# First-person novels/stories where the narrator dies (spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-person-novels-stories-where-the-narrator-dies-spoilers/317931 "2005-08-20T23:02:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-person-novels-stories-where-the-narrator-dies-spoilers/317931/41 "2005-08-23T01:10:49Z")
Uhm…I was just echoing **pseudotriton ruber ruber** there, because it’s, like, such a good shot of the poor guy in the pool. Uh huh. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-person-novels-stories-where-the-narrator-dies-spoilers/317931/42 "2005-08-23T01:27:48Z")
> [@ianzin](#): > > I think it’s regrettable that **Cunctator** mentioned the book that s/he did, and needlessly gave away one of the greatest twists in whodunnit literature. I suppose I assumed that people who didn’t want any plot details divulged would steer clear of a thread where the title mentioned there’d be spoilers. But, on reflection, you’ve got a point **ianzin**. I could have worded the spoiler box better. I’m a he by the way. Otherwise I’d be **Cuntatrix**. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-person-novels-stories-where-the-narrator-dies-spoilers/317931/43 "2005-08-23T07:11:44Z")
[Sky of Swords](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0380791285/qid=1124780820/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9310210-1384632?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Dave Duncan. [The Hollow Man](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553563505/qid=1124781197/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-9310210-1384632?v=glance&s=books) by Dan Simmons. [Fallen](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119099/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnx0dD0xfGZiPXV8cG49MHxrdz0xfHE9ZmFsbGVufGZ0PTF8bXg9MjB8bG09NTAwfGNvPTF8aHRtbD0xfG5tPTE_;fc=1;ft=101;fm=1) is a contender, though the character who dies is, and is not, the narrator. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-person-novels-stories-where-the-narrator-dies-spoilers/317931/44 "2005-08-23T10:02:30Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I’m a he by the way. Otherwise I’d be **Cuntatrix**. Cuntatrix is to Cockatrice as Sybilisk is to Basilisk. _I suppose you’ll be telling me next that you never tasted an egg!_ ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-person-novels-stories-where-the-narrator-dies-spoilers/317931/45 "2005-08-23T13:18:24Z")
Would **Flowers for Algernon** count? Tho’ I don’t remember if the narrator dies, he’s certainly very diminished at the end. Very, very sad book. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-person-novels-stories-where-the-narrator-dies-spoilers/317931/46 "2005-08-23T18:42:11Z")
The implication is sure there that he’s going to die, like Algernon did. But he’s still alive at the end of the book. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-person-novels-stories-where-the-narrator-dies-spoilers/317931/47 "2005-08-23T19:12:39Z")
How about Dickens’ **A Tale of Two Cities** or Camus’ **L’Etranger**? And would Shakespeare’s **Hamlet** , **Romeo and Juliet** , or **MacBeth** count? And in Mythos stories it’s common for narrators and other major characters to die - or worse - during the story. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-person-novels-stories-where-the-narrator-dies-spoilers/317931/48 "2005-08-25T02:38:53Z")
Crap, I’m an idiot. Hyperlinks show up in spoiler boxes :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-person-novels-stories-where-the-narrator-dies-spoilers/317931/49 "2005-08-25T03:40:54Z")
The film _All That Jazz_ is unusual in that it was autobiographical but Bob Fosse decided to change his own story by having “himself” die of the heart attack he survived in real life. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-person-novels-stories-where-the-narrator-dies-spoilers/317931/50 "2005-08-25T04:25:15Z")
_In the Cut_ by Susanna Moore published in the 90s ends with the death of the narrator. Several years later it was made into a movie starring Meg Ryan that I haven’t seen due to extremely low expectations. I have no idea if the movie ends the same way. If you’re looking for a link for the book, which I won’t put in the spoiler boxes to avoid the visible hyperlink problem, it can be found [here](http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0452281296/qid=1124943993/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_0_1/702-9007718-7696854). ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-person-novels-stories-where-the-narrator-dies-spoilers/317931/51 "2005-08-26T22:42:41Z")
Kurt Vonnegut’s Galapagos is narrated by the ghost of a deserter from Vietnam. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-person-novels-stories-where-the-narrator-dies-spoilers/317931/52 "2005-08-26T23:04:34Z")
> [@PastAllReason](#): > > I have no idea if the movie ends the same way. No, it doesn’t, although I was expecting it to end that way from about half-way in. I liked that movie, although mainly for the various literary allusions, rather than the whodunnitness of it all. I should really check out the book, although I suspect that it will destroy my regard for the film. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2005, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-person-novels-stories-where-the-narrator-dies-spoilers/317931/53 "2005-08-27T00:20:58Z")
John Ridley’s book Love Is a Racket A fun read, if not great literature, and while the ending probably shouldn’t be a surprise, it is. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-person-novels-stories-where-the-narrator-dies-spoilers/317931/54 "2005-09-22T06:31:03Z")
Since several movies have been mentioned, I’ll add **Menace II Society**. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-person-novels-stories-where-the-narrator-dies-spoilers/317931/55 "2005-09-22T11:48:41Z")
Y’know, I’ve never seen the whole movie (I’m ashamed), but doesn’t **Sunset Boulevard** begin with the finding of the narrator’s dead body? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-person-novels-stories-where-the-narrator-dies-spoilers/317931/56 "2005-09-22T11:49:49Z")
For that matter, how about **D.O.A.** and its many imitators (and predecessor) ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-person-novels-stories-where-the-narrator-dies-spoilers/317931/57 "2005-09-22T12:05:56Z")
Dunno if this counts, but the children’s book [Rose Blanche](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0099439506/qid=1127391289/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-6972581-5309404?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) starts out first-person, then switches to third-person halfway through, and then the kid who narrated the first half dies at the end. ---
**Author:** ![dasgupta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@dasgupta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasgupta)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-person-novels-stories-where-the-narrator-dies-spoilers/317931/58 "2005-09-22T14:12:23Z")
Douglas Coupland’s **Girlfriend in a Coma** is narrated not by the title coma bound girlfriend, but IIRC Jarred, the character’s classmate and friend, who dies in the first chapter and narrates sporatically as a ghost, and later appears. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-person-novels-stories-where-the-narrator-dies-spoilers/317931.md?page=2)