Friday, February 15, 2008

Russell Fink and a Quick Question

Does point of view influence whether you buy/read a book?

Leave your answer in the comments, and be sure to reply to last post's question as well! Yes, these questions have a point, which I shall reveal in the coming weeks.

This week, CBFA is featuring My Name is Russell Fink by Michael Snyder. I read Michael's short story (with the same protagonist) on Infuze, but I haven't gotten around to reading the book. My to-be-read stack is reaching murderous heights (i.e. if it fell on me, it would kill me).

4 comments:

Merrie Destefano said...

Yes, POV means a lot to me, both when purchasing and when reading a book. I really dislike omniscient POV. Like first person and third. Not wild about second.

:)

C.J. Darlington said...

Yes, it does. I'm not real wild about present tense novels. It's harder for me to want to read them. Doesn't mean I won't, but the author will have to work harder to hook me.

Also, I'm not always instantly inclined to first person.

michael snyder said...

Katie,

Hey, I was going to drop in and say thanks for taking part in the blog tour (and I still am...Thank you!!! It really means a lot.) But then I saw your question and figured at take a stab at that too.

Specifically, I'd have to say 'No'. If it's an author I love or a story that I feel like I can't live without, I'll buy the book. But I have found certain POV's that didn't work for a particular story.

There's no POV that's off limits to my weird palette however. I'll read second-person POV if it really works for the story and isn't some strange vehicle for the author to show off. Lorrie Moore wrote an entire collection of short stories in second (I think it was called Self Help?).

The book I'm reading now alternates between first/present and first/past. The cool thing is that I didn't even think about it till I was more than halfway through. It works beautifully for this story.

Anyhow, good question. Thanks again and have a terrific weekend!

Mike

Unknown said...

Probably first person present tense bugs me the most...that's why I have such a hard time reading Angie Hunt's books. I think she's a fabulous author but I have a harder time immersing myself in the story. The exception has been "Doesn't She Look Natural?"

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