Rant: The time I brought up unreliable narrators in my book club and got shut down hard

Last month at the Downtown Library book club we were discussing "The Girl on the Train" and I mentioned how the whole twist relies on the narrator being unreliable. Three people ganged up on me saying I was overthinking a simple thriller. Has anyone else had a book club debate get super defensive about basic literary stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

susan6491d ago

Was the book club really that serious though... I mean "The Girl on the Train" is a pretty basic book, not exactly high literature. Sounds like those three people just wanted to enjoy their easy read without thinking too hard about it. Sometimes people get defensive when you point out something simple because it makes them feel like they missed something obvious. Honestly, bringing up unreliable narrators in a book club that's reading airport thrillers is like bringing up camera angles at a movie night.

drewgonzalez1d ago

Oh man, you're probably right and I'm just over here like the guy who brings a thesaurus to a karaoke bar. In my experience, I've been that person who jumps into a casual discussion and immediately makes it weird by overanalyzing something nobody asked about. Your mileage may vary, but I've definitely gotten excited about showing off some random book knowledge and realized too late that everyone just wanted to chat and have fun. Take this with a grain of salt since I'm the same person who once tried to explain symbolism in a Jodi Picoult novel and got blank stares from the whole room. Maybe we all need to just let people enjoy their "airport thrillers" without turning it into a college seminar.