Literary Ruminations: The relative strength of first vs. third person narrative
And now for something completely random...
I have noticed an interesting pattern among the authors whom (a) I read extensively, and (b) switch between first and third person narrative styles from book to book. This is a fairly small set, honestly, but large enough at this point to allow me to make the following statement: authors seem to write stronger, more compelling stories when using first person.
Examples:
(1) Stephen Lawhead. Lawhead is quite prolific, and also a real oddity among writes I follow in that his quality varies Wildly from book to book. For most authors I tend to rate any given novel between 3 and 4 stars. Lawhead has some that I couldn't even finish, several I'd give only 2 stars, and yet one or two I'd consider giving 5. In any case, my favorites of his are Byzantium and Merlin, and both are written in the first person.
(2) Dean Koontz. Again a very prolific author, but not one with quite as much quality variance as Lawhead. His Odd Thomas books are his most successful as well as my personal favorites among his oeuvre, and they are written in first person. I am quite fond of a couple of Koontz's third-person novels, however, such as "From The Corner of His Eye," and "One Door Away From Heaven," so the tendency is not nearly so strong here.
(3) Gene Stratton-Porter. Her most famous books are "A Girl of the Limberlost" and "Freckles," both third person, and both quite enjoyable. However, "Laddie: A True Blue Story" is the only one I've yet found written in first person and is by Far my favorite of the four-and-a-half books of hers that I have read (the last of which I put down in absolute disgust - not at the writing but at what she allowed her character to do!)
OK, I can't come up with any more. I'd say 80% of what I read is third person, and many of my very favorite books are third person. My observation is primarily that - when a comparison is possible - it seems that authors write stronger novels when they actually get completely inside their character's head.
Anyone else have any examples or counter examples?
Update: Thought a fourth example! The Beka Cooper series by Tamora Pierce (first book "Terrier") is Much better than anything else of hers I've read. Now, she's not a fantastic author in any series, but the first person Cooper series is much more enjoyable.
I have noticed an interesting pattern among the authors whom (a) I read extensively, and (b) switch between first and third person narrative styles from book to book. This is a fairly small set, honestly, but large enough at this point to allow me to make the following statement: authors seem to write stronger, more compelling stories when using first person.
Examples:
(1) Stephen Lawhead. Lawhead is quite prolific, and also a real oddity among writes I follow in that his quality varies Wildly from book to book. For most authors I tend to rate any given novel between 3 and 4 stars. Lawhead has some that I couldn't even finish, several I'd give only 2 stars, and yet one or two I'd consider giving 5. In any case, my favorites of his are Byzantium and Merlin, and both are written in the first person.
(2) Dean Koontz. Again a very prolific author, but not one with quite as much quality variance as Lawhead. His Odd Thomas books are his most successful as well as my personal favorites among his oeuvre, and they are written in first person. I am quite fond of a couple of Koontz's third-person novels, however, such as "From The Corner of His Eye," and "One Door Away From Heaven," so the tendency is not nearly so strong here.
(3) Gene Stratton-Porter. Her most famous books are "A Girl of the Limberlost" and "Freckles," both third person, and both quite enjoyable. However, "Laddie: A True Blue Story" is the only one I've yet found written in first person and is by Far my favorite of the four-and-a-half books of hers that I have read (the last of which I put down in absolute disgust - not at the writing but at what she allowed her character to do!)
OK, I can't come up with any more. I'd say 80% of what I read is third person, and many of my very favorite books are third person. My observation is primarily that - when a comparison is possible - it seems that authors write stronger novels when they actually get completely inside their character's head.
Anyone else have any examples or counter examples?
Update: Thought a fourth example! The Beka Cooper series by Tamora Pierce (first book "Terrier") is Much better than anything else of hers I've read. Now, she's not a fantastic author in any series, but the first person Cooper series is much more enjoyable.