# Please recommend good books and/or movies w/ unreliable narrators (POSSIBLE SPOILERS) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 15, 2002, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800 "2002-11-15T01:44:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800/1 "2002-11-15T01:44:06Z")
I need a good list of books (I’ll even take short stories) and movies that feature unreliable narrators. Harmon & Holman’s _Handbook to Literature_ defines an unreliable narrator as one > [@](#): > > who may be in error in his or her understanding or report of things and who thus leaves readers without the guides needed for making judgments… Immature narrators – such as Huckleberry Finn … Quentin Compson … and Holden Caulfield … – may be unreliable on account of their lack of sophistication. Others – such as Benjy … and Humbert … – suffer some retardation or derangement that impedes ore precludes reliability. So, the list starts[ul][li]_Huckleberry Finn_[/li][li]_The Sound and the Fury_ (times two, no less)[/li][li]_The Catcher in the Rye_[/li][li]_Lolita_[/ul]Off the top of my head, I can add [ul]_Fight Club_[/li][li]_The Usual Suspects_[/li][li]Faulkner’s short story “Spotted Horses”[/ul]Please submit your own, as I am having no luck finding a good list.[/li] Thanks in advance! ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800/2 "2002-11-15T02:14:04Z")
One of my pet theories is that **Star Trek** and **Blake’s Seven** take place in the same universe. The only difference is who tells the stories. **Sixth Sense** The film version of **Blade Runner** **The Prisoner** In some senses, all first person narratives are unreliable. By definition, the “I” character only knows what he knows, only sees what he sees and has to base conclusions based on the this “unreliable” evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800/3 "2002-11-15T02:20:07Z")
_Flowers for Algernon_ ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800/4 "2002-11-15T02:24:54Z")
Someone told me recently she believes that Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby is an unreliable narrator. I’m not sure how she meant that; it’s been years since I’ve read it. But The Great Gatsby certainly is a good book. ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800/5 "2002-11-15T02:41:10Z")
**The Murder of Roger Ackroyd** by Agatha Christie makes a signifcant ommission in his narration. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800/6 "2002-11-15T03:49:46Z")
Terence Malick’s [Badlands](http://www.moviescripts.de/html/script/badlands.html) features a voiceover by Holly Sargis, a lovelorn 15 year old who thinks life is a romance novel as she runs away with murderous Kit Carruthers. An absolute masterpiece with the most sardonic humour imaginable. See it as well as reading the script. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800/7 "2002-11-15T05:07:53Z")
Nabakov’s _Pale Fire_ has an insane narrator. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800/8 "2002-11-15T06:14:40Z")
I just finished _The Horned Man_ by James Lasdun… the narrator is either insane or very strange, and either way he seems to leave major, important sections of story out, leaving you (the reader) the fill in the gaps. I think this would be a great example of what you’re talking about… the narrator can’t even be sure he knows what he thinks he knows. The narrator of _The Athenian Murders_ by Jose Carlos Somoza is certainly suffering from some delusion, though I can’t tell you what. The narrator of _Ordinary Horror_ by David Searcy is quite old and could be delusional. At the very least, he’s undure of what’s going on around him. Margaret Atwood’s _The Blind Assassin_ plays some fun games with different narrators and how their stories interact and leave gaps in the narrative. The main character of _Jacob’s Ladder_ is certainly suffering from some impediments to his reliability. Jeff Bridges’ character in _Fearless_ isn’t exactly unreliable, but he doesn’t have the firmest grasp on himself, either. Matthew McConaghey’s (I know that spelling is wrong) character in _Frailty_ seems to fit the bill, too. How’s that? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800/9 "2002-11-15T06:33:13Z")
How about Kevin Spacey’s “Verbal” character in _The Usual Suspects_? ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800/10 "2002-11-15T08:00:12Z")
Leonard Shelby in _Memento_ ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800/11 "2002-11-15T08:03:30Z")
DeeDee Truitt is scathingly unreliable in [The Opposite of Sex](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0120777). Ditto Flannery Culp in Daniel Handler’s wonderful novel [The Basic Eight](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312253737/qid=1037347027/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/103-9832073-6500663?v=glance&s=books). ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800/12 "2002-11-15T08:58:07Z")
Wow, this has gotta be the first time I’ve seen the title _Flowers for Algernon_ mentioned on the internet…pretty much anywhere…by anyone. The SDMB really is the best and brightest, it seems 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@Jabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jabba)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800/13 "2002-11-15T10:37:54Z")
Emily Brontë, _Wuthering Heights_ Kazuo Ishiguro, _The Remains of the Day_ ( though all his narrators would probably count) ---
**Author:** ![bifar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bifar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bifar)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800/14 "2002-11-15T10:49:08Z")
The Good Soldier (Ford Madox Ford) is a great example. The narrator equivocates, conceals stuff, contradicts himself but may know more than he lets on… or not. Villette (C Bronte) has a good example of a narrator who is perfectly sympathetic but still unreliable. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800/15 "2002-11-15T11:02:35Z")
How in the world did we get this far without mentioning Kurosawa’s **Rashomon**? I haven’t read _The Remains of the Day_, but I understand the book would apply (though the movie wouldn’t). ---
**Author:** ![samboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@samboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samboy)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800/16 "2002-11-15T12:33:06Z")
Clive James’ autobiography is entitled Unreliable Memoirs. I love that guy’s sense of humour ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800/17 "2002-11-15T13:41:32Z")
Try _The Floating Opera_ by John Barth. ---
**Author:** ![li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/li_l_Dickie_Dirtz)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800/18 "2002-11-15T14:24:16Z")
Would the novel **Atonement** count? What about **A Passage To India**? ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800/19 "2002-11-15T17:18:06Z")
What about One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest? ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800/20 "2002-11-15T17:28:11Z")
I was going to suggest **The Murder of Roger Ackroyd** , and I’ll also add Christie’s **Endless Night** , one of my favorites. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-and-or-movies-w-unreliable-narrators-possible-spoilers/136800.md?page=2)