OnlineBookClub.org

Do you think that it was a good idea for the author to alternate between Adam's and Carly's first-person narration? As far as I am concerned, I found Adam's passages more interesting and believable than Carly's. Would a third-person narration have worked better?

cristinaro wrote: ↑15 Feb 2020, 07:49 Do you think that it was a good idea for the author to alternate between Adam's and Carly's first-person narration? As far as I am concerned, I found Adam's passages more interesting and believable than Carly's. Would a third-person narration have worked better?

Hmm that is a great question!

One of the cons of a first-person narrative is the narrative can be unreliable because you are seeing things filtered through their perception... but you gain greater in-depth knowledge of the person's who POV it is.

I do think it was interesting to see things through each of their POVs but the issue I had was the POVs were very fluid... You never really knew whos POV you were in and I feel like it even switched from Carly to Adam mid chapter.

I do think it would not have been better in a third-person narrative.

I'm feeling guilty replying when I haven't read the book. I just wanted to say that sometimes expression of feelings leaves more impact in first-person narration, to me at least.

Tehreem000 wrote: ↑15 Feb 2020, 12:24 I'm feeling guilty replying when I haven't read the book. I just wanted to say that sometimes expression of feelings leaves more impact in first-person narration, to me at least.

I think that is a very valid point!

cristinaro wrote: ↑15 Feb 2020, 07:49 Do you think that it was a good idea for the author to alternate between Adam's and Carly's first-person narration? As far as I am concerned, I found Adam's passages more interesting and believable than Carly's. Would a third-person narration have worked better?

I am a big fan of first-person narratives and I think the way the emotions are portrayed in the first person makes it easier to follow the story.

Tehreem000 wrote: ↑15 Feb 2020, 12:24 I'm feeling guilty replying when I haven't read the book. I just wanted to say that sometimes expression of feelings leaves more impact in first-person narration, to me at least.

Yes, it really makes the first person narration feel better.

I think a third person narration would have been more appropriate to avoid having the inconsistency in the credibility of the tale as it moves from Adam's perspective to Carly's. To me consistency in a book's style is important.

I feel like first person narration is so much better at times. It gets you into the brain of the character and makes the book more personal, like you actually know the character. It’s ironic since I like writing in third person, lol!

I guess a first-person narrative makes things more personal, and like a conversation or a memoir. It's as if things are happening in the present. However, in the third person, it is more like a story

First-person narration is all fine and dandy when you can make a difference between the characters. Otherwise... I don't know it is not about first or third person narration it is more of what kind of book it is. Maybe for fantasy, I wouldn't choose the first person.

first person narration was a good option as it lets the reader see things through the eyes of the characters. It effectively turns the reader into a witness,

AmatullahAG wrote: ↑16 Feb 2020, 05:58 I feel like first person narration is so much better at times. It gets you into the brain of the character and makes the book more personal, like you actually know the character. It’s ironic since I like writing in third person, lol!

Yes, it gives you more insight into the main character's emotions and perspective.

AntonelaMaria wrote: ↑16 Feb 2020, 13:43 First-person narration is all fine and dandy when you can make a difference between the characters. Otherwise... I don't know it is not about first or third person narration it is more of what kind of book it is. Maybe for fantasy, I wouldn't choose the first person.

I think Adam as a character would have caused so much influence if the story was narrated in the third person.

There's nothing wrong in writing a book in either first person or third person. The most important thing is consistency. It would have been an issue for me if, for instance, the author alternated between first and third person in a particular character's narrative.

Writing in a first-person narration makes it easier for the reader to relate to the character and see things from the character's point of view. A third-person narration might have been okay in some aspects of the book, though.