How do you feel about unreliable narrators?
I love unreliable narrators. Really, I love anything that throws me for a loop and makes me work a bit harder to get at the truth of the story.
Unreliable narrators make for twister tales, with more potential for surprises. They notice less and they interpret a lot incorrectly. It can make for a great commentary on the nature of truth and the importance of multiple perspectives. When handled well, it can let the author secretly pass additional information to the reader that the narrator doesn't have, which helps build suspense, or foreshadows plot twists or character development.
The thing is, I read a lot. I tend to know the shapes of stories. And I enjoy being just a little bit smarter than the narrator or protagonist in my book. It gives me a nice, warm, smug feeling. But I also appreciate an author who has that respect for their reader. Someone who trusts me to read between the lines and figure stuff out on my own. Unreliable narrators are one way to do that.
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