In particular, I have noticed books which are largely written in
the first person, but which have cutaways to various third person
viewpoints, perhaps omniscient, perhaps not.
My conjecture is that without editorial guidelines (or call it interference >if you like) newer authors feel more free to jump around.
On 24/03/2024 10.48, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:
In particular, I have noticed books which are largely written in
the first person, but which have cutaways to various third person
viewpoints, perhaps omniscient, perhaps not.
Heinlein did that occasionally. Also he wrote a book using first person,
but with the narrator changing every chapter.
And, since all four of them had the same "voice", I found myself regularly >flipping back to the first page of the chapter to figure out who was >speaking.
One thing I have noticed recently in "indie" SF and fantasy books
is a use of literary "person" I don't recall in fiction from previous
years.
In particular, I have noticed books which are largely written in
the first person, but which have cutaways to various third person
viewpoints, perhaps omniscient, perhaps not. [snip]
On 24/03/2024 10.48, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:
In particular, I have noticed books which are largely written in
the first person, but which have cutaways to various third person
viewpoints, perhaps omniscient, perhaps not.
Heinlein did that occasionally. Also he wrote a book using first person,
but with the narrator changing every chapter.
And, since all four of them had the same "voice", I found myself regularly >flipping back to the first page of the chapter to figure out who was >speaking.
On 24/03/2024 03:47, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
One thing I have noticed recently in "indie" SF and fantasy books
is a use of literary "person" I don't recall in fiction from previous
years.
In particular, I have noticed books which are largely written in
the first person, but which have cutaways to various third person
viewpoints, perhaps omniscient, perhaps not.
My conjecture is that without editorial guidelines (or call it interference >> if you like) newer authors feel more free to jump around.
Has anyone else noticed this, or is it something that has always been
around and I am just picking up on it now for some reason?
If it is a newish thing, is it happening in other genres (mystery, romance >> etc) or largely in SF? (I will note that in romancey SF, I have also noticed
dual first person narratives of late).
I find I don't mind it, btw.
I don't know if it's a new thing, or, as I
think you're suggesting, a new lack of an editor
slapping a new writer into using first-person
or third-person but to stick to one.
Joe Haldeman did it all over _Buying Time_ (1989)
also titled _The Long Habit of Living_.
And _Ghosts from the Past_ (2000) by Graeme Grant...
oh, I Think it's all third person, it just switches
point of view a lot. And sometimes italics.
And some of it is stream-of-conscious-y.
It's a tie-in to a remake of _Randall and
Hopkirk Deceased_, a private detective fantasy
series in which Marry Hopkirk is killed and comes
back as a ghost, and I read it quite recently.
On 25/03/2024 02.15, Jerry Brown wrote:
On Sun, 24 Mar 2024 12:16:51 -0500, "Michael F. Stemper"
<michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:
On 24/03/2024 10.48, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:
In particular, I have noticed books which are largely written in
the first person, but which have cutaways to various third person
viewpoints, perhaps omniscient, perhaps not.
Heinlein did that occasionally. Also he wrote a book using first person, >>>> but with the narrator changing every chapter.
And, since all four of them had the same "voice", I found myself regularly >>> flipping back to the first page of the chapter to figure out who was
speaking.
I got the large format illustrated version of "Number of the Beast"
which helpfully (and often necessarily) had the current POV character
identified at the top of each page.
I just pulled my MMPB off the shelf, and saw that it does this on the >odd-numbered pages. Apparently, I was looking back to find out the title
of the chapter, although I can't think of why.
On 26/03/2024 10.51, Paul S Person wrote:
On Mon, 25 Mar 2024 13:13:41 -0500, "Michael F. Stemper"
<michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:
On 25/03/2024 02.15, Jerry Brown wrote:
I got the large format illustrated version of "Number of the Beast"
which helpfully (and often necessarily) had the current POV character
identified at the top of each page.
I just pulled my MMPB off the shelf, and saw that it does this on the
odd-numbered pages. Apparently, I was looking back to find out the title >>> of the chapter, although I can't think of why.
IIRC, I just gave up on it. Either that, or (for some reason) I had no
trouble knowing who it was.
Or, of course, I just didn't notice the switches between narrators.
This was not my favorite book. I liked the alternate version better.
The alternative version being _The Pursuit of the Pankera_? Ted Nolan's >description of it in a different thread makes it sound worth looking into.
As far as TNotB not being a favorite, my first reading of it put me--
off of Heinlein for a decade. (Since then, it's become a comfort read,
but please don't tell anybody.)
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