Do you prefer novels written in the first or third person?
>>25426513I read in first person plural because I'm schizophrenic.
Second is my favorite but its so uncommon unlessits a choose your own adventure
>>25426513To read: third personTo write: first person
why would i have a preference here
>>25426513I don't care, but iI have wondered from time to time which style can boast more big titles. My guess is that they're fairly evenly split.A more interesting question: are there any books which people feel are written in the wrong style? Usually authors seem to get it right. Are there any books in first-person that really would be better in third, or vice versa?A few candidates (people might disagree):BOOK; Lord Jim (Conrad)HOW IT'S TOLD: Technically, first person, with a complicated scheme of people recounting things to other people. In effect it's third person omniscient, though.HOW IT SHOULD BE TOLD: Straight third person omniscient.BOOK: Dune (Frank Herbert)HOW IT'S TOLD: Third person omniscient (with a lot of annoying head-hopping).HOW IT SHOULD BE TOLD: First-person, *not* from Paul's perspective. Either tell it from just Jessica's perspective, or from a bunch of different people's (like As I Lay Dying). If you see Paul only through other characters' eyes, it will add to his mystique. Slightly tricky occasionally (there are key scenes where he's alone) but a competent writer (i.e. better than F.H.) could do it with no problem.STORY: Babette's FeastHOW IT'S TOLD: Third person omniscientHOW IT SHOULD BE TOLD: First person by one of the sisters. The key to the whole story is the sisters' moment of epiphany at the end where they realize what a great talent Babette is and how they haven't appreciated her. And their ignorance of the food and stuff would be much better told first-person.
>>25426550Why is it your favorite? I hate second person
>>25426513I prefer the first, but only when it's done well. I find there's a lot of opportunity to get deep into the narrator, their thought process, their voice in first, where third allows a writer more freedom to stray and increase the scope. First, when done well, errs towards the specific, the nuanced, the interior, where third allows for too much leniency. Not to say that I don't like third, in fact some of my favourite novels are done in third, but generally I prefer first, both in terms of writing and in terms of reading. There is of course the downside that there is a plethora of absolutely shit first person novels written by people who don't appreciate the form.
>>25426823>I prefer the first, but only when it's done well.Ah yes, as opposed to preferring the first when it's done poorly.
>>25426513>first person PRONOUNS.>third person PRONOUNS.I reject the use of pronoun ideology in books entirely.
>>25426849>I
>>25426513this:>>25426621Except I actually don't like writing in first person. It's just what comes easiest to me.
>>25426834Obviously what he means is that his tolerance for acceptable first-person writing is very tight when compared to third person.
first, I can larp as the character
>>25426513I have no preference. The idea that third person is somehow more difficult or less popular didn't exist until recent years, certainly not when I was in school.
>>25426878Dark Brained people have a difficult time virtualizing a foreign thought-process.
>>25426861Yeah, I just thought it was funny. I wasn't grilling him.
>>25426959Nah I definitely phrased it poorly, a bit of banter was fully warranted. >>25426861Essentially this is what I meant. My standards are high when it comes to first person, but when that mark is hit (or exceeded) I find there's very little I'd prefer reading. On the flipside, I find that most first person novels are absolute fucking dreck.
>>25426513Neither one. Good books are good books. What's with the recent obsession with pov?
>>25426513I have no real preference.
>>25427306Modern women are so unbelievably fucking narcissistic and self-absorbed that they cannot fathom being able to understand a story told from a third perspective.
>>25426513I've always preferred first person when it's done well. A good writer in first person can really convey the personality of the narrator in a lot of ways that couldn't be done in third person. That being said, a bad writer writing in first person can be a complete bore.
>>25426890*dark skinnedFIFY.
>>25426513Can't write pseudoautobiography in the 3rd person.
>>25427306>>25427360>>25426890Sentences like "Mr. Johnson did not have breakfast today." are too hard to understand for a lot of people.
>>25426878Same here, this whole topic feels completely bizarre to me.
>>25427548It's fine to have a preference if you can back it up with legitimate reasoning. Not liking third person because it's "hard" is not that.
>>25426550It's disconcerting unless you RP as an amnesia patient
>>25427537Grim.
