tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128460350781036829.post8932882200349027749..comments2024-03-26T15:49:44.555+00:00Comments on How To Write Badly Well: Choose a narrator who is peripheral to the storyJoel Stickleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14270604410152020281noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128460350781036829.post-1119413314882156142010-05-06T19:44:48.844+01:002010-05-06T19:44:48.844+01:00Three words:
The Big Lebowski.
(Also, most any w...Three words:<br /><br />The Big Lebowski.<br /><br />(Also, most any western movie.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128460350781036829.post-48788577610563037712010-01-17T21:37:11.357+00:002010-01-17T21:37:11.357+00:00That's how I always felt about The Great Gatsb...That's how I always felt about The Great Gatsby! I'd really have loved to see the story through Jay Gatsby's own eyes. Though the ending would've had to be a little different!Romy Sommerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14989655739656698541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128460350781036829.post-74473382207329110962010-01-17T18:28:48.006+00:002010-01-17T18:28:48.006+00:00Actually, I'm torn between this one and "...Actually, I'm torn between this one and "Always Use a Thesaurus." Keep up the great work!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128460350781036829.post-92175223691032739952010-01-15T23:20:52.733+00:002010-01-15T23:20:52.733+00:00The best yet! (Though it's hard to choose...)...The best yet! (Though it's hard to choose...)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128460350781036829.post-5883514304727690652010-01-15T21:55:58.149+00:002010-01-15T21:55:58.149+00:00Don't want to cavil, but The Pursuit of Love g...Don't want to cavil, but The Pursuit of Love gets away with it pretty well, especially because it allows the narrator to give the basic facts convincingly, so you get away from that opening: "I looked in the mirror and a five-foot ginger-haired bearded lady looked back at me. Have I really got away from the circus and made my name as an Egyptologist and kick boxer? I asked myself."M.H. Forsythhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01464964455944509750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128460350781036829.post-9399224102496073652010-01-15T19:49:13.424+00:002010-01-15T19:49:13.424+00:00kind of reminds me of a Woody Allen narrative.kind of reminds me of a Woody Allen narrative.daniel footehttp://footesinukraine.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128460350781036829.post-21674539924208550732010-01-15T18:19:38.896+00:002010-01-15T18:19:38.896+00:00"Penny, on the other hand, is an enigma. By w..."Penny, on the other hand, is an enigma. By which I mean I haven’t met Penny."<br /><br />Ok, that was awesomeJake Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02935908847591536511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128460350781036829.post-56214092159719346042010-01-15T16:45:44.088+00:002010-01-15T16:45:44.088+00:00It's like a "friend of a friend's thi...It's like a "friend of a friend's third cousin" telling a story. I love it.Donna Gambalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00317767593205769881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128460350781036829.post-37382601972838208752010-01-15T16:27:25.644+00:002010-01-15T16:27:25.644+00:00This is quite good! Stop writing well properly.
O...This is quite good! Stop writing well properly.<br /><br />Oh but it did make me laugh.<br /><br />:-)Old Kittyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13185547869183611159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128460350781036829.post-80864874227524386542010-01-15T15:47:17.759+00:002010-01-15T15:47:17.759+00:00Actually, I'd turn that page when I got to the...Actually, I'd turn that page when I got to the end of it. I would expect him/her/it to begin finding some things out, though, and to begin telling me about them. As John Cowan said, it's not the peripheralness, it's the cluelessness.<br /><br />But first pages are for asking questions, not for answering them, and this one certainly asks a lot of them.Levi Montgomeryhttp://www.levimontgomery.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128460350781036829.post-9901766401246495782010-01-15T14:52:46.036+00:002010-01-15T14:52:46.036+00:00The trouble with this narrator is not that he'...The trouble with this narrator is not that he's peripheral, but that he doesn't know the story. Lots of first-person narrators are in some sense peripheral, especially when the main action is tragic: how would <i>Hamlet</i> look, for example, as a story? It could be told by Horatio in first person, or using him as a third-person limited viewpoint character. (Or, of course, back to the involved narrator.)John Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11452247999156925669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128460350781036829.post-77862806776655423242010-01-15T14:32:56.486+00:002010-01-15T14:32:56.486+00:00How about Wuthering Heights?How about Wuthering Heights?Keren Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13121027210783177857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128460350781036829.post-76504127463188623292010-01-15T13:48:38.206+00:002010-01-15T13:48:38.206+00:00hahahaha! Oh wow...I loved that! Perfect way to st...hahahaha! Oh wow...I loved that! Perfect way to start the day :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com