The narrator has to be credible. Remember, he’s narrating, so there is no need to be the least bit transparent. It should be believable, and he’s doing it to earn credibility.
For example, in this excerpt, the narrator says that death means having your memories erased and that everything that happens to you afterwards is real, even if you don’t remember it. To this, the reader has to believe that the narrator is lying when he says that he’s done with all of this and that he’s just now getting to know his past.
This is a common problem. Narrators who’ve been doing this stuff for years or decades can end up sounding like they’re making it up to impress their buddies. When the narrator knows she knows the truth and has no interest in getting more laughs, it’s hard to trust her. It’s a subtle thing, but it’s the kind of thing that just makes the reader question what the hell is going on.
Well, the narrator does sound like she knows things that she really doesn’t have to, like the fact that she’s had sex with lots of different people, which is not really a big deal. But the problem is with the details of her past, which is why the narrator is lying when she says shes done with all of this. Her life is going to change drastically, but her lies don’t seem to be hurting anyone.
Maybe, but the narrator does seem to be a bit of a loose cannon, and you can see how the narrator might get caught in a lie. There’s no way in Hell this narrator is going to be able to hide the truth from anyone, and that’s a shame. You’d think that at the very least one of her sex partners would check in on her to see if she is, in fact, still alive.
I think it’s a little too much to ask somebody to check in on somebody to see if they are really still alive. That might be a bit too much to ask, considering their relationship with the narrator was always a bit more than just sex.
Well that is a little tough, because the narrator does seem to be rather believable. She seems to be someone we would have known in our lives. So no worries there.
I think it is a little too much to ask to ask someone to check in on someone to see if they are still alive, considering their relationship with the narrator was always a bit more than just sex.Well that is a little tough, because the narrator does seem to be someone we would have known in our lives. So no worries there.
I agree. The issue isn’t just that the narrator is a bit too believable, it’s that it’s too believable. It’s like a guy who takes his girlfriend to the zoo and watches her like a hawk, so he can see her constantly.
I feel the same way about the narrator being a bit too credible. Especially considering that he always is like that, he is usually more than a bit too believable. I know that sounds crazy, but I think he kinda has to be like that to be believable. Its like an actor who never does any acting. Its hard to see him in other stories.
