I adore 1st person because I love unreliable narrators. If it's done well, you have the fun of trying to figure out what's really going on vs what the character thinks is really going on. For instance, in Higher and Higher, we get to have the thrill of knowing (when Draco doesn't) that Harry is like WAY into him, which Draco won't let himself see. I find that very entertaining. It can open up vistas of tragedy, too - illuminating the divide between the character's desires and the likelihood of them being sated.
One of my favorite 1st person novels is The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch. More than half the enjoyment of reading the book is trying to determine exactly _how_ delusional the narrator is. You and I recently talked briefly about The Sea The Sea - the narrator of TBP is both more delusional and more likeable than that 1st person narrator. Knowing the the narrator is deluded/blinded feels very real and relatable to me, because I'm always wondering to what extent I'm blinded to the nature of what's "really happening."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2016-05-21 05:04 am (UTC)One of my favorite 1st person novels is The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch. More than half the enjoyment of reading the book is trying to determine exactly _how_ delusional the narrator is. You and I recently talked briefly about The Sea The Sea - the narrator of TBP is both more delusional and more likeable than that 1st person narrator. Knowing the the narrator is deluded/blinded feels very real and relatable to me, because I'm always wondering to what extent I'm blinded to the nature of what's "really happening."