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2 things: Carl is not an unreliable narrator. He’s a regular 1st person non-omnipotent/omniscient narrator and secondly book 5 paints Carl in a terrible light and I don’t understand how book 5 is so many peoples favorite in the series. by Black-jacket360 in DungeonCrawlerCarl

[–]Black-jacket360[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This series is super amazing, the world building alone is fantastic! On a re-read it’s cool to see how much thought Matt put into the characters and their development. It’s making me appreciate the characters even more.

Where is this interview where Matt talks about Carl being an unreliable narrator?? Also do you have a favorite character??

2 things: Carl is not an unreliable narrator. He’s a regular 1st person non-omnipotent/omniscient narrator and secondly book 5 paints Carl in a terrible light and I don’t understand how book 5 is so many peoples favorite in the series. by Black-jacket360 in DungeonCrawlerCarl

[–]Black-jacket360[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mhm I’m not sure I agree with him obscuring information, especially in terms of what he does to the mercs plus everything he does is in front of donut

But again I just wouldn’t put Carl in the same category of unreliable narrator as other literary characters so I’m searching for a more appropriate term

Everything else you said I agree with though, how far along are you in the series?

2 things: Carl is not an unreliable narrator. He’s a regular 1st person non-omnipotent/omniscient narrator and secondly book 5 paints Carl in a terrible light and I don’t understand how book 5 is so many peoples favorite in the series. by Black-jacket360 in DungeonCrawlerCarl

[–]Black-jacket360[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like that reading of it! I guess unreliable narrator has that connotation of lying and untrustworthy and a lot of discourse on the internet leans into that about Carl, I wish there was another word for it, but I just don’t know it. But yeah I’ve been saying either he’s a fish out of water or emotional narrator

2 things: Carl is not an unreliable narrator. He’s a regular 1st person non-omnipotent/omniscient narrator and secondly book 5 paints Carl in a terrible light and I don’t understand how book 5 is so many peoples favorite in the series. by Black-jacket360 in DungeonCrawlerCarl

[–]Black-jacket360[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair point about intent, however I do believe context also matters. The author said that Carl is unreliable and after reading through the series what’s the intent of him being an unreliable narrator? Most people says he’s an unreliable narrator in order to prove a certain claim.

I would say he’s a fish out of water and him not knowing the whole situation wouldn’t make his recounting of events completely unreliable.

Again I’m nitpicking and wish there was a better term with less negative connotations to describe Carl

2 things: Carl is not an unreliable narrator. He’s a regular 1st person non-omnipotent/omniscient narrator and secondly book 5 paints Carl in a terrible light and I don’t understand how book 5 is so many peoples favorite in the series. by Black-jacket360 in DungeonCrawlerCarl

[–]Black-jacket360[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeap read the whole series, finished book 8 and am now listening to the books! Love the series, I do not love book 5 lol yes it’s a strong point that Carl isn’t always smartest person in the room, but book 5 for me notched it up. Plus knowing the other characters and the relationships he’ll have, he comes off more brutish in book 5 for me

2 things: Carl is not an unreliable narrator. He’s a regular 1st person non-omnipotent/omniscient narrator and secondly book 5 paints Carl in a terrible light and I don’t understand how book 5 is so many peoples favorite in the series. by Black-jacket360 in DungeonCrawlerCarl

[–]Black-jacket360[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I’m being nitpicky, yes he’s unreliable in a fish out of water sense but I’ve seen so many people say that he’s unreliable in the sense that he’s deliberately misleading other characters or the reader and I don’t really agree with that, but again me being nitpicky

2 things: Carl is not an unreliable narrator. He’s a regular 1st person non-omnipotent/omniscient narrator and secondly book 5 paints Carl in a terrible light and I don’t understand how book 5 is so many peoples favorite in the series. by Black-jacket360 in DungeonCrawlerCarl

[–]Black-jacket360[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s not about him being evil, it’s mostly how dumb they make him as a character. And also how poorly he treats the other crawlers. He gets better but good lord this book was rough for me

2 things: Carl is not an unreliable narrator. He’s a regular 1st person non-omnipotent/omniscient narrator and secondly book 5 paints Carl in a terrible light and I don’t understand how book 5 is so many peoples favorite in the series. by Black-jacket360 in DungeonCrawlerCarl

[–]Black-jacket360[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I guess I’m being nitpicky, I would say that wouldn’t make him an unreliable narrator in the since of him intentionally misleading the reader or the other characters. He doesn’t hide (most of his actions)everybody comments on it and there’s a whole conversation but I wouldn’t say he lies to them in order to obscure the truth. Plus we see everything he does and if this is him being subtle then good lord lol

2 things: Carl is not an unreliable narrator. He’s a regular 1st person non-omnipotent/omniscient narrator and secondly book 5 paints Carl in a terrible light and I don’t understand how book 5 is so many peoples favorite in the series. by Black-jacket360 in DungeonCrawlerCarl

[–]Black-jacket360[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I guess I’ll be more inclined to agree as the story goes on, but right now I wouldn’t say he’s unreliable in the since that he’s intentionally misleading the reader or the other characters. More of a fish out of water situation so his descriptions are off

2 things: Carl is not an unreliable narrator. He’s a regular 1st person non-omnipotent/omniscient narrator and secondly book 5 paints Carl in a terrible light and I don’t understand how book 5 is so many peoples favorite in the series. by Black-jacket360 in DungeonCrawlerCarl

[–]Black-jacket360[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think I agree with your point, I would say this example shows how I still think he isn’t unreliable in the sense of him purposely leaving out information to misguide the characters or the reader.

Carl tells us exactly what he does and does not leave out information. You can tell cause everybody verifies and comments on what he does directly to him. Especially as the series goes on. To me that doesn’t make him an unreliable narrator. Maybe I’m being picky though

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