"My name is Kathy H. I'm thirty-one years old, and I've been a carer now for over eleven years." Never Let Me Go (p. 3)
Thank you, Ishiguro. Finally, a book that is straight to the point. I'm still not exactly sure who the main character was in Brave New World, but hopefully, this first sentence will point me in the right direction in the new novel.
The excerpt taken from the opening lines of the novel is both an example of direct characterization and first person point of view. Personally, I am a big fan of direct characterization because really, no guessing is involved. The reader now knows for a fact that Kathy will be an important character in the novel. Instead of an omniscient narrator, the novel is told by one person. This has advantages and disadvantages to the reader. Number one, we can now see into the mind of Kathy - why she does things, what she is thinking, etc. However, the reader only sees one side of the coin so to speak. Only one opinion is presented when the author decides to use a first person narrator.
I completely agree to the direct characterization thing. Although it comes with its disadvantages (only having access to Kathy's true thoughts) it is much easier to start a book knowing who the main character and narrator is as well as some background information about them.
ReplyDeleteMm, I think I decided that John was the protagonist in Brave New World, even though he was introduced halfway through the novel.
ReplyDeleteI tend to prefer indirect characterization, though, just because when descriptions are explicit, they're limited by what words can describe concretely. So far, I think Brave New World is winning for my favorite of the two novels.
Different strokes for different folks.
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