Fifty Shades of Grey: Introduction and Point of View

[amarie24]

Well, what can I say? You guys know me and background first. (1)

Fifty Shades of Grey came to my attention when it was just rising to fame on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, and the like. Sales have since skyrocketed all over the globe and, well...it looks like sales will continue to skyrocket.

It's also worth noting, I think, that the origins of this book by British author E.L James started out as a Twilight fanfiction. And when the fanfiction's content was took mature/disturbing for Fanfiction's site, Mrs. James too it down and, well...now we have the fanfiction in book form. A book form that people seem to either love and hate.

But either way, it's caught everyone's attention and even the great Stephenie Meyer herself has had to say something about it. Bless her for being kind and congratulating to Mrs. James.(2)

I would put several links here, but we don't want to overwhelm ourselves, no kiddies?

And, in doing this deconstruction series (which, to be brutally honest, I think this will mostly turn into a reaction series), I understand that I have a lot of my work cut out for me. There are explicit, BDSM themes, [anti-] feminist controversies, the disturbing comparisons to Twilight, the question of consensual sexuality vs. abuse, others' commentaries, and well...a whole lot more.

However! I will not tarry too much in the introduction. Rather, what I want to focus on is the point of view that Mrs. James decides to take with her book. Indeed, upon the first paragraph of the book, I find that, like Twilight, it is told in first person. The protagonist is Anastasia Steele, the loverly lady that is destined to fall in love with the loverly Christian Grey:

I scowl with frustration at myself in the mirror. Damn my hair-it just won't behave, and damn Katherine Kavanagh for being ill and subjecting me to this ordeal. I should be studying for my final exams, which are next week, yet here I am trying to brush my hair into submission. I must not sleep with it wet. I must not sleep with it wet.Reciting this mantra several times, I attempt, once more, to bring it under control with the brush. I roll my eyes in exasperation and gaze at the pale, brown-haired girl with blue eyes too big for her face staring back at me and give up. My only option is to restrain my wayward hair in a ponytail and hope that I look semi-presentable.

Now, I am not an author (I write in roleplays on another website...but I'm not sure if that's relevant). I am not a journalist. And I am certainly not a publisher/editor. But I, as a blogger, I will go on and put my head in the oven by saying, well...

...I would never recommend writing in first person. Ever.

My point of view on the matter (haha!) comes from the fact that, as an avid reader, I've always seen point of view as a kind of camera. Third person omniscient point of view is a bird's eye that never swoops down. Second person point of view is a bird's eye that occasionally swoops down for in-depth thoughts, emotions, memories, etc. First person point of view is a bird that's permanently grounded with whichever character(s) that it is showcasing.

In essence, I just feel that the camera of first person that's provided is much, much too insular. That's not to say that it's impossible to do a good job with first person; actually, one of my favorite books, The Book Thief does an excellent job of showing Death's point of view during World War II and the Holocaust specifically.(3)Of all the people/entities that you could do first person with during the Holocaust...what better one than Death Himself?

Brilliant.

Except...

Anastasia isn't Death and Death isn't Anastasia. So there's a whole wealth of difference here. Now, I may be nitpicking by stating fundamental problems just by the first paragraph, but I'm afraid that this Amarie has a list. Here is what I personally feel an author can run into with first person...and what I personally feel has already been run into in "Fifty Shades of Grey":

1.) As I mentioned before, The Camera Is Too Insular

I feel kind of trapped in Ana's mind. She's relatively...small so far. I said that I haven't gotten past chapter three and part of the reason for that is that Ana has a such a small scope of the world. And right now, there's nothing much except that her eyes are too big for her face. Her hair won't behave. She's damning Katherine for being ill. She's unhappy with the fact that something is going to distract her from studying for her exams. She's rolling her eyes.

And, yes, that's giving me detail. But there's so much that I don't know. What room is she in? The bathroom? Her bedroom? Maybe there's a mirror in the dorm living room? What does it look like? Did she design parts of the room herself? Is the design supposed to remind her of something?

What day of the week is it? What month? What year? What else is coming up besides final exams-or has already passed-in this time frame? Is any of it significant or insignificant to our protagonist? Why or why not?

How is Katherine? What is the cause of her illness? Stress? Flu season? Bad immune system? Is she going to be alright within a few days time? Does she need immediate medical attention, or at least, a quick visit to the doctor's office next week? Has she gotten it from Anastasia herself some time ago? How does Katherine feel about being sick?

And so on and so forth.

Realistically, I know that there's little to no way for any author to (stylistically) include all of that in just the first paragraph of their book. Hell, it would be a feat just to include it all in the first chapter alone while still being able to interest and not overwhelm the reader. Every single little detail need not be shoved down the audience's throat from the very beginning (*stares pointedly at Game of Thrones*).

But I am saying that I don't feel like we're going to get any of those details at all because the text is too busy with Anastasia's Big Blue Eyes That Are Too Big For Her Face. And I can't see anything outside of her disdain for her physical appearance; the camera is just too insular.

For me, as a reader, it's a lot like being blinded because I'm not allowed to see anything outside of the protagonist. And it is this problem that, in my opinion, can make it extremely difficult for an author to paint the picture that is the story.

First person was a wonderful choice for The Book Thief because Death is just the perfect compliment to World War II. During such a time, he's required to be everywhere and anywhere and sees all of the desolation and carnage and loss and destruction and everything else that comes with one of the biggest wars in history. So, to me, The Book Thief is an excellent case where first person couldn't be farther from insular if it tried.

But...

Again, Ana isn't death and Death isn't Ana. I still can't see anything.

By the way, why are we blaming Katherine for being ill?


2.) The question of interest

I don't think it's uncommon for [un]interest in a novel to closely tie in with the audience caring about the novel. And, right now, am I interested? Did the author hook, grab and keep me with this paragraph? Am I sitting on the edge of my seat as my eyes struggle to move as fast as they can on the page? Do I want to smack Katherine upside the head for putting our protagonist through such trouble? Am I practically bouncing and vibrating to flip to the next page and see what happens immediately?

No.

Indeed, no this Amarie is not.

And I'm going to go ahead and cheat (I'll probably be cheating a lot) and say that, as of chapter three, I'm still not hooked. I'm blinking. I'm yawning. I'm shifting.

I'm waiting.

The problem, for me, is of a lot of things. It's very, very clear to me that, in terms of physical appearance, Ana is either:

1. genuinely distressed at the fact that her struggle to look presentable is failing
2. melodramatic at best and extremely negative at worst


With the first option...I can kind of understand this, to be honest. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I'm a black female. And I live in a place where the climate is very, very hot and very, very humid. We're not exactly Breathing Water In An Oven around here, but it's close enough. And so I have to admit that I know what it's like to not have your hair behave and to think your eyes are too big for your face (my sister calls my eyes 'marbles' and asks if it hurts when I blink...all with love, I assure you. ;) ) and your skin too dark and, well...

Everything is Just Wrong and you have to go now and you just wish that you looked at least "semi-presentable". Whether we like it or not and whether we acknolwedge it or not, the appearance is one of the very first things taken into account when first impressions are made. The saying "Dress to Impress" is not to be taken lightly. Of course, we can always change a possibly negative first impression around within a matter of minutes, but I think most of us would like to err on the side of making that Strongest Impression one that we'd like to proudly own. I can understand that. Really. And, just so we're clear, Ana is struggling to look "semi-presentable" because she's leaving to do a very, very important thing. *winks*

So I get it. I do. Though it's not the worst feeling in the world, walking out of the house feeling less than immaculate (in our own way) is not a good feeling.

But what I don't get is...why so much reaction and focus on Anastasia's part? No, seriously. She repeats a mantra of not sleeping with it wet. She rolls her eyes. She scowls. And to top it all off, she damns Katherine for becoming ill...which is no doubt her fault. *cue unladylike gigglesnort*

Why?

I suppose it stands out to me because that's quite a lot of reaction/body language for a whole lot of, well...nothing. I'm looking at it like a correlation chart. Significance of wayward, physical appearance: 2; Significance of Ana's reaction: 12.

And this brings us back to the second option: Anastasia is either terribly melodramatic or extremely negative. To cheat again, I'm three chapters in and I'm still not too sure which is which. Or rather, if there are other options. There has been serious talk about Anastasia's identical state to Bella Swan...and, in the very first paragraph, it's not hard to see why. With this introduction to Anastasia Steele, I can't help but feel that she's overwrought, childish, and small-minded.

How exactly am I supposed to be interested in that? Again, the correlation between Ana's 'dilemma' and her ensuing reaction doesn't speak to me in the throes of logic. As a result, I shut off from the very beginning of the first chapter. Because I find myself dealing with a character here that has a problem that doesn't interest me. By that extension, she has a reaction that, well...turns me off.

3.) Who am I supposed to agree with?

This, for me, is possibly the most daunting question the I often can't answer when I encounter first person. Instances like these are why I feel that an audience can become so confused. The way I see it, when you have first person, you have three 'inner' cameras:

a. the actual protagonist (Anastasia Steele)
b. the world building/canon of the text
c. the author (E.L James)

Now, I suppose we could say that in an ideal, first-person novel, all three of those cameras would show much the same perspective. By that extension, it could be easy for the audience to understand which side is the correct side, per say.

With every apology and due respect to Mrs. James, I sincerely think that there is-and will continue to be-a dissonance between the three cameras. And that all starts with this simplistic, overly-used cliché of Anastasia looking into the mirror to describe her appearance to us. To break it down:

a. With the actual protagonist's perspective, I'm pretty sure we're meant to believe that Ana is slightly unattractive at best and outright ugly at worst. Her hair doesn't behave and her eyes are too big for her face. Hell, she's probably even classically Gangly-Lanky With No Boobs.

And...perhaps I should give credit where credit is due and say that this is probably one of the (many) aspects that has so many women across the globe tuning into Fifty Shades of Grey? I'm a strong, firm believer in the fact that women all around the world are cultured to feel ugly and, by that extension, they are pressured to throw heaps of money and effort into the unachievable pursuit of absolute beauty. So maybe we could say that it's...considerate of Mrs. James to give us a protagonist that genuinely believes she's unattractive, like so many real-life probably women do? Just as we could possibly give Stephenie Meyer credit for making Bella Swan much the same way?

...I can see that issue would be another discussion for another day. Onwards!!

So, with 'inner' camera A, we're told to agree with Anastasia: Anastasia is unattractive.

b. With the world building/cannon of the text, I'm going to cheat again.(Are you keeping up with the score, kiddies? Anymore cheating and this Amarie will fail her certification test for the pure lack of integrity alone.) Further ahead, not even three chapters into the book, and we're treated to Mary Sue Universal Attractiveness. That is, like Bella Swan, Anastasia has a slew of suitors just waiting to line up and compete with Christian Grey.

Again, therein lies another discussion for another day. But, from the world building, we're shown that something about Anastasia is attractive to the local male population. And from Ana's point of view (again, cheating), there's not very much to suggest that their interest is based on something else entirely (like monetary gain, simple boredom, raging/uncontrollable hormones, etc.).

So, that leaves us with the fact that, according to the canon, Anastasia is wrong. We should not agree with her. Instead, we are told to agree with the world building/canon: Anastasia is attractive.

c. With the author, this one gets a bit difficult because we may fall into the trap of psychoanalyzing. The only real way that I can respectfully say this is by paraphrasing a dear friend and mentor of mine, Kit Whitfield at Ana Mardoll's blog: A lot of us believe that we're unattractive, and sometimes even ugly. But, more often than not, we don't genuinely believe that of ourselves. Generally, such internal dialogue extends from the desire to avoid [excessive] vanity and/or a superiority complex. But at the same time, most of us would like to believe that we are attractive and, by that extension, have others be attracted to us. It's one of the rare instances where human beings hope they're wrong and they abandon self-serving bias for a while.

Love you, Kit. *winks*

To get back to the point, this is the mindset that I think Mrs. James is trying to convey. That is, Ana's belief that her physical appearance is lacking is completely wrong. Again, maybe we could give points for the author possibly hitting a note on beauty with real-life women. Maybe. But the bigger picture is that I'm not too sure if this is exactly the lens that the author's camera wants to convey. Because then we're looking at a few different plots that are either...

1.) Truly Ugly Girl gets Truly Attractive Boy
2.) Truly Attractive Girl That Doesn't Think So gets Truly Attractive Boy
3.) Truly Attractive Girl That Secretly Thinks So gets Truly Attractive Boy

If it's the first, then we should be agreeing with Anastasia: her eyes really are too big for her face and her hair really is unmanageable.

If it's the second, then we should, in a nutshell, be completely disagreeing with Anastasia and agree with the world building/canon of the text: she is attractive, but just doesn't know/admit it.

If it's the third, then we should be agreeing with the author in that this is a story of Beautiful People That Are Smexxxxeh An' They Know It. All of the SparkDust Happehness goes to them.

But either way, it's hard to discern what exactly the author's purpose is here. By that extension, with point C, it's hard to discern who I'm supposed to agree with.


4.) The question of tone

This is probably the most self-explanatory of them all, but you know me and Walls of Text. And you know you love me.

I believe that one of the most difficult things about establishing a novel's world with first person point of view is the question of how do I want this to sound? That can be tricky because the way the protagonist views a situation is not always the same as how the world's canon and/or the author views the situation. For example, Ana may very well believe that her hair is hopeless and untamable. Therefore, as we see, her tone is largely negative. But the text/author could disagree with her and believe that her hair is beautiful and unique. In which case, the tone could be praising and positive.

But the brick wall that's run into is that we can't get to that hypothetical, praising and positive tone because we're still in Anastasia's head. Because we are in Anastasia's head, we are only subject to Anastasia's tone. It is that tone that is going to set much of the course for the book.

This also kind of ties in with the issue of being interesting. Again, so far Ana's head isn't interesting in the least; the fact that her inner tone is much like a perpetually tantrum-throwing two-year-old doesn't help, either. By that extension, I believe that many of us-myself, included-have an inner dialogue that's somewhat repetitive. For example, I'd say that I can be pretty negative like Ana (i.e, when I'm driving behind someone that doesn't believe in turning signals) and, other times, I'm so cheery and bouncy in my head that I swear I could scare Carebears off (i.e, when I finally post something that should have been posted long ago).

And that's repetitive. Very, very repetitive.

Therefore, I wouldn't have someone do a first person point of view story of me. It's just that my head doesn't change all that much no matter what situation I'm in. My mood does. My perspective does. But my voice pretty much stays the same; it's merely the vehicle with which I convey everything. Therefore it would be the only voice that an audience would be subjected to no matter what.

From three chapters in (count the cheating!), all we're getting is a tone that's not all that...agreeable. It is negative, petulant and moody. I have to say the tone of Fifty Shades of Grey is what makes it so difficult to read, much less enjoy even on a minimal scale. If I'm going to give E.L James some credit, I'm going to say that she managed to nab the inner snark of Bella Swan to the nth degree with Anastasia Steele.

O, how terrible art I?! I disguise a jab within a compliment!

To top this negative tone off, I'm still not sure exactly why Ana is so negative. It could be depression. It could be low self-esteem. It could be genuine immaturity. Beyond that, what exactly is the fiat, authorial purpose of it? It could be a number of things that are up for a another discussion at another time.

I'm still not recommending writing in first person.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty_Shades_Of_Grey#cite_note-7 (1)

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1685954/fifty-shades-of-grey-stephenie-meyer.jhtml (2)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_Thief (3)

*And so, dearest kiddies, this concludes my first (and long overdue) deconstruction/reaction series of Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L James. Questions? Comments? Critiques? Give them all! I need to learn!!!!! :D

Comments

[silveradept]

I find middle C is a reasonably good tone to start with when thinking about composition. Very centering.

As some who reads a snark that has cheated further ahead, you're not going to find any reason to identify with Ana, or figure out the reason for her negative self-image. At least up to chapter ten.

I also find the idea of the Ugly Duckling storyline a little bit...eh, and a bit overused in romance stories. I realize, as a self-insert technique, it helps the reader empathize and live vicariously through the protagonist, but I would appreciate a story where the entirety of the courtship and/or romance acknowledges that the female lead is not bodily attractive, and doesn't really bring it up again, preferring to concentrate on the aspects that make the female lead a great romance partner. Hell, they can have all the kinkiest sex they want to, with as many partners of whatever gender identity they want to, but could we please have a book or other piece where the Ugly Duckling transformation isn't central to the romance?

When you talk about the narrative and or inner monologue, I'm reminded of the Sparklevampire and his special ability. Must be a pain to listen in on someone's thoughts to hear:

Hate my hair. Hate my eyes. Hate my roommate for being sick. Hate my hair. Hate-ow-really hate my hair. Hate my exams. Hate the fact that everyone thinks I'm an airhead it a walking pair of tits. Wish that the Nice Guy would just [REDACTED] [ANATOMICAL IMPOSSIBILITY] [IMPOLITE REFERENCE TO MALE GENITALS]. Is my roommate getting it on with someone again? Hate my hair.

So, yeah. Good thing is, we get to meet more of Ana's self-narrative later on. Brace yourself.

[amarie24]

*facepalms and temple-rubs* Silver, my friend, you have hit the nail on the head. Goddess, I am NOT asking for Ana to be cheery and bouncy and bubbling every single second of every single day. That would just be on the other end of the spectrum in terms of annoying and repetitive.
But I AM saying that, when I picked up Fifty Shades, I'd hoped to never read a protagonist with a Bella Swan flavor. No joke. -____-
And chapter ten?! Chapter ten, you say?! Alas, I must resist temptation and NOT read ahead!!!!! >.<

About the Ugly Duckling...I agree completely. Again, this is all about balance and, possibly, straying away from common tropes. Ana doesn't necessarily have to believe that she's the most beautiful woman in the room; no female or male character does. But by putting so much emphasis on appearance and the Cinderella Effect...it's hard not to see Fifty Shades as kind of shallow. Hence my three options for how we're possibly supposed to see Ana's appearance.

[silveradept]

Were you aware of the origin story of Fifty Shades when you picked it up? The possibility of a non-Isabella narrator for that particular book is precisely...zero, considering what it was before it transmigrated to it's current form.

The waveform on how we're supposed to see Anastasia will collapse very soon after where you are. Past that point, there won't be any doubt about the lens we're supposed to view with.

[lonespark]

...does this book pretend not to be shallow? I thought the shallowness was kind of a selling point.

It's freaking me out to see Ana and have it not mean Ana Mardoll.

[lonespark]

Fascinating. I am finding the popularity of this book...interesting.

When you are talking about the different perspectives I could agree with, I am reminded of fanfiction. What I read is mostly fanfiction. Lately Avengers and some Legend of Korra. Fanfiction tends to make no bones about existing to scratch certain specific itches, and that's a big part of what I like about it. Another thing I like is the use of characters already widely agreed to be interesting attractive (in some way. Possbily you love to hate them...) So it feels weird to have fanfiction about someone like Bella Swan, who seems like such a blank insert-self-here type of character.

[lonespark]

Hearing other people's inner monologues would be TERRIBLE. Even if you could turn it on and off it seems like it would take a lot of work to just get useful information or insight. Years of training...

[silveradept]

And at least a few years figuring out how to get other people to concentrate so their monologue doesn't go "Ooh! Sex thought!" and get distracted entirely.

Yeah. The more you think about it, the more you realize that the ability to be that tuned into someone is likely a curse, not a blessing.

[amarie24]

*nods* Silver, I actually was aware that Fifty Shades was based on Twilight...but I had hoped it was a rumor. Now I know better. -___-

And as far as "Ooh! Sex thought!" goes...believe me when I say that I have a LOT of commentary on Ana's supposed "inner goddess".

A lot.

But no more spoilers for you, mister.

[silveradept]

Ah, shoot. No spoilers for me, then. Too bad, though - I can hear the knives being sharpened all the way over here.

I think it stopped being a rumor when SMeyer was asked for comment about that kind of thing. I'm guessing she gave a diplomatic "yay" with the "this is totally awkward" thumbs-up. At least, that's how I read her statement.

[amarie24]

No! No! You do NOT hear the knives sharpening in the drawer! Dammit, I'm the dullest knife IN the drawer, you Silver!! You hear me?!
*giggles and needed a little bit of humor before final exams* ^ ^

Oh, yes! That's how I read her statement, too. I mean, someone made a book series off yours and, err...the contents aren't exactly your own cup of tea? And, if I may, Mrs. Meyer might also have been wondering what Mrs. James was thinking...considering the Feminism firestorm (among other firestorms) that Mrs. Meyer comes under...>.>

[silveradept]

Good luck and better skill on your examinations. I don't think you'll be able to be called dull after you finish that course of study.

I can still hear the sound of a whetstone drag, though.

[amarie24]

*giggles* Thank you, Silver! I have final exams Monday (tomorrow) and Tuesday.
And then I'm free until the 20th. During that time, I'll post so much that you guys will be tired of me. ^ ^

[smurasaki]

Yay! I can already tell that this is going to be fascinating. Your deconstruction, that is, not Fifty Shades of Gray.

I've never been much of a fan of first person, either. I hate to write it. HATE. And, while I've enjoyed some books written in it, it's a perspective that's put me off of others because I simply did not want to be in that person's head.

[amarie24]

Hey there, Depi! I'm glad you guys like it! :D :D :D

Ehhh...when I was first writing I TRIED to write in first person. But, again, it's so limiting. >.<

[smurasaki]

Oh, I've tried it, too. And had people push it at me as how I ought to write, since I generally go for, um, I don't know the technical term, but a kind of third person that only has access to specific people's thoughts. It gets used a lot in space adventure and in romance. But, the thing is, even though I still follow people tightly, the camera's out of their head (though I'll include some thoughts) and can zip off somewhere else if needed.

You know, I don't think I've encountered that many romances written in first person. *eyes Fifty Shades of Gray curiously* I guess that's a holdover from it being Twilight fanfic, but man is that going to make the sex scenes weird. (Okay, I'm borderline asexual, sex scenes are always a bit weird to me. Still, a first person sex scene seems extra-weird.)

[lonespark]

To me it doesn't mark it as fanfiction; it marks it as a very specific kind of Mary Sue-type story. As I said above, I read 90% fanfic (and I read A LOT, lately) and I can't think of anything I've read all year that was first person.

No, that's wrong. I haven't read any first-person fanfic, or whole works that were first-person. But I read Racing The Dark and The Burning City (Part 1 and 2 of the masterful and sadly unfinished Spirit Binders series by Alaya Dawn Johnson) and there's a book-within-the-book that's first person and no less amazing than the rest of the story. It doesn't feel limited, at all. Care was taken in the choices about how to be in a character's head and still include a lot of detail of the wider situation. And of course, it's not the whole story. By the time we get into Aoi's head, we've already seen the world, even if it's a thousand-years-later version, so we can fill in a lot of blanks.

[amarie24]

Hey there, Lonespark! Lilo is going to get you for calling her sister a herione addict! LOLOLOL!

Thank you for posting!

I, too, read a lot of fanfiction. By that extension, I've had much the same experience as you. That is, I've RARELY encountered stories that are well-done in first person. Now, don't get me wrong; I favorite crappy stories just like the next person...but I still have yet to read a fanfiction that's done WELL in first person. : /

And it IS curious, isn't it? Why in the world would someone seek to do a serious fanfiction based on someone as blank and horrid as Bella Swan? By that extension, I'm also (rudely) curious about what prompted Mrs. James to write a story after a woman that's, well...hasn't had the nicest receptions as of late...

And you love Korra, too?! I sent you a comment about it over at Ana's!!!!!

MAKO AND KORRA FOREEEEEEVAAAAAR!!!!

*unashamed romance sap in real life* :D :D :D

[smurasaki]

Ah, lack of clarity. I didn't mean that first person was a mark of fan fiction, but since Twilight was in first person, I imagined that the first person here was a holdover from it being Twilight fanfic. (I assumed the original version - the fanfic - was in first person because it's, er, parent work was.)

[lonespark]

Ohhh, I get it now. I kind of went off on a mistaken tangent, there.

I keep trying to think of first-person stuff, like whole works, and beyond poems I mostly got nothin'. Then again, a lot of Victorian stuff is, isn't it? Or well, a lot of what was read to me, at least? Like, Jules Verne?

And The Great Gatsby. But still, not much, use with caution.

[amarie24]

Hey, it's alright, Lonespark!
Hmm...Butchie (part of his/her name) has commented and added a LOT of works that are in first person pov. One, significantly, is actually The Hunger Games. :D

[amarie24]

Aww!! Depi, why do you say you're asexual like its a bad thing?! D:
There's nothing wrong with it so long as it doesn't hurt you, you know!! D:

And I understand what you mean about that third person you prefer. For me, it all comes down to a bird's eye-view and, with a negative character like Ana, I really, really need that.

*rubs headache away from the snarky immaturity of Bella-Swan-Reborn* >.<

[smurasaki]

True. (Even if it makes it kinda funny that I do read some romance.)

And, yeah, Ana/Bella is...are...whatever exactly the kinds of characters that make me dislike reading first person. I don't want to be in the head of someone so negative.

[amarie24]

*eye twitch* Hear, hear! Negativity is NOT the new feminism!!! >.<
...Which reminds me...I may want to do a future post on why the show Bridezillas literally depresses the crap out of me...>.>

[doknowbutchie.wordpress.com]

I have to say I'm a bit surprised at the idea of novels written in the first person being rare. I guess it depend on one's reading selection, cause I had no problem in thinking about books written with that POV. The Hunger Games, several Agatha Christie mysteries (mainly the ones involving Hastings, which makes sense, since he is pretty much Watson under another name), Arturo Pérez-Reverte's Capitán Alatriste series (although that one kinda cheats, since the narrator describes events he didn't witness with a level of detail that suggests that he may be embelishing things--the whole narrative is written as a recollection of past events) and about half of Haruki Murakami's work, including Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World (love!) and Norwegian Wood (ditto).

And while it has its disadvantages, the narrative style also has perks, particularly if one isn't particularly confident about their writing skills. It may be limiting, but it also helps prevent sprawl. Depending on the narrator, it requires less research, since you only need to know what the narrator knows. Don't know how an impossible piece of technology is supposed to work? Make your gaps the narrator's, and have hir begin to nod off whenever an explanation is provided. Plus, it's quite effective if the author wants to obfuscate or hide information. All in all, I'm not surprised to see it used either in Twilight or here.

Anyways, I want to add that I really liked this post. Will follow deconstruction.

[amarie24]

*squeals happily* Welcome, Butchie! (May I call you that?)
It's always a pleasure to attract a new reader and I'm glad you like this post! Thank you for reading and I hope to see you again, soon! :D
And, yes...I'm reading a first person pov book that's REALLY good. I think, when I'm done reading, I'll put it up as a recommendation. ^ ^

[doknowbutchie.wordpress.com]

Yay! I was worried I'd killed the thread. I do that, sometimes.

"Butchie" is fine--I actually tried fiddling with the OpenID settings to change the ID to something other than my blog URL (specifically Ian or Mime Paradox, both of which I use elsewhere), but given that I didn't succeed, eh. Also, I'm a guy.

[amarie24]

Ehhh??? Why would you worry that you'd kill the thread? We ALL love new people!! :O

*MEGA BLUSH* Dear sir, I am SO for not knowing you were a guy. Please, do forgive me. I'll remember in the future. D:

[doknowbutchie.wordpress.com]

No apologies or blushing necesary--you're not psychic, after all. :D I'm actually rather glad you didn't state I was one or the other before knowing, and just wanted to make things easier for you.

[amarie24]

D'aww! Well, thank you so much! :D