Maybe in a mystery, Burrell? But then I don't read many mysteries so what the hell do I know?
Mal: Does she understand that? River: She understands. She doesn't comprehend.
'Objects In Space'
The Great Write Way, Act Three: Where's the gun?
A place for Buffistas to discuss, beta and otherwise deal and dish on their non-fan fiction projects.
javachik - Aug 16, 2008 11:20:06 am PDT #692 of 6681
Our wings are not tired.
Barb - Aug 16, 2008 11:42:32 am PDT #693 of 6681
“Not dead yet!”
It was a fairly common convention in chick lit when the genre was a hot commodity, probably a 50-40-10 split between first person past, first present, and third past.
I very rarely liked any books written in first present, to the point where even if the story sounded good, I rarely bought it. It was just too... I don't know, uncomfortable to read.
sumi - Aug 16, 2008 11:54:29 am PDT #694 of 6681
Art Crawl!!!
Oh, I bet that's a result of Bridget Jones' Diary.
Barb - Aug 16, 2008 11:59:44 am PDT #695 of 6681
“Not dead yet!”
Oh, I bet that's a result of Bridget Jones' Diary.
No doubt, but Helen Fielding actually wielded the POV with skill-- the journal format already gave it a sense of immediacy that the first, preset accented. However, she did mix it up with first, past, which kept the present from becoming overwhelming.
Plus it was a damned funny book.
SailAweigh - Aug 16, 2008 12:10:01 pm PDT #696 of 6681
Nana korobi, ya oki. (Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) ~Yuzuru Hanyu/Japanese proverb
I never did read that book. I may have to take a look at it, just to see if I have an opinion on first person present tense. I can't see it, personally.
Barb - Aug 16, 2008 12:14:20 pm PDT #697 of 6681
“Not dead yet!”
It was one of the things that made me craziest in terms of people using it as the standard-bearer for chick lit, then going on to bash the genre as being all about brand names, shopping, and the Perfect Man.
Thing is, that's not Bridget at all-- there's very little in the way of name brand dropping-- the story is, at its heart, about a woman, in her thirties, watching the world around her go on, while she still seems stuck in the same place, making the same mistakes over and over again, and her efforts at breaking out and finding her way.
The Shopaholic series on the other hand, is everything mockable about the genre. Feh.
Laga - Aug 16, 2008 12:16:40 pm PDT #698 of 6681
You should know I'm a big deal in the Resistance.
according to a blog post I just read, Nick Hornby's High Fidelity is written in first person present tense. I loved his Fever Pitch (and of course the movie version of High Fidelity is faboo) I'll have to check it out.
Ginger - Aug 16, 2008 12:22:22 pm PDT #699 of 6681
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
Frequently the person in question is crazy.
It was used pretty effectively Audie Murphy's memoir, To Hell and Back.
Deena - Aug 16, 2008 1:07:26 pm PDT #700 of 6681
How are you me? You need to stop that. Only I can be me. ~Kara
Bridget Jones' Diary was fun. The rest... I haven't yet read another chick lit I like. The formula seems to be 30s something woman whining about diamond-shoes-too-tight problems.
Barb - Aug 16, 2008 1:12:20 pm PDT #701 of 6681
“Not dead yet!”
The formula seems to be 30s something woman whining about diamond-shoes-too-tight problems.
Have you tried Marian Keyes, Deena? I find she touches on some serious issues without resorting to the tired formulas. The Brits are better about allowing darker subject matter and encouraging the use of black humor. Plus Keyes is just superb-- probably why she's outlasted a lot of the other chick lit authors.