# Most Virtuosic yet Manipulative Literary Trick Pulled by an Author **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2019, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114 "2019-02-07T14:14:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114/41 "2019-02-09T04:02:05Z")
In the anime series _Revue Starlight_, theatre students are quite literally battling one another to get top billing. For those well-versed enough in Japanese culture (which certainly doesn’t include me – all these details had to be explained to me), this is a commentary on and criticism of the intensely competitive Takarazuka Revue theatre troupe. They aren’t particularly subtle about it --the position that the girls are fighting for being called the “Top Star”, and in the Takarazuka Revue the “Top Star” plays the lead role in ever performance put on by her troupe until the day she retires. In the show, there’s this character, Kirin, who sits in the stands and watches the battles, and ranks the girls based on their latest performance. I had him pegged for standing in either for the management of the troupe or the troupe’s audience for some time. It just wasn’t clear to me whether he was taking an active role in the proceedings or not. He winds up coming across as kind of an uncaring jackass as time goes on and things got rough for the girls while he doesn’t really bat an eye, so the viewers grow to significantly dislike the guy. The criticism of Takarazuka gets pretty pointed, but as it’s directed at a medium that the viewer doesn’t necessarily hold a lot of attachment to the viewer is likely to accept and agree with the criticism… In the very last episode, Kirin turns to the camera and addresses the viewer. In a monologue he confirms that he is a stand-in for the audience, and carries on to berate the viewer for not really being any better than he is. This is when the viewer finally realizes that really this show is criticizing how popular entertainment in general is both produced and consumed,. As they’ve already gotten you to buy into it by originally targetting a medium you didn’t have strong feelings for and weren’t likely to have an instinctive reaction to defend, the criticism sticks rather than being rejected out of hand by the viewer. This show as a very interesting one to experience. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114/42 "2019-02-09T14:30:54Z")
> [@LoneRhino](#): > > John Irving uses the same technique in The Hotel New Hampshire and to some degree in A Prayer for Owen Meany. One of the many reasons he is one of my favorite authors. I immediately thought of “Owen Meany” upon reading the thread title but before opening the thread. The last several pages blew me away like nothing I’ve read before or since. It is why ‘Owen’ is my favorite book. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114/43 "2019-02-09T14:38:10Z")
The scene in Stephen King’s The Green Mile when John gets Percy to give Bill s what he had coming to him is simply an amazing, unexpected plot twist. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114/44 "2019-02-09T16:25:30Z")
> [@Randolph](#): > > (“Gesundheit.”) You’re absolutely right. Guess it’s been a while since I saw it. Is the 2009 version with Washington & Travolta any good? Generally, I HATE remade classics. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114/45 "2019-02-09T19:53:21Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > You’re absolutely right. Guess it’s been a while since I saw it. > > Is the 2009 version with Washington & Travolta any good? Generally, I HATE remade classics. The original has a 7.7/10 from 23,373 reviews on IMDB. The remake has a 6.4/10 from 170,677 reviews on IMDB. I love the original but have not seen the remake. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114/46 "2019-02-09T22:17:55Z")
In _The Stone Monkey_, one of Jeffery Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme novels, Lincoln and his team are hunting a ruthless crime lord. A side plot has one of the characters befriending a kindly old man. Toward the end of the novel, we realize that they are the same person. It’s been years since I read it, so I don’t remember all the details, but I still recall the punch this reveal packed. It was both a twist that I never saw coming, and in retrospect made perfect sense. I’m sure other novelists have done this sort of thing, but probably not as well. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114/47 "2019-02-09T23:30:57Z")
I guess I’m the first to mention _Fight Club_. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114/48 "2019-02-10T01:11:28Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I guess I’m the first to mention _Fight Club_. Well everyone else knew not to talk about it. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114/49 "2019-02-10T04:14:27Z")
“Gentlemen and Players” by Joanne Harris. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114/50 "2019-02-10T10:26:12Z")
> [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](#): > > In this thread I’m looking for examples of authors using a very clever technique to deliver a massive emotional sucker punch. It has to be a literary trick, so someone refusing to write a sequel to successful book or “merely” killing off a beloved character don’t fit. > > I’ve just finished reading **Irving** ’s _The World According to Garp_. Those of you who’ve also read it probably know what part I’m refering to. > > For those who don’t, the main character is obsessed with his two sons’ safety (Duncan and Walt) and has recurring anxieties about all the bad things that could happen to them. At one point, the three of them are involved in a terrible accident. As a result, Duncan loses an eye. The following chapter is dedicated to his slow recovery and his coming to terms with his reduced vision as well as his disfigurement. Then, towards the end of that chapter, there’s a dialogue that starts innocuously enough, but through which realize that > > [SPOILER]Walt dies in the accident > > For about 30 pages, Irving focuses entirely on the “lesser” tragedy, with such skill that I didn’t even think about Walt. Moreover, the way it is revealed is also masterly : Garp and his wife discuss having a third child and, while thinking about possible names, he immediately says “Not Walt”. When I read this my reaction was "Of course not Walt they already have a kid whose… oh no… NO, NO, NO! :eek: ☹ :mad: > > It had me go back immediately to the end of the previous chapter to re-read Walt’s last words (_“It’s like a dream!” Walt said; he reached for his brother’s hand._) [/SPOILER] > > Extremely well done. Infuriatingly manipulative, though. That one is going to haunt me for a while. It’s been over 30 years since I read the book but I knew what this was going to be about. So sad…“the Under toad”… ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114/51 "2019-02-10T15:38:54Z")
Another screenplay: _Mulholland Falls_, starring Nick Nolte. [spoiler]There is one character who: is an army general (Boo! Hiss!) is the head of a nuclear weapons lab (Boo! Hiss!) is played by Jon Malkovich (Boo! Hiss!). Not only is he NOT the killer, he is arguably the least corrupt government official in the entire movie. (Considerably less corrupt than Nolte’s character.) And the more stereotypes you hold about the characters, and the actors playing them, the less likely you are to spot the real killer.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2019, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114/52 "2019-02-12T06:26:15Z")
In Portnoy’s Complaint, it was obvious that Portnoy was talking to a psychiatrist, right up to the twist ending. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2019, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114/53 "2019-02-13T13:23:20Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Not in a book, but a screenplay. I love Peter Stone’s screenplay for **Charade** \* It’s practically a textbook on How To Do Exposition. One of my favorite bits is something I hadn’t noticed until I’d seen the film several times. One of my favorites, often called, “The best Hitchcock film Hitchcock never made.” ---
**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:** [February 13, 2019, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114/54 "2019-02-13T17:35:50Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > One of my favorites, often called, “The best Hitchcock film Hitchcock never made.” At the end of the Mad magazine parody, director Stanley Donen pulls off a mask and is revealed to be “Alfred Hatchplot” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114/55 "2019-02-14T15:11:38Z")
From TV" _knock, knock, knock_ Amy _knock, knock, knock_ Amy _knock, knock, knock_ Amy Will you marry me? (Fade to black). Did NOT see that one coming. And when Bev tells Roseanne that she is selling her share of the restaurant: You’ll never find a buyer in this market! Oh, it wasn’t hard (Camera focuses on Leon, eating the sandwich). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114/56 "2019-06-04T17:05:37Z")
Bumping to mention Ed McBain’s _Lightning_ Woman has a stalker. The police can do nothing about it until he sees the detective leaving her apartment, gets infuriated that she’s seeing other men, breaks in and beats the hell out of her. She survives and is rushed to the hospital. Stalker goes to the hospital, waits in the men’s room until midnight and goes to the woman’s hospital room, determined to finished killing her. She’s apparently sleeping, with only her hair showing above the bed covers. Stalker goes over to the side of the bed. And out of the bed pops Detective Bert Kling, who says “Surprise!” and punches the guy out. Maybe the guy should have noticed both the woman he was stalking and the detective he saw had short blond hair. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114/57 "2019-06-04T18:31:32Z")
Speaking of Stephen King: the _Dark Tower_ series. The entire thing as a whole, the octology comprising eight (or is it nine?) novels. At the end of the very last one, the gunslinger whose fantastic saga over eight books and several worlds finally attains the object of the quest, the Dark Tower itself, and walks into and up it. Right there SK tells the reader, welp, I guess that’s it, he finally got there and we’re done, OK! when the reader can clearly see there are several more pages to go. At that point SK says he’ll reveal what happened to Roland in the Tower, but you really don’t want to read it, don’t say I didn’t warn you! It cycles back to the opening sentence of “The man in black fled through the desert and the gunslinger followed” :mad:Thanks a lot, Stephen King, you incredible dickhead. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114/58 "2019-06-04T20:42:49Z")
But that was the \*perfect \*ending to the saga. I didn’t need the disclaimer, but IMO there was no better way to end it. Certainly better than “oh, it’s a giant spider that we can defeat by a kiddie gang-bang.” A low, bar, to be sure, but the ending to the **Dark Tower** is perfection personified. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114/59 "2019-06-04T22:29:18Z")
Ka is a wheel. ---
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114/60 "2019-06-04T22:46:46Z")
**[Despoilers of the Golden Empire](http://fullreads.com/literature/despoilers-of-the-golden-empire/)**, by Randall Garrett. This one has a twist ending to beat them all; so much so that the author spends an entire chapter _afterwards_ justifying it to the reader. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-virtuosic-yet-manipulative-literary-trick-pulled-by-an-author/829114.md?page=4)