Books with deceptive characters

[Inari Writer]

So. I'm writing a book where the main character is a consummate liar.

Trouble is I'm not a very good liar myself.

Can anyone recommend any good books with deceptive characters and/or lots of social trickery?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Rebecca Daphne de Mauriner - one of the best unreliable narrations out there (not sff)

 

[The Judge]

Hmm. I've never thought of Mrs de Winter as unreliable narrator, though admittedly she does hold back revelations. She's certainly not a consummate liar, but Rebecca herself, of course, is a very different matter, so it is well worth reading for her character alone, Inari.

In SFF vein, The Gentleman ******* (?Gentlemen Bastards??) series by Scott Lynch, starting with The Lies of Locke Lamora are all based upon lies, deception and con tricks.

 

[Inari Writer]

Cheers guys.

I read Locke Lamora back in the day. Don't remember much though so could have a flick through to get a refresher on the art of the con.

 

[Danny McG]

Edmund in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

 

[hitmouse]

Steerpike in Titus Groan and Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
Harry Flashman in the Flashman novels by George McDonald Fraser
Maurice Conchis in The Magus by John Fowles

 

[hitmouse]

Edmund in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

Yeah but he's not a very good liar though.

 

[Randy M.]

Thomas Mann, The Confessions of Felix Krull. Should note, I'm going on a 30+ year-old memory saying this.

Caitlin Kiernan The Drowning Girl, this one is fantasy/horror. Her earlier novel, The Red Tree also has an unreliable narrator.

I've heard good things about Patrick McGrath but have yet to read his work; from what I've read about his work, he has the reputation of using unreliable narrators frequently.


Randy M.

 

[Inari Writer]

Might have to try The Magus; it sounds very interesting.

Though I'm reading 4 books at the moment and my copy of Strange The Dreamer just arrived so all other books are on hold!

 

[Inari Writer]

Thomas Mann, The Confessions of Felix Krull. Should note, I'm going on a 30+ year-old memory saying this.

Caitlin Kiernan The Drowning Girl, this one is fantasy/horror. Her earlier novel, The Red Tree also has an unreliable narrator.

I've heard good things about Patrick McGrath but have yet to read his work; from what I've read about his work, he has the reputation of using unreliable narrators frequently.


Randy M.

What has McGrath written? I don't recognise the name.

 

[WaylanderToo]

wouldn't a range of spy novels suit this purpose rather well?

 

[Randy M.]

What has McGrath written? I don't recognise the name.

McGrath is considered a literary writer, but his interest in Gothic brought him to the attention of sf/f/h fans in the late '80s, early '90s. The Internet Science Fiction Database lists some of his works,

Summary Bibliography: Patrick McGrath

Wikipedia has a slightly fuller listing.

Patrick McGrath (novelist) - Wikipedia

At least a couple of movies have been made based on his works,

Spider (2002) - IMDb
Asylum (2005) - IMDb

I haven't seen either of them.

He's one of those writers I keep coming across like Alasdair Grey and Peter Carey thinking I really should carve out some time and try his work.

And then I pick up a different book.


Randy M.

 

[JoanDrake]

Hitmouse stole my thunder with the Flashman series. Possibly the most successful and consummate liar in all of fiction
Though Flash is unfailingly honest with his journal's readers, it's just everyone else in his entire life he lies to

 

[Toby Frost]

Spider by Patrick McGrath would certainly fit the bill: it's about a man who has killed someone, but the exact details of who the victim was are never quite made clear. Nick Cave attempted something similar in And the Ass Saw the Angel. But both of those are unreliable narrators, which is different to a character who simply tells lies for gain (to other characters, rather than to the reader).

As for liars, how about The Grifters by Jim Thompson?

 

[Randy M.]

Spider by Patrick McGrath would certainly fit the bill: it's about a man who has killed someone, but the exact details of who the victim was are never quite made clear. Nick Cave attempted something similar in And the Ass Saw the Angel. But both of those are unreliable narrators, which is different to a character who simply tells lies for gain (to other characters, rather than to the reader).

As for liars, how about The Grifters by Jim Thompson?

Oh, yeah. Thompson. There's The Killer Inside Me for liars, too. I suppose, if you were looking for characters who can't be relied on by the other characters.


Randy M.

 

[Paul_C]

My trouble is that I tend to assume that anyone telling me a tale is telling the truth, so find it very difficult to recognise an unreliable narrator unless it's written at the top of every page

 

[Frost Giant]

Fight Club comes to mind, the main character spends a lot of time deceiving himself.
Louise Baltimore is something of an unreliable narrator in John Varley's 1983 book Millennium.

 

[Inari Writer]

Fight Club comes to mind, the main character spends a lot of time deceiving himself.
Louise Baltimore is something of an unreliable narrator in John Varley's 1983 book Millennium.

Thanks. Fight Club is a good story for me to think about as Inari has multiple remembered selves inside her head, or so she claims. It's not so much Multiple Personality Disorder as the idea that she has played different roles for so long, (she's around a millenium old), that she doesn't remember where the roles end and she begins.

 

[SilentRoamer]

I remember Miles from the Vorkosiverse as a consummate liar, I remember he has multiple personas.

The master liar though, has to be Kellhus from r. Scott Bakkers The Second Apocalypse series, the guys every single thought and action is towards his end goal, it is not so much Kellhus is a liar, his entire being is devoted to his end goal, whatever that may be (the reader doesnt yet know and should find out next novel.)

Those are two notable liars I can think of.

 

[Rodders]

There's a lot of deception in Dune, IMO.