Dean?
Steph L. - Sep 04, 2008 5:17:00 pm PDT #7252 of 28404
this mess was yours / now your mess is mine
who's Nelly Dean?
The housekeeper in Wuthering Heights who tells a great deal of Cathy's story to the narrator (whose name I suddenly can't remember).
Connie Neil - Sep 04, 2008 5:18:36 pm PDT #7253 of 28404
brillig
OK. I skimmed a lot of Wuthering Heights because I couldn't reach half of the cast and give them the smacks they needed.
But, yeah, I didn't trust her from word one.
Sophia Brooks - Sep 04, 2008 5:29:01 pm PDT #7254 of 28404
Cats to become a rabbit should gather immediately now here
Lockwood is the narrator. I always felt Withering heights would be a good story, but seeing it through Lockwood/Nelly Dean drove me fucking nuts. As did the stableman's accent.
Polter-Cow - Sep 04, 2008 6:50:21 pm PDT #7255 of 28404
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
And that's exactly what I loved about Wuthering Heights ! I heart unreliable narrators.
Kathy A - Sep 04, 2008 7:57:51 pm PDT #7256 of 28404
We're very stretchy. - Connie Neil
The big example of an unreliable narrator I can think of is the narrator of Ford Madox Ford's The Good Soldier John Dowell. As for unpleasant characters, I had a serious issue with Edward Ashburnham in that book, and thought that Leonora had a good reason for taunting him for his unfaithfulness.
When I made that argument in my modern lit class, a classmate and I spent most of that class arguing back and forth on Edward's "goodness" and Leonora's striking back. The prof loved it that we got so into our respective opinions.