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Favorite viewpoint to read

V

Violanthe

New Member
When you're reading books and stories, what viewpoint do find you enjoy most? First person, where the main character speaks directly to the reader? Or Third person, where a narrator tells you about the main character with a little distance? Do you find your enjoy one more than the other? In certain cases but not in others? Have you ever read a book in the rarely used Second person?
 
First person stream of consciousness, when well done, is most likely my favorite. I also really like it when a book successfully breaks down the fourth wall (ex. Midnight's Children, Fifth Business, etc.)
 
I tried to read Calvino's second-person "If on a winter's night a traveler"... I had to put it down because It wasn't what i was after at the time. Other than the fact that I was on a monster kick and it didn't have any, I liked what I had read. I may have to try it again...

Thickney, will you tell me what you mean by "the fourth wall"? I've put "fifth business" on hold to find out for myself, but I'm too curious to wait..
 
Well, it's not actually a destruction of the fourth wall, but the destruction of one while another is erected. Both Fifth Business and Midnight's Children have an altered first person narration. Midnight's children is written from the standpoint of a man who is writing his memoirs before he dies. All the action in the book takes place on the page of the memoir. Same thing for Fifth Business. The writing is aware that it is just writing but not aware that it isn't non-fiction.

I agree with you on second person. It can work in poetry and short stories sometimes, but a 2nd person novel would have a really hard time holding my interest. It would eventually do something to make me mad at it. ex:
narration:"You take a bite out of a red apple."
me:"I like green apples better! My suspension of disbelief has been shattered! Shut up book!"
 
I typically like the third-person narratives. I like the in-depth perspectives that you can get from all the characters and not just the protagonist who would be narrating it if it were the first person.

Although I found "The Virgin Suicides" to be a delightful treat when it comes to narratives.
 
I'm partial to anonynous, omniscient third person narrators who seem to be part of the story but really aren't.
 
I don't really have a preference either. It depends on how the authors handle the narration; some authors are adept at writing both first and third-person narratives, while others work best with only one form and not the other. Of course some authors fail miserably with both viewpoints, but that's neither here nor there ;).
 
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