unreliable? in Vineland

[Terrance]

Tim Strzechowski wrote:
> 
> From: "Terrance" <lycidas2 at earthlink.net>
> 
> >
> >   True, maybe "reliable" is a poor term for it.  But it's
> > > definitely *not* unreliable narration.
> >
> > Why not?
> >
> > It seems to be unreliable 3rd person narration.
> 
> Unreliable how?
> 
> Does the narrative point of view mislead the reader? No, it doesn't.


OK, let's get rid of the terms because they are not helping us. 
I've provided a definition and several examples of reliability. 
you are talking about something else. 

let's turn to your example 



> 
> Does the narrative point of view manipulate the reader's perception of how
> the character processes his circumstances?  Not really.  The reader is
> manipulated only to the extent that s/he learns *while* Zoyd learns.

on page 3 mid-paragraph 1 the narrator tells us what Zoyd understood. 

how does the narrator know this?