That debate in my book club about unreliable narrators hit different after my talk with Dave

My buddy Dave from work said he stopped reading a book because the narrator was a liar. I told him that's the whole point of some stories. He said it felt like the author was tricking him, not the character. It made me realize how some people just want a straight story and that's okay too. Has anyone else had a book club fall apart over something like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

evaperez12d ago

Is it really that deep, though?

craig.avery12d ago

Well, did your friend Dave actually explain why he felt tricked? Because that's the real question here. If a narrator is lying on purpose, that's not the author being sneaky, that's the author doing their job. But if Dave just doesn't like not knowing the truth right away, that's a different thing altogether. Some people want their fiction to feel like a reliable report, not a puzzle box. It's funny how something as simple as a narrator's honesty can split a group right down the middle.