The structure of the novel takes the form of a 'story within a story'. The main character is writing a diary in the first person in the present, excerpts from which are interspersed with the story of her early years, written in the third person. As the novel progresses, it becomes clear how events from her early years have resulted in the current situation in which she finds herself.
Sunday, 3 October 2010
Julie : First Sentence
‘School’s out for E-VER,’ sang the voice of one of the O’level English candidates as the large doors to Fircombe Grammar School
The structure of the novel takes the form of a 'story within a story'. The main character is writing a diary in the first person in the present, excerpts from which are interspersed with the story of her early years, written in the third person. As the novel progresses, it becomes clear how events from her early years have resulted in the current situation in which she finds herself.
The structure of the novel takes the form of a 'story within a story'. The main character is writing a diary in the first person in the present, excerpts from which are interspersed with the story of her early years, written in the third person. As the novel progresses, it becomes clear how events from her early years have resulted in the current situation in which she finds herself.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
That kind of structure can work brilliantly - you may know a book called Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd in which something similar happens. It has a filmic quality too - in other words, it might make a good screenplay.
ReplyDeleteIf I was being picky I would say that 'the voice of' may be redundant here and that you might be better to cast the main verb 'push' in the active rather than passive.
Thanks for the feedback, Gary. I agree with your comments on re-phrasing, much better.
ReplyDeleteWill you be able to let us know the term dates on Thursday, please? I know the course is 15 weeks until February, but it would be helpful to know which 15! Thanks
Its an uplifting sentence. With no title as a clue it will be interesting to see where it goes next. Whether it remains upbeat or becomes darker
ReplyDeleteThis immediately evoked memories of my school days, including the soundtrack (not sure if this would apply to all ages of reader). Like your idea re mixing first and third person perspective.
ReplyDelete