There probably aren’t a lot of people that share the same opinion as me but I really dislike first person perspective in books.
I’m not saying that first person books are necessarily bad (far from it). The reason why i dislike it because it doesn’t give me that ‘book’ feeling.
I don’t get the feeling of storytelling.
It feels more like a diary than a book. With first person books, authors often refer to the readers too and god i hate that so much.
by ArcherEarlAuthor
33 Comments
The Handmaid’s Tale was pretty fantastic in first person. It needs to be for a reason though, you had to see Gilead through a woman’s eyes and understand her loss.
Yeah, I mostly dislike them, too. There are exceptions and I noticed these exceptions, at least for me, are all older books like Seawolf by Jack London or Sherlock Holmes.
The worst ones for me were YA books in first person. Being in the mind of a teenager was not even enjoyable for me when I was a teen myself.
I have no preference, myself. The Green Mile is an example of a book brilliantly written in first person, in my opinion.
I hate them in YA for sure. However they work well for certain genres/books especially when it relies on an unreliable narrator. I don’t think American Psycho would have been as good if it was written in third person.
FWIW your sentiment is common today and is why first person narratives are hard to sell to major publishers in today’s market.
I personally love first person narration. Many classic books have used it. It gives immediacy to the story. It also forces the writer to avoid showing off their vocabulary and usually produces – not always – a leaner, tauter book. But your view is so pervasive that first person narratives are more than a bit of a white elephant novel form in the US today.
Me too! It can be done well, but the majority just feel a little juvenile and annoying, lol.
I just started the jack reacher books after watching the Amazon show and the 1st person perspective is what making hard to read.
There is potential in first person storytelling, but it’s been abused in recent years by authors who do things like use their character’s perspective to deliver constant, pace-killing observational humor.
Many of my favorite books are written in the first person. That being said, I dislike most books I read written in the first person because I think it takes a really good writer to craft a believable and likable internal dialogue. If a book is written in the first person, I need more than vapid thoughts and info dumps to enjoy it. I need an actual story!
It’s my favorite type of fiction.
I generally agree but there are examples of great 1st person works that don’t have that “Diary” feel (at least to me). I think the issue is that 1st person is easier to write, but harder to write well. So a large number of modern novels use it as a crutch and it exposes juvenile and cringe writing (especially in YA content like Ready Player One, Twilight, etc). So due to the overwhelming recent bad experiences I also am disappointed when I see a book is written in 1st person but it is a nice surprise when it is done well. I feel the same way about Present-Tense in novels. Hard to do well, so there are a host of bad examples. However, when in the hands of a talented writer it works.
**ArcherEarlAuthor Hates First Person Books**
>
>There probably aren’t a lot of people that share the same opinion as u/ArcherEarlAuthor but they really dislike first person perspective in books.
>
>They’re not saying that first person books are necessarily bad (far from it). The reason why they dislike it because it doesn’t give them that ‘book’ feeling.
>
>They don’t get the feeling of storytelling.
>
>It feels more like a diary than a book. With first person books, authors often refer to the readers too and god u/ArcherEarlAuthor hates that so much.
FTFY
Couldn’t read this post, it was written in first person
I feel the complete opposite. It feels as if the person is telling me he story directly.
I prefer them.
How about 2nd person books?
I mostly dislike then because when i was growing up, most YA books had it and it was almost always mediocre.
I feel like the Red Rising novels by Pierce Brown are one of the few novels that I enjoyed with first person pov tbh
I’m the opposite – I love first person POV, and often pass up highly acclaimed books if they’re in the third person. One of the reasons it’s difficult for me to make significant progress with Anna Karenina is that it’s in the third person.
This is interesting because I am completely the opposite. Nearly all my favorite books are in first person, and it’s slightly difficult for me to get into third person books. I just love how immersive first person is, I feel like I’m thinking the characters thoughts and seeing their visions. Whereas third person feels to me disconnected and lacking in nuance of character. I think though it’s just about what you look for in a book personally, I don’t much care for plot, I really need deep characters and an enticing setting and tone.
I really enjoy both first and third person. One of my favorite writers is Kazuo Ishiguro and he writes pretty much always in 1st person. His novels would 100% not be as impactful if they weren’t in 1st person due to how he slowly reveals bits of the story and world he’s creating. The gut punch impact of The Remains of the Day or Never Let Me Go would be lost in 3rd person. Crappy writers might make for crappy 1st person narration, but good writers use it with finesse.
I read this post in Holden Caulfield’s voice
I really like Haruki Murakami’s books even though they are in first person. They don’t really give that diary-ish vibe
So ask why the book is in first person. What, if anything, does this add to the story?
For example, take *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn*. The narrator, Huck, has absorbed the racist ideas of his society. He teams up with Jim, a runaway slave, out of practical necessity, but later considers sending word to Jim’s owner — because Huck believes Jim is properly, and so he is stealing. But, as a result of the friendship he has developed with Jim, Huck rejects at least some (not all) of the views of his culture. By writing the story in the first person, we see the internal struggle Huck goes through in a more vivid way. We see how slavery and related racist assumptions and practices are normalized in the mind of someone in that kind of society, and the kind of transformation involved in rejecting your inculturation. This can also lead the reader to reflect on the fact that you might have adopted certain flawed ideas, assumptions, and practices, because they were normalized for you.
It depends for me. If done right like robin hobb’s farseer books then it’s fine but it can be done badly.
My biggest gripe with them is when they try to add twists or drama into the story in a way that doesn’t work in first person books (looking at you red rising).
I hate reading first person because it’s limited to their perspective. Like i was reading a book and, during the climax, the protagonist was knocked unconscious and bam, story over.
I can’t stand first person present. I have listened to a few on audiovook but reading it myself is just impossible. My compression turns off and it super pulls me out of the story.
First person past is okay nearly all the time, but damn whoever pick first person present.
I generally prefer third person. I think it’s harder to write in first person, and it has to be done really well and fit the story for me to enjoy. Sometimes it feels very limiting
John read the post and felt compelled to respond. He found the position stated to be quite interesting and unusual.
For him, first-person narratives felt far more compelling and interesting. Even if they felt like a diary. In fact, he preferred that! These types of stories made him feel as though the author was sharing themselves with him, and he liked to find the ways in which he and the author were similar, how their thoughts, feelings, and experiences matched up.
Perhaps this was purely an expression of the pervasive loneliness he felt in his own life. He had difficulty, not only in sharing himself to those he knew, but also in finding people who felt similarly to him. First-person books helped him feel less alone, less like there was no one out there like him. They felt like an intimate conversation between him and someone who understood him.
Third-person books felt to him a bit too detached. He was less interested in something that was quite obviously fiction. No, he wanted the possibility that what he was reading was true, even if it was perhaps embellished a bit.
John re-read over his reply, feeling that it conveyed himself well enough. He hoped the original poster of the topic at hand enjoyed and appreciated the writing style. Satisfied with his work, he finished, and submitted his comment.
The warm, soapy water ran over his face, eyes closed, as he ran his fingers through his hair. The accumulation of the day’s grime fell away in a sudsy spiral down the drain. He felt himself slowly relax. As his muscles turned soft, he found himself centered again. His thoughts turned away from work and from the upcoming trip to Charlotte, a trip that he didn’t really want to go on, not anymore. No, as he showered his mind calmed and his thoughts turned to that old, beautifully haunting thought that always felt so true deep down, even if no one else could see the sense of it. He was going to finally get it off his chest after this shower.
“I hate First Person books.” He whispered softly, trying it out on his lips for the time.
He closed his eyes and smiled. It was going to be a good evening. He raised his arms above his head and stretched his fingers before turning off the shower. It was time.
I don’t mind books written in the first person as long as it’s not written in the present tense. I really dislike reading books written in the present tense.
I prefer fictional books over non-fiction
This! Yes! THANK YOU! I mean, I get the appeal of first person but the author has to be good at writing it. Sometimes I feel likes it’s lazy. I read a lot of erotic romance (don’t judge) and I’d like to write one of my own. But they’re always in first person. It makes sense, because of the content but I just can’t bring myself to write it. I remember reading someone putting it into perspective where first person makes the reader feel like they have a more intimate idea of the characters whereas third person is like being outside a window looking in.
I think I specifically hate first person books because the authors tend to say stuff like ” I look like this, I did that”
Like no one talks about themselves like that.
It seems to follow the “telling” instead of “show don’t tell” like I don’t care about a characters actions when I want to feel their emotion and someone first person’s never seem to do the emotion well.