Third person limited and deep POV are prevalent in the modern novels. They’re supposed to deepen the connection and intimacy between the readers and the characters. One problem I’ve noticed, though: it feels claustrophobic and near-sighted.
The joy of reading a novel, for me, is the ability to imagine the whole new world populated with people in my head. I can see, I can smell, I can hear, taste, touch. Best of all, I can feel. That’s why I read novels instead of watching movies and playing video games. They’re more vivid and deeply personal because everything comes from me and my experience. And everyone will have different experience from the same book.
With that said, I think the modern writing style focuses too much on the introspection. By that I mean they try to get us as close to the character as possible, usually by getting us inside their head right away and let us see the world only through their eyes and only experience what they experience. If the author is good, we might get to see the immediate setting of the character, but never their appearance. The only way to see what the character looks like is only: 1) they look into the mirror, 2) when they think about it , 3) from other characters’ POVs.
I’ve read some Reddit posts asking whether they see the movie in their head when they read, and lots of comments say yes, but never the character; they’re all blurry to me, they said.
That’s the problem I have with lots of novels nowadays. Most of them have cool covers and awesome premises that I wanna dig into, but one chapter in and I’m already bored. Even if the story is interesting, it doesn’t have the same magic as, say, JRR Tolkien or JK Rowling.
These two authors write in such a descriptive way that I can imagine what the character and the setting look like from the get go. I’m sucked right into the story’s world right away without having to read a few more chapters to barely get that feeling. Oh, and their writings are still incredibly intimate. I get to know what the character is thinking or going through in their head while being grounded in the world.
They’re not afraid to pull back into a more distant narrator and describe the world and the character. I think that’s what lots of novels these days are missing.
I don’t drop any names here because I don’t wanna ruin anyone’s favorites. Just wanna rant a little is all.
by Ok_Meeting_2184
5 Comments
You lost me with the implication that JK Rowling’s Harry Potter novels were actually well written (and I am a huge fan of the books, but well written they were not).
I could not care less what a character looks like
What’s the point of demanding from novels the same that you demand from film and television? Why not use the actual benefits of the written word rather than attempt to be another form of media? Novels are the most introspective art format other than poetry, so why do *less* of what they’re good at?
I think you might just prefer works with a lot of worldbuilding.
I think they purposely leave the main character vague so you can put your own characteristics on them and how they look.