Goodreads Ireland discussion

Just asking as the divil's advocate:

How would one know the narrator is unreliable before one has read the work ?

by B.A. Paris

This is amazing read and a hard book to put-down

I'm torn between two of my favourite books both with unreliable narrators , Catcher in the Rye with the Narrators view compromised by his mix of idealism and scepticism based on his youth alongside his other issues.
The other is Name of the Wind by Pat Rothfuss where the Narrator is a barman retelling his heroic youth with the question always hanging as to how much he is idealising , exagerating or concealing.
Both great books and great examples .

Paul if you nominate The name of the wind I would second it . I'm planning on reading it next anyway :)

Grand so Name of the Wind it is ;-)
Its easily one of the best written fantasy books out there.

I second The Name of the Wind

That cama as a surprise ;-)

I'd like to nominate The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney. This has a very unreliable narrator.

the book "behind closed doors" sounds really good.

It really is, Kara.

i second Susans nomination - i just bought that one

I'll nominate The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe - it's a fantasy(ish) detailing a man called Severian's journey from his guild out into the world. The main focus isn't necessarily on the plot itself, but on the world that unfolds on Severian's journey. The story is recounted to us by Severian himself, who claims both to have a perfect memory but also fails to recollect certain details - he definitely fits the unreliable narrator theme!

The world and the events he gets into unfold in an almost dreamlike manner, and the main enjoyment I found in the book and its sequels (there are five books, but I'm gonna assume I'll stick to nominating one) are piecing together exactly what is happening to Severian and the world itself.

The writing is pretty florid, with lots of archaic words thrown in, so Wolfe's writing alone can make or break it. It's not for everyone, but it's my favourite piece of writing of all time and I will not refuse an opportunity to get more people to read it ;)

Margo wrote: "i second Susans nomination - i just bought that one"

Thanks, Margo.

nominate House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

as I understand it...
kernel of the story is a documentary film.
A photographer sets up cameras in every room of his home to document family life, making some disturbing discoveries.

this film comes to light through the extensive writings and research of an elderly man, obsessed with the movie.

these papers are discovered after the old man's death by a young tattoo artist who decides to turn them into a book

reliability called further into question as neither the young tattoo artist nor the old man (who is blind) have seen the film

Can I withdraw my nomination and second house of leaves Emma?

Karen, Susan, Andy, any chance of a bit of a spiel on the unreliable narrators in the books. I'm quite curious about this them choice and how people approach it.
Interesting choice Emma

Paul wrote: "Karen, Susan, Andy, any chance of a bit of a spiel on the unreliable narrators in the books. I'm quite curious about this them choice and how people approach it.
Interesting choice Emma"

good point Paul
now edited

Thanks Andy. Sounds intriguing :-)

The only one I can vouch for as unreliable narration is The Name of the Wind, the only other that I've read is Behind Closed Doors and I'm not sure how that qualifys but I don't remember it very well. House of Leaves sounds very interesting.

The reason I seconded The Girl Before is because I'm trying to rein in my book buying. I haven't yet read it.

Great, I second House of Leaves as I am dying to read it and this is the only way I can get around my book buying ban :)

thanks Maria
have requested from library - hope it will arrive next week

Oh, House of Leaves is not available on audible or on kindle - that's unusual! I'm not destined to read it :(

Margo if remember correctly the book is a swirling type of book . It's not a straight read . I have the book somewhere and will try to locate it if it wins . I didn't read it before because it seemed confusing to me .

Colleen wrote: "Margo if remember correctly the book is a swirling type of book . It's not a straight read . I have the book somewhere and will try to locate it if it wins . I didn't read it before because it seem..."

Which one Colleen?

House of leaves .

Paul wrote: "Karen, Susan, Andy, any chance of a bit of a spiel on the unreliable narrators in the books. I'm quite curious about this them choice and how people approach it.
Interesting choice Emma"

Hmm not sure Paul but I found it hard to put down and the story followed very well for me. Every Chapter was mix one Past and One in the Present . Grace is the narrator, with others speaking in scenes I hope that's of help. Sorry if its not

Colleen wrote: "House of leaves ."

thanks, doesn't sound like my kind of book ;-)

I wonder if that's why it's not on kindle or audio . I especially wonder how it would work on audio .

Margo look at the reviews of House of Leaves on goodreads - one of them actually has images of pages from the book. The book is so weird that they can't even print it in mass paperback I believe - so this one unfortunately is probably not for you.

Which is a shame because Illuminae also has mixed media and I believe they managed to make an amazing audio book for it - it's all about thinking outside the box.

Maria wrote: "Margo look at the reviews of House of Leaves on goodreads - one of them actually has images of pages from the book. The book is so weird that they can't even print it in mass paperback I believe - ..."

Or maybe it's someones notes on the book in the same format of the book - I don't know for sure?

I see the one you're talking about Maria. If that is pages of the book it explsins a lot! If it is not the book, someone has a weird sense of humour ;-p

Rock Crazy


A woman with a mental health issue goes to the Moon. She can't take her meds because she is pregnant. So we get to explore some interesting issues.

Emma wrote: "I will second Behind Closed Doors."

Well that answers the questions about that book as I know Emma has read it ;-)

Paul, The Girl Before concerns a house that is let out on a fantastic basis by the controlling landlord. It talks about people who lived there and their reasons for doing so and you never know the real reasons until the end. There is a lot of untruths and lies and cover-ups and you're never quite sure what is really going on.

Speaking of that, I question Behind Closed Doors having an unreliable narrator. I'm not sure it's a good fit for this category but you're the moderator, Emma, so I guess you think it does.

Can you get it from book depository? They offer free world wide shipping

The Name of the Wind

Susan wrote: "Paul, The Girl Before concerns a house that is let out on a fantastic basis by the controlling landlord. It talks about people who lived there and their reasons for doing so and you..."

Cphe wrote: "Margo wrote: "Oh, House of Leaves is not available on audible or on kindle - that's unusual! I'm not destined to read it :("


I've wanted to read The House of Leaves for ages but not ..."

I understand that the unusual formating may preclude audio but i am always disappoited when a book is not available on kindle.

Glad to hear The Girl Before fits the bill.

Thank Susan :-)

The house of leaves formatting means it cannot be published in mass paperback or kindle. It requires Space and the ability to turn the book as some of the writing is upside down. I have now looked at a copy in easons and hodges figgis- so am all knowing :). It's also very expensive at 35-36 Euro. It's 20 to 25 from book depository.

However that does not mean an oddly formatted book cannot be done in audio format with some imagination . Illuminae was also printed with an odd format as far as I remember one page is a spiral of text. The audio book is supposed to be fantastic. It uses sound effects to demonstrate that the text spirals etc. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for my wallet) the audio book is not available for .co.uk yet - only US.

the library has 3 or 4 copies that can be ordered.

Hi Margo, All - sorry, hadn't fully considered accessibility/availability here.
No complaints if decided that it's ineligible for the monthly read

Library are telling me it is in transit so looking forward to getting my hands on the physical book

on the positive side, picked up a new word today
ergodic literature - 'nontrivial effort is required to allow the reader to traverse the text'

Andy wrote: "Hi Margo, All - sorry, hadn't fully considered accessibility/availability here.
No complaints if decided that it's ineligible for the monthly read

Library are telling me it is in transit so lookin..."

Andy please don't that you should be restricted by my limitations. I feel bad for mentioning it now, it was only because i was genuinely interested by the blurb and was disapointed to see it wasn't available digitally. Part of me hopes that it will be selected so I can read the reactions of the group. I will probably order it from the library at some stage just to see the thing - a very interesting book, and thats what group reads are all about ;-)