Today I’m thinking about narrative voice choices again…

Today, I’m thinking about narrative voice choices again. Employing a particular device is like handling fire… Especially when it is an unusual and potent one such as an ignorant, concealing, and unreliable first person narrator. When it is done right, it adds brilliance and life to the tale; but when it is fanned and carelessly left unattended, it will scorch and burn, metaphorically, the pages. The book I am about to finish suffers from just such unskilled fire keeper and, in this reader’s opinion, has been badly and unjustly incinerated. The idea of the tale is a solid and interesting one, but the book is definitely made inferior by the unwise choice of such a narrative device as beyond the talent of the author.