favourite fictional narration method?

[Kyriakos]

As a writer i am interested in this Do you get more involved in what you are reading if it is in the first person, the third person, and moreover if it is in the first person but not in real time (eg recollections, memoirs, classic storytelling, as in Dickens' a christmass carol for example) or in diary or pseudo-diary (eg notes, or letters) form?
I write in the first person (almost always) and frequently in the form of notes or letters.
A great example of narration in the form of letters is Guy De Maupassant's "La Horla"
here you can find an etext of one of the three versions of it: http://arthurwendover.com/arthurs/horror/horla10.html

 

[Yom]

Third person for a book, first person for an actual story (i.e. one that's being told to me in person).

 

[greekguy]

What about 3rd person omniscent?

anyway, i like to read 3rd person (mostly omniscent)

 

[Moss]

Doesn't really matter to me, a well told story is a well told story no matter from what viewpoint.

 

[Kyriakos]

i do not like 3rd person omniscient. A large part of Dostoevsky's work is written in that form though. I do not like the author presenting other people as complete models which he knows everything about. Theorising about the reasons behind their behaviour seems to be more interesting to me

 

[Eli]

Now that I think about it, I never even notice how the story is told.

 

[Atlas14]

I prefer 3rd person omniscent, it gives me less headaches.

 

[Perfection]

2nd person!

 

[S.P.Q.R.]

I don't like the form of letters or notes much. The others are both o.k., though I think I prefer 3rd person.

 

[Kyriakos]

Notes can be almost the same as classical first person; what changes is that the author does not know the outcome of what he is writing, so it can be very interesting. Classical first person is when the story is already known fully by the author, and he is writing it down. Diary is a subform of the notes first person
btw: classical horror literature (machen, poe to the degree, some h.p.lovecraft) is always written in the form of notes, because the author there is ussually writing as someone who was very scared of something, and so he is very much a part of the story, which has not ended yet and will not be resolved in the end either; there is only the built-up to an apocalypse. Although some horror/weird literature is written in the form of classical first person (eg The turn of the screw, by Henry James).
Another famous example of first person note-style narrative is some of Kafka's work, most notably "the hall" (i am not sure about the exact english translation title)
So by "notes" i do not mean something which is clearly in the form of notes, but any type of first person narrative which is clearly written as an attempt to clarify some personal querry, and in which the author is visibly affected by what he is noting down. In the classical first person narrative the author is more distant from the actual story.

 

[Elrohir]

I prefer he third person, although if it's well done both other forms are enjoyable as well.

The worst example I can think of of a first-person story gone wrong is the Magic of Recluce. I couldn't finish that book, it was so awkward and he seemed to keep switching between the present and past tense. I nearly tore out my hair it was so annoying.

 

[Tomoyo]

It might not answer the question, but my favourite is when speech is indicated by different colours depending on the speaker, movements and actions a different font, and things like that. It generally lends itself to third person omniscient, so that. Of course that's kinda hard for a book to do.

 

[Ginger_Ale]

3rd person omniscient - the author doesn't have to give everything about everybody away. I like a main character who the story mostly follows, but with some other 'subplots' about other characters whose acts you really don't learn and understand more about until later in the book.

 

[Babbler]

I guess 3rd person, but I read non-fiction, mostly.

 

[Meleager]

2nd person!

You open the thread and see that it is about novels. You read the options....
If you vote for option 1 turn to page ...
...
bla bla
...


I prefer 3rd person myself.