First Person or Third Person?

[Book Fiend]

What do you prefer, books written in the first person or the third person?

 

I was speaking to somebody the other day who told me they don't like books written in the first person, which really surprised me. Personally I love books written in the first person, I just think it makes it so much easier to connect with the character. I love the fact that it feels like you're in their head hearing their thoughts. Generally I also find them easier to read, they just seem to flow better.

 

I'm really interested to hear what everybody else thinks.

[BookJumper]

I dread books that are written entirely in the first person, occasionally I'll come across a good one (in The Blue Girl for instance, Charles de Lint perfectly captures the way in which his young - intelligent and different and special but still young for all that - characters would think and speak) but in general, I tend to find them affectated, self-satisfied and largely inconsistent in tone. I much prefer the subjective third person, I.e. when an author manages to convey a character(s)' point of view throughout a novel or section without flattening* the storytelling into first person narration.

 

* I know others will disagree that this is what the first person does to narration; personally however I find it to be so, because you then lose effects as omniscient foreshadowing / flashbacking etc., which expertly combined with subjective first person can create a richness of perspective which I have rarely found in first person viewpoint.

[Echo]

I like both. I've never decided against a book because of its perspective. As long as it's well-written, who cares?

[Chrissy]

I like both. I've never decided against a book because of its perspective. As long as it's well-written, who cares?

 

 

I have been pondering this since you first posed the question, and I think Echo has just summed up my feelings entirely.

[Univerze]

I like both, however the third person view never repels me, whereas in some cases, the first pirson can seem a bit.. over the top. I don't know, sometimes it can get annoying which I never have with third person. But I never discard a book just because it's been written in either.

[alison10]

I too like both, it just depends how the author progress' the story.

[no-1-book-fan]

First person. No doubt.

[ian]

These days I'm not bothered which, but I used to prefer the third person narrative. I can't justify why, or say that I actively disliked first person writing. Or indedd why it doesn't bother me now. (I don't know much do I ).

 

One thing (slightly off topic) that I always thought of as strange is the convoluted lengths that some authors went to get to a first person narrative. Bronte novels are like that I find, especially Wuthering heights and The Tenant of wildfell Hall, both of which spend the first chapter introducing the narrator.

 

 

Ian

[Zumii]

I usually find myself reading books written in 3rd person, I won't refuse to read a book in 1st person but I wouldn't say it was a preference of mine either. I just remember when I was a lot younger reading books that irritated the hell out of me with the whole 'I said', 'she said' malarkey, and I think it swayed my opinion.

 

However the book I read at the weekend The Weight of Silence (Heather Gudenkauf) I did very much enjoy. Each chapter was in 1st person of a specific character. So at one moment I would be reading the thoughts & feelings of young Calli & the next it would be Sheriff Louis. I think it added depth & a better understanding to the characters. It also means I may be more tempted in the future to give books written in the 1st person more of a chance.

[Stephanie2008]

I like both too, it doesn't really matter to me as long as the story is good.

[lauraloves]

I like both but I prefer third person but I can't quite put my finger on why.

[Talisman]

I much prefer first person, in fact although I write non fiction, I write this way myself. My own readers tell me they find it much easier to relate to what I am saying by writing in that way and it makes it seem that I am talking directly to them. This has been my experience too with books both fiction and non fiction that I have read. In contrast I find it very hard to relate to the characters in a book written in the third person. For this I purposely look for books that are not written in this way. It is rare that I would consider such a book, let alone buying it. Maybe I am missing some gems by feelimg this way, but opinion is subjective - one persons junk is another's treasure.

[~Andrea~]

I like both. If done well, first person can really connect you to a character. I love the Adrian Mole books for instance. I always write in third person, (except occasionally in short stories) as I would find it very difficult to sustain a convincing first person voice for a whole novel. I think first person is hard in longer length pieces.

Sometimes it doesn't work at all - which is what I found with Nick Hornby's The Long Way Down and also Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. The risk of first person narrative is in putting the reader off if they don't warm to the character. That's what happened to me in both those books. I couldn't stand Holden's whining voice, or that of the teenage girl in The Long Way Down.

At least with third person you can show the characters at a distance - and if a character is supposed to be annoying, you're not shoving them in the reader's face.

[ladymacbeth]

I don't mind first, third or even second person.

 

But what I can't stand is when they change narrator halfway through the book!

 

And so many books do it - one chapter for one character, next chapter for another character, does my head in, argh!

[anisia]

I like both, but I do prefer books written in third person.

[Nienna]

Infinitely prefer first person. I've heard people say what BookJumper pointed out before, but I've never experienced it myself. I guess I am a bit of a philanthropist and I like exploring people. I love the idea of having a characters thoughts laid bare to me. Also it allows us to understand the character where other characters in the book might not, which makes our own emotions towards the character so much more heightened. I find I have a lot more sympathy for them and it makes their opinions a lot easier to understand, be them bad or good!

[Book Fiend]

I guess I am a bit of a philanthropist and I like exploring people. I love the idea of having a characters thoughts laid bare to me. Also it allows us to understand the character where other characters in the book might not, which makes our own emotions towards the character so much more heightened. I find I have a lot more sympathy for them and it makes their opinions a lot easier to understand, be them bad or good!

This is exactly what I like about first person, I just feel so much more of a connection to the character. I think the best example is in The Vampire Lestat. I love the character, and I don't think I would have loved him as much if it was written in the third person!

 

However I also agree with what some other people have said about the pit-falls of books written in the first person. I'm not a writer but I imagine writing in the first person would be much more difficult than writing in the third person. However I've been fairly lucky and most of the first person books I've read have been really good. I think the thing with first person books is that when they are good, they're very very good, and when they're bad they're terrible!!

[emelee]

I would say 3rd person. But I don't dislike 1st person either. Everything I ever write is in 3rd person. I just think it's easier somehow.

[ian]

I recently read "The Narrows" by Michael Connelly, where he switches between the two - First person for the protaganist and third person for the other major charactor. It was an interesting style and I'm surprised I haven't come across it more often

 

Ian

[Elin]

As long as the writing is good it doesn't really matter. Though I've always loved books with several pov' in which the writer manages to give them all their own style; by using a different tempo, other expressions or lengths of sentences etc. they give a new flow to the text which I find very interesting.

[~Andrea~]

Ian, your saying that reminded me that I think Linda Gillard does that too in Star Gazing.

[BookJumper]

I like exploring people. I love the idea of having a characters thoughts laid bare to me. Also it allows us to understand the character where other characters in the book might not, which makes our own emotions towards the character so much more heightened. I find I have a lot more sympathy for them and it makes their opinions a lot easier to understand, be them bad or good!

As long as the writing is good it doesn't really matter. Though I've always loved books with several pov' in which the writer manages to give them all their own style; by using a different tempo, other expressions or lengths of sentences etc. they give a new flow to the text which I find very interesting.

It is entirely possible though to lay a character's thoughts bare and suit the style to different characters in the third person, mind personally I find this approach vastly more impressive, as IMHO it takes a different level of storytelling skill.

 

The Vampire Lestat

...

However I also agree with what some other people have said about the pit-falls of books written in the first person. I'm not a writer but I imagine writing in the first person would be much more difficult than writing in the third person.

...

I think the thing with first person books is that when they are good, they're very very good, and when they're bad they're terrible!!

I also loved The Vampire Lestat, though unfortunately I read it over ten years ago, and I'm not sure I've encountered as effective a first person narration since - you've hit on the nail on the head for me when you said that when they're good they're very very good, and when they're bad they're terrible. Most of the ones I've encountered post-Lestat have been terrible, I'm afraid.

 

My writerly tuppence is that writing in first person seems easy, but is in fact - once the end results are studiously scrutinised - no such thing...

[Linda Gillard]

Ian, your saying that reminded me that I think Linda Gillard does that too in Star Gazing.

 

 

I do it in all my books! I've given this subject a lot of thought over the years and I'm convinced the combination of 1st and 3rd person narratives gives you the maximum storytelling potential as an author. (I think the book that brought this to my conscious attention was Andrew Greig's WHEN THEY LAY BARE.)

 

1st person is obviously very limiting as you can only write about what the narrator knows (and I'm not confident that any of my narrators can hold a reader's attention for 300 pages.) But if you opt for 3rd person only, you lose out on what I call "voice", that thing you can use to buttonhole a reader from page 1. All 3 of my novels start with the female narrator's voice (variously: mad, dead and blind!) and that's meant to hook you in immediately.

 

Some readers hate the alternation and some editors aren't too keen either and then you can get drawn into arguments about fonts. (Do readers need to be told that the point of view has changed? I don't know, but an awful lot don't notice that it has and occasionally assume that what a possibly unreliable 1st person narrator says must be true.)

 

I think of narrative voices (ie 1st or 3rd person narrators) as part of the writing tool kit. Like a palette of colours. You could paint a picture just using blues, as Picasso did, but I prefer to use the whole spectrum.

[Elin]

It is entirely possible though to lay a character's thoughts bare and suit the style to different characters in the third person, mind personally I find this approach vastly more impressive, as IMHO it takes a different level of storytelling skill.

 

I think it might be easier to explore a characters person by using the all-knowing third persons pov, as that one will tell even the darkest thoughts..

 

But what I meant about giving each person their own characteristic "voice" to tell their story doesn't get as powerful if told in third person as it is in first person; It wont be their thoughts as much as the telling of their thoughts. At least I've never found a book where I could read one sentence and instantly know which character it's from, when told in third ppov.

[kelmaria]

both are good.