Quote:
Originally Posted by 4691mls
I'm OK with one first-person narrator, but I would not like the kind of two-party narration you are talking about.
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It's hard to pull off. I'm currently reading the books of Glen Cook's "The Black Company" series (in book #6 of 11). The first four books have the same character as the narrator, with some chapters written in third person, the fifth and sixth book have narrators that were previously support characters. The first switch seemed a little unconvincing to me, but the second one to the next narrator worked out pretty well as the voice was more distinct.
The first person and third person chapter alterations stood out as more unusual to me, but it surprisingly didn't spoil the reading experience or the story for me. I'd even say it added freshness and dynamic to the storytelling. Perhaps it works so well in this case because the first person chapters are written in form of journals, and the third person chapters cover events that the writer of the company's annals wasn't observing.
In general, I quite like first person narration if it's done well. It's a more direct and intimate style where the reader can identify even more closely with the character. I think it's more difficult to write well in first person, though.