History Irony / Literature

* In the ''Literature/JamesBond'' series, the titular character is one of the most famous fictional Brits in pop culture. Turns out Ian Fleming got the name from American orinthologist, James Bond.

* In the ''Literature/FamilyTreeSeries'', Luther informs his daughter Abby that Zander Burley has asked for her hand in marriage and says she has to marry him--not only because Luther sees it as a good marriage due to the social connection, not only because Luther is a controlling sexist, but because the Burleys are one of the richest families in town and if Abby marries Zander, she'll never have to worry for money for the rest of her life. [[spoiler:Abby turns Zander down the first time but accepts his proposal five years later after living on her own.]] Many years later [[spoiler:after Zander's [[TheAlcoholic drinking problem]] leads to his death by falling overboard on a ferry and drowning]] Abby finds out that, while Zander had made quite a lot of money as a writer, [[MsRedInk he'd spent it as fast as it came in]] ''and'' had been sending large checks to his parents in Maine [[RichesToRags ever since their business failed]]; his parents could only afford their new smaller house with Zander's assistance, and he never told her any of this while their family lived a rather lavish lifestyle in New York City. Abby works hard to pay off all Zander's many debts herself--without asking Luther for any help other than a car and to live in the beach house she lived in as a child when she moves to Maine--and works multiple odd and often humiliating jobs to support their four kids, moving them around in order to stay employed. Worrying about money is ''all'' Abby does because of Zander's choices until she reunites with and marries [[ChildhoodFriendRomance her childhood friend Orrin]].

* In the ''Literature/FamilyTreeSeries'', Luther informs his daughter Abby that Zander Burley has asked for her hand in marriage and says she has to marry him--not only because Luther sees it as a good marriage due to the social connection, not only because Luther is a controlling sexist, but because the Burleys are one of the richest families in town and if Abby marries Zander, she'll never have to worry for money for the rest of her life. [[spoiler:Abby turns Zander down the first time but accepts his proposal five years later after living on her own.]] Many years later [[spoiler:after Zander's [[TheAlcoholic drinking problem]] leads to his death by falling overboard on a ferry and drowning]] Abby finds out that, while Zander had made quite a lot of money as a writer, [[MsRedInk he'd spent it as fast as it came in]] ''and'' had been sending large checks to his parents in Maine ever since their business failed; his parents could only afford their new smaller house with Zander's assistance, and he never told her any of this while their family lived a rather lavish lifestyle in New York City. Abby works hard to pay off all his debts herself--without asking Luther for any help other than a car and to live in the beach house she lived in as a child--and works multiple odd and often humiliating jobs to support their four kids, moving them around Maine to stay employed. Worrying about money is ''all'' Abby does because of Zander's choices until she reunites with and marries [[ChildhoodFriendRomance her childhood friend Orrin]].

* In the ''Literature/FamilyTreeSeries'', Luther informs his daughter Abby that Zander Burley has asked for her hand in marriage and says she has to marry him--not only because Luther sees it as a good marriage due to the social connection, not only because Luther is a controlling sexist, but because the Burleys are one of the richest families in town and if Abby marries Zander, she'll never have to worry for money for the rest of her life. [[spoiler:Abby turns Zander down the first time but accepts his proposal five years later after living on her own.]] Many years later [[spoiler:after Zander's [[TheAlcoholic drinking problem]] leads to his death by falling overboard on a ferry and drowning]] that Abby finds out that, while Zander had made quite a lot of money as a writer, [[MsRedInk he'd spent it as fast as it came in]] ''and'' had been sending large checks to his parents in Maine ever since their business failed; his parents could only afford their new smaller house with Zander's assistance, and he never told her any of this while their family lived a rather lavish lifestyle in New York City. Abby works hard to pay off all his debts herself--without asking Luther for any help other than a car and to live in the beach house she lived in as a child--and works multiple odd and often humiliating jobs to support their four kids, moving them around Maine to stay employed. Worrying about money is ''all'' Abby does because of Zander's choices until she reunites with and marries [[ChildhoodFriendRomance her childhood friend Orrin]].

* One of Ray Bradbury's highly acclaimed titles, ''[[{{Literature/Fahrenheit451}} Fahrenheit 451]]'', is also very controversial and finds itself frequently subject to a lot of censorship. The irony of this reception is that it summarizes what the book is about- [[BookBurning the censorship of literature itself.]]

** "Literature/Nightfall1941": The characters are frantically trying to prepare society for the terrible effects that a sudden plunge into total darkness might have on a civilisation that knows only ever-present light. However, it turns out that [[spoiler:the catalyst for driving everyone mad isn't so much the darkness, but the millions of smaller lights that suddenly appear when the stars can be seen, leading everyone to realize that far from being the centre of the universe, their world is actually very small and insignificant indeed]].
** ''Literature/Nightfall1990'': Everyone is trying to prevent their society from going completely mad once they experience the darkness caused by the eclipse. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, no-one was prepared for the billions of stars that appeared in the night sky, and the revelation that their society, which they had previously believed to be the entire universe, was only a tiny part of a much greater whole. It's not just the darkness that drives everyone mad, but the billions of lights that can be seen ''in'' the darkness.]]

* {{Literature/Exodus}} 17:14 reads "I [God] will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven". The only reason anybody remembers Amalek nowadays is because they're in Literature/TheBible.

** Susan kept Maggie hidden to hide her from Dresden's enemies [[spoiler:only to be betrayed by Martin, her close friend and ally.]]

*** When he ''invited'' a parasite which destroys the minds of all its hosts inside his brain, Dr. Sensibility Bustle didn't demonstrate a lot of Sensibility.

** ''Literature/AHatFullOfSky'' features Annagramma, who always says the word "literally"... but never literally.

* ''Literature/Discworld'':

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' often displays many examples:

** John Hammond's famous {{Catchphrase}} of "spared no expense" is a load of bogus: he tried to keep the number of employees to a bare minimum (so he wouldn't have to pay any of them) and had a number of the park's essential systems run by computers that were all managed and kept running by a single technician who he also short-changed, so the technician came to develop a grudge against him and did a sloppy job. Essentially, Hammond did spare no expense on the cool things the guests would encounter like the dinosaurs and the restaurant and the guides, but skimped outrageously on all the nuts and bolts details that kept the park running.

* In ''Literature/{{Misery}}'', Paul Sheldon is a writer who kills off the CanonSue protagonist of his pulpy romance novels (the ones he only still writes [[MoneyDearBoy because the money they make will let his kids go to college]]) because he wants to move on and write in other genres instead (specifically, ''Fast Cars'', a gritty crime story about a car thief). He is injured in a car-crash, rescued by BattleaxeNurse Annie Wilkes who also happens to be Misery Chastain's biggest (and [[AxCrazy craziest]]) fan, and forced effectively at threat of torture to write a new story that {{Retcon}}s her death and gives her a satisfying conclusion. What starts as a simple ScheherezadeGambit ends up with Paul undergoing a CreatorBreakdown and writing a DarkerAndEdgier Gothic PsychologicalHorror where Misery has to escape being BuriedAlive and the story also delves into her family history in DarkestAfrica. [[spoiler:When Paul escapes, he keeps the story and sells it on to massive critical acclaim, and even he is forced to admit that ''Fast Cars'' was pretentious and ''Misery's Return'' [[GrowingTheBeard is the best story he's ever written]].]]