Last night, I had a fantastic dinner with the lovely and talented Lisa Ann Sandell. Lisa and I have been friends for ages and, whether it’s the author in us or the reader in us, we always end up talking about books (and not always our own)!
After a long and winding discussion last night, we landed on the subject of twists in novels. We chatted for a while about them…and I marveled at the skill it takes for an author to really pull one off. I mean…really really pull one off. Like, gasping for breath, OMG, shock the pants off you kind of twists.
Here’s the part where I confess a super-duper respect for mystery authors. There’s nothing like a great red herring.
As part of this post, I was going to list the five best twists I’ve ever read or seen. I wasn’t going to explain them…obviously, that would ruin the fun. But…now I’m realizing that maybe the best part of a twist is that there is a twist at all. The ones where you audibly gasp are always the ones you REALLY weren’t expecting. Right?
Hmm…ok…so…here’s my list... but Beware: TWISTS AHEAD! Highlight at your own risk!
1. Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card (First on the list for a reason)
2. Fight Club – Chuck Palahniuk
3. The Usual Suspects (film)
4. The Game (film)
5. The Others (film)
So…What did I miss?
August 13th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
This is very beside the point but that's totally the stock photo used on Laurie Halse Anderson's Twisted, but in green!
I love a good twist! Sometimes it's fun knowing beforehand so you can watch for clues but sometimes not. I loved The Village, I knew the twist beforehand though, I know it made some of my friends so mad at the end HAHA!