random thoughts – Day 1,602 – (Tuesday) – unreliable narrator

Book club.

Book Club was more fun than usual tonight. I know, I didn’t think it was possible, either, but there we were. Maybe it was something in the air, which was much cooler than it has been in recent weeks. Maybe it was the book, although it was more murder mystery than comic relief. Or maybe it was the group. Or a combination of all the factors. In any event, it was lively and fun.

In our group of eight, there were three new people plus a cluster of regulars. Two of the new people sat at the end of the table near me and they had a ton of energy and were a hoot. 

In a potential historic first, all of us liked the book (I have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai). Every single one of us in attendance. Usually, we have at least one person who isn’t super keen on the book or flat out didn’t like it.

Again tonight, as in the past few book discussions, there were references to the “unreliable narrator.” I think that some of these book club folks are undercover college professors, literary critics, and book reviewers and I'm the big dummy.

Seriously, how did I get through so many high school and college English classes and read so many books and make it this far in life without hearing about this before? Frankly, I’m feeling quite cheated. What other literature nuggets and buzz words am I unaware of? 

As much as I loved Miss Mullahy and her English classes in high school, my strongest memory is the “Is it fate or free will?” question that accompanied every book that I remember. And I always argued both sides of the case. But never a mention of this fascinating “unreliable narrator” concept.

For a month or two the phrase has been floating in my head. Recently, an ad for a tee shirt proclaiming “unreliable narrator” has been chasing me on social media. It’s like it’s mocking me, but also, I want one. 

There is also a big case of wondering what else I don’t know, kind of like when I took Intro to Philosophy in college. I may need to go back to school and learn some literature buzzwords so I can keep up with my reliably literate fellow book clubbers.