What do you think about books with multiple narrators?

Question: What do you think about books with multiple narrators!?

Does it make the story better or just more confusing!?

How many books have you read of this variety!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

I think that it is an excellent way of showing the thoughts and feelings of a variety of different characters, which can be very helpful to character development in a story!. It helps you relate more to individuals in a story and it also allows you to see events from more than one point of view, giving you better understanding of things that happen!.

I think it is a very good and extremely effective strategy if it is pulled off well, HOWEVER, if it is not done properly, the effects can be dire!. A good author can make a story flow well and make these changes improve the story, and inexperienced author, if they don't manage to pull it off, can make the story seem confused, fragmented and jumpy!.

also, it depends very much on the story!. In some plots, it is important to see different points of views, whereas in others it is important NOT to know what others aree thinking or feeling!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I think it's important to differentiate between narrators and viewpoint characters!. As you know, most epic fiction (especially scifi and fantasy) involves multiple viewpoint characters, generally using 3rd person limited narration!. That's easy enough to do--I would think narration, with different narrative voices, would be a hell of a lot harder, viz!. Faulkner!.

However, one really interesting if only somewhat successful use of multiple _narration_ I can think of is Erich Segal's 'Acts of Faith!.' It revolves around three main characters--Tim, a Roman Catholic screw-up who becomes a priest; Danny, an Orthodox Jew who leaves rabbinical school due to a crisis of faith; Deborah, Danny's sister, who is banished to live on a kibbutz in Israel due to pursuing a forbidden romance!.

In 'Acts of Faith,' Danny's chapters are told in first-person narration, but Deborah's and Tim's are told in third-person (and references to Danny in those chapters are made in third-person)!. It's jarring at first, but you get used to it after a while!. Amazon doesn't seem to be thrilled with the book, but it may be worth checking out for the odd narration!. I don't remember hating it that much, anyway!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I think it's a major distraction!. I think a good author chooses the perspective to tell the story and then gets out of the way while the reader absorbs all the details and characters!. Changing that perspective or the narrator multiple times interrupts the flow and jerks the reader out of the story and back to reality temporarily!. The worst example I ever encountered was in Leon Uris's "Battle Cry," where the perspective changed from third person to first person in the same paragraph!Www@QuestionHome@Com

A lot of writing teachers advise against it, I've noticed, and it's certainly a good idea for beginners to steer clear of such complexity!. But skilled writers can pull it off seamlessly!. The book I'm reading right now, Frankenstein: Prodigal Son by Dean Koontz, has about 5 different narrators!. Some stories, like this one, can only work with two or more narrators!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Books like that are okay, but I prefer one narrator!. I feel like, if an author does what he does well, he shouldn't need to switch narrators all the time!. A reader should be able to get a grasp of the inner workings of every character without hearings thoughts!. Actions speak louder than words!.

But they're not horrible, either, if they're done right!. Books, that is!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

in the peter and the starcatchers books, there are different characters doing different things and in switches every chapeter during the rising action and they all form together at the end!. its kinda annoying because u wanta know what happened to a certian character but it makes it really exciting w/ all the cliffhangers!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Execution is everything, so I don't mind multiple povs!. Sadly, however, most of what I've read with multiple narrators was poorly done, so I tend to steer clear from books known to have more than one narrator!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The Harry Potter books are awesome because the narrator changes his voice for each charector, so I think different voices for different people would be good, but for descriptive narration I think they'd need one voice!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Jodi Picoult has done a few where the narrator switches off every chapter!. I love it! You get to know a character more but it's still fresh because it's not the same voice every chapter!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

As long as its sa good story I don't mind at all!. Pillars of the Earth and World Without End by Ken Follett is like this and was great to read!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I like it!. I know I've read a lot of books like that, but the obvious one is "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I quite enjoy themWww@QuestionHome@Com