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Unreliable and Not In Control—Bad Combination

Mar 4
4 min

Unreliable and Not In Control—Bad Combination

I have written about how Pat is an unreliable narrator in Silver Linings. The unnamed narrator presents Pat’s story as a sort of journal he eventually tries to send to his ex-wife Nikki, a journal which is a sort of instrument of propaganda, designed to convince Nikki to accept him again. However, cracks begin to appear in what Pat writes, the “journal” begins to contain passages that would probably not bring the “real” Nikki toward reconciliation—like Tiffany’s profane tirad

I Don't Believe You

Feb 25
4 min

I Don't Believe You

I have said that, in Silver Linings, Pat is an unreliable narrator. Let’s look at this more closely. An unreliable narrator is a narrator whose credibility is compromised. They aren’t telling the story accurately, because of a need to lie, or in Pat’s case, a need to deny the truth. Hold up, hold up! Is Pat even the narrator of Silver Linings? It’s probably more accurate to say that the story’s narrator tells the story through Pat’s experience, his consciousness. (whiny voice

The Silver Linings Playbook

Feb 18
4 min

The Silver Linings Playbook

This week a new story, Matthew Quick’s 2008 novel, The Silver Linings Playbook. I first read the book six years ago after seeing the great film adaptation directed by David O. Russell, and the differences between the two intrigued me. I believe the book is a darker rendering with a more open ending. Matthew Quick was a public and private school English teacher. Silver Linings was his first published book and was nominated for a PEN/Hemingway Award and optioned for a film befo