Et Tu, Narrators? Unreliable Fiction

Trust no one #125

Aug 13, 2023

I may not know what’s in style for fall (… red?) or what camera lenses are required for what photos (…um, apertures and millimeters are involved, right?) but after 125 weeks of newsletters, I feel confident that there’s a trend of unreliable narrators in fiction. See: Trust, Yellowface.

Yes, English majors, I know this is not a brand new literary technique. But the device of unreliable or even unlikeable narrators, often culminating in morally murky, unresolved denouements, feels suddenly much more prevalent than it used to. Especially unreliable female narrators who want us to be on their side, even when we’re not sure we can believe what they’re saying. Is this feminism? Are we in cool girl unreliable narrator summer? Should I engage in this as well and start slyly misleading you, or share Two Truths and a Lie like an excruciating workplace icebreaker?

I don’t know if I always “like” it, per se, but I can appreciate it. It’s often provoking and usually interesting. Perhaps it’s a reflection of us all grappling with why people (our parents, our elders, our political opposites) behave in ways that are hard to justify? I guess it’s a more nuanced device for shining light on the systems that create these behaviors. And I wonder if it’s also a reflection of our uneasy times, where happy endings and easy choices feel fewer and farther between. And where we all have to be alert to what truth is.

Check out a few that really embody this trend, below. Or maybe they don’t. TWO CAN PLAY AT THIS UNRELIABILITY GAME, WRITERS.

Power summary: In Stone Cold Fox, clever, tricky Bea has learned the art of swindling men from her mother and now has set her sights on the ultimate prize of marrying a wealthy man, the dull but pedigreed Collin Case. But will Collin’s family and friends discover Bea’s past before she can get what she wants?

My take: Is Bea dastardly, or just the inevitable product of her life? Are Collin’s peers terrible, or is everyone unexpectedly skilled at playing an unwinnable game? How much can we trust what Bea chooses to tell us, and does she, in fact, get what she deserves at the end? Did I even like this book, or am I just impressed by the author’s boldness in characterization and plot? It kept me off-kilter and intrigued; good for a vacation read.

The Gentle Lambs would never lie to you - learn more about this emotional reading support tool HERE.

Yes, you know me, always absolutely up to the moment, recommending a book that was apparently a massive bestseller in (checks notes) … 2012? Well, if it’s new to me maybe it’s new to you.

Power Summary: Code Name Verity tells the story of two friends in WW2, trapped behind enemy lines. Revealed through the narrative of a special agent who has been captured by the Gestapo and is forced to confess her story or die a grisly death, it’s equal parts harrowing, heroic, and intricately revealed.

My take: Nothing like a tale of spycraft and war to make you wonder whom to trust and what even is truth, amirite? This is classified as “young adult” for some reason (even though there’s violence) but I, a purportedly mature adult, thought this was terrifically plotted, with a strong voice, sympathetic characters, and a whole lotta of “how do you justify that choice” scenarios. The first 25 pages or so are kind of slow but stick with it. It’s another in the vein of The Nightingale and Whalebone Theater, where you just get breathless with the courage of young Brits.

Are you the one who recommended this to me? I cannot for the life of me find you. Stand up and be thanked!

Power summary: 50-something Cara Romero did not expect to find herself unemployed in the midst of the Great Recession. When she’s forced to see a career counselor, she narrates the story of her life over 12 sessions, eventually revealing the origins of her fractured relationships with her sister, her neighbor, and her son.

My take: Like Code Name Verity, How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water takes advantage of an interesting narrative construct that lets the main character reveal and obfuscate what she wants you to know. Like Stone Cold Fox, this novel also has a maddening and slippery main character in Cara, though in this case you equally want to shake and hug her. She’s funny and fierce, and the book is nicely critical and empathetic of someone who is desperate to be right, even when she’s wrong.

An Absolutely Essential Reading Question

You guys, I promise I have put in my 10,000 hours of reading (like … maybe this year) - and I still have a fiendishly unanswered question: what is the ideal position for reading? I’ve been reading too much since I was FOUR and I still haven’t figured it out.

Like, if you’re lying down, you’re on your side where the book flops around, or your arm is pinned. Or you’re sitting and kinking your neck down, or you’re on the couch/beach lounger with your knees are up but then your back hurts. Or you’re lying on your stomach but then the blood all goes to your face.

HOW DO I NOT KNOW? Please tell me so that I can rue time lost but solve the problem for the future.

Nothing But the Truth

All links this week go to cute indie bookstore Northshire Books in Manchester, VT, and Saratoga Springs, NY, as recommended by reader Yair, who basically is right about everything. Perhaps then he can explain the logo, which is … a person with a VR headset reading books?A surprised bear holding a coffee mug? A running man wearing a pith helmet but also enjoying some nice fiction? I genuinely seek to understand because I love indie bookstores so much and know I will love this one if I ever get to Manchester.
Honestly, 125 weeks of books is probably close to 500 books recommended, so you really ought to be able to find a book you want to read in the archive!
If you’re new here - welcome! If you’re not new here - thank you so much for coming back! Truly I am shocked and also awed every time someone says they have read this newsletter, and I’m grateful. If you know someone who loves books, invite ‘em over!