Excellent series, BTW, I highly recommend it.
I've been meaning, but not getting around to, commenting on one particular thing about these novels that struck me early on. I read lots of novels told in the first person, and more (of course) in the
In any one of them, roughly half (at a guess) is told in the first person narrative of the main protagonist, Alex Cross. But whenever something outside of what he would be actually seeing/hearing/knowing, or which is meant to be from the primary perspective of one of the other characters, it's told in the third person. This is true sometimes even when Cross appears in the passages, and at these times he is described in the third person. Kind of an interesting juxtaposition of the two narrative styles. It doesn't swap the narrative styles chapter by chapter, commonly there will be a few chapters in one style, then a few in the other. But thw switches between the two is an interesting feeling.
What specifically prompted me to go ahead and post now (as opposed to whenever I get off my duff in the distant future) is the one I'm currently listening to. The first half, roughly, is told alternately as above in the two styles. The next (roughly a quarter? Not really certain just how much of the book it takes up, especially since it's an abridged version and I have no idea how much was brutally chopped from where) is also told in the alternating styles, but in this part the first person is a different person. Very interesting and jarring change in the storyline (especially in light of later happenings in the book). But no spoilers here about this change though, go read it for yourself (Please!).
I have no idea if any of the books in this series that I haven't yet read use this technique, nor if any of Patterson's other books do (I'm planning to start this series after I finish the Cross series, and just a few days ago learned that there is a TV series based on it - with Angie Harmon! WOOHOO!). No other books have ever used it that I've read. For that matter, no other books I've ever read deviate from either first person or third person narrative exclusively, but it's a pretty powerful method to grab and hold the reader's attention.
8 comments:
Women's Murder Club kicks ASS, but the show appears to be dead. There was talk of bringing it back as a midseason replacement, but then Angie Harmon got pregnant again, and, well THAT was not going to work.
I suggest you watch the episodes online while they're still available on abc.com
Angie Harmon is the sexiest woman on the planet, bar none.
Angie Harmon, is, indeed, incredibly sexy.
If you want to read a novel where the narrative not only shifts from individual first person points of view but also time-frame, try The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner.
Perspective is an interesting animal, for sure. I was surprised one time when I read a murder mystery and the narrator turned out to be the murderer!
I have struggled with perspective in my own writing--that's one of the major things going on with my "big rewrite" of the novel I'm working on. (As in, pick a person's head and stay in it.)
Ken, I am a huge fan of the Alex Cross books. In fact, I just got finished reading Double Cross, and like the others it employs the change in perspective you speak of...from first person to third person, with an occasional change of character speaking in the first person. I agree it is an interesting presentation, and one I enjoy. I have read all of the books in this series, except the latest, and they never bore me.
I read the first one of these books probably 15 years ago, yet there is a scene that has stayed with me. I have to wonder at the twisted mind that created it. It is from Kiss the Girls. If you've read it, I am guessing you know the scene to which I refer.
I have also read the Women's Murder Club books, but didn;t enjoy them quite as much.
Anyway...read on! I will be interested to hear your take, so post it, Friend!
*word verification: anicespa - chamicals you put in your hot tub to keep it clean.
Oh, and another thing...if you like the change in perspective, Jodi Piccoult writes some interesting novels. Each is writen in the first person, where the first person changes from chapter to chapter. She writes from the perspective of three to five of the main characters, and each book involves a trial of some sort, over a socially controversial topic.
Good stuff.
If you've read it, I am guessing you know the scene to which I refer.
Um, no, I don't. I've been crusing through them so fast and there are so many shocking scenes that they tend to blend in my head. Also, I'm old and those scenes tend to blur in my pathetic memory.
Send it to me privately or comment here Maggie. I'm curious.
True, there are many shocking scences. The one I meant was the one with the snake and the milk. It gives me shivers.
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