It’s great to hear, Caz. A relief that someone connects to it. I write what I “get.” Honestly , I dreaded posting it. I dreaded people thinking the first person was me. And I really haven’t promoted it at all. I stand by it, but warily.
If someone reads carefully, I think it works in its horrible way. I know these people or composites of them. I don’t think it’s pleasant and no doubt a surprise for some readers, but I worked VERY hard on it.
If you’re open to sharing, I’d love to know why it worked for you.
I'm surprised you're still feeling wary, plus concerned that writing in first person might lead some readers to think this is auto fiction.
First person POV is extremely common in fiction, including across the Western canon; probably even more common in contemporary fiction. (And yet, SO many readers claim they avoid first person POV works. I don't believe them!)
You could have taken the base idea in any number of directions. The married couple, Iceland as the third character - such a nice touch setting it in Iceland - but instead, you gave us the couple, a second man, plus Iceland. So far, so normal. Nothing creepy, and yet it was skin-crawling, a drumbeat of delusions and lies ebbing and flowing early on; a feeling well maintained throughout. The lies people tell themselves and each other, without ever resorting to cheesy exposition or dialogue.
I can believe you put a lot of work into it, because it doesn't read as if you put sweat into it, the version you gave is cool and controlled, we don't see the effort.
The story and the characters are beautifully chiselled.
The advice is to arrive late and leave early. With Iceland, we arrived late indeed, just in time to dip into the end of a marriage.
Ok, I have to go back and reread because I am one of your horrifying readers that bought the narrator’s story! What did I miss that distinguished self-pitying and passive-aggression from the simple bummer of a situation he seemed to be in?
I don't actually know of an unreliable narrator that wasn't in first person, Adam: "Why I live at the P.O" by Eudora Welty, "Distance" by Grace Paley, "The Golden Honeymoon" by Ring Lardner and, perhaps most discussed: _Taming of the Shrew_ by Henry James (still a story that folks argue about that narrator). "Where we see it and they don't" is the definition of the unreliable narrator. Yours is in first person.
Adam, do you know of a story in any other point of view that works with unreliability?
(I’m planning a story where the narrator is dying of cancer and on morphine, going in and out of sanity. If you’ve had a loved one on morphine you’ll know the dynamic.)
But I think it’s rare. A lot of humor relies on it. So I have to think narrators that withhold to delight, surprise or shock might count. Possibly horror narrators?
I really enjoy these peeks into your creative process. Of course you now have me thinking about my own self-deceptions and lazy victimhood (I’ve gotten much better but still not immune). It always amazes me that my longest, most intimate relationship is the one I feel most shy about at times. Maybe because the stakes are the highest. I should know better, but it’s far from rational. Thanks for planting these little seeds of “aha,” Adam.
I enjoy all of your work, but Iceland has a special kick, all the way through. Then the small reprieve at the end, those car keys. Such a nice touch.
It’s great to hear, Caz. A relief that someone connects to it. I write what I “get.” Honestly , I dreaded posting it. I dreaded people thinking the first person was me. And I really haven’t promoted it at all. I stand by it, but warily.
If someone reads carefully, I think it works in its horrible way. I know these people or composites of them. I don’t think it’s pleasant and no doubt a surprise for some readers, but I worked VERY hard on it.
If you’re open to sharing, I’d love to know why it worked for you.
I'm surprised you're still feeling wary, plus concerned that writing in first person might lead some readers to think this is auto fiction.
First person POV is extremely common in fiction, including across the Western canon; probably even more common in contemporary fiction. (And yet, SO many readers claim they avoid first person POV works. I don't believe them!)
You could have taken the base idea in any number of directions. The married couple, Iceland as the third character - such a nice touch setting it in Iceland - but instead, you gave us the couple, a second man, plus Iceland. So far, so normal. Nothing creepy, and yet it was skin-crawling, a drumbeat of delusions and lies ebbing and flowing early on; a feeling well maintained throughout. The lies people tell themselves and each other, without ever resorting to cheesy exposition or dialogue.
I can believe you put a lot of work into it, because it doesn't read as if you put sweat into it, the version you gave is cool and controlled, we don't see the effort.
The story and the characters are beautifully chiselled.
The advice is to arrive late and leave early. With Iceland, we arrived late indeed, just in time to dip into the end of a marriage.
Ok, I have to go back and reread because I am one of your horrifying readers that bought the narrator’s story! What did I miss that distinguished self-pitying and passive-aggression from the simple bummer of a situation he seemed to be in?
I don't actually know of an unreliable narrator that wasn't in first person, Adam: "Why I live at the P.O" by Eudora Welty, "Distance" by Grace Paley, "The Golden Honeymoon" by Ring Lardner and, perhaps most discussed: _Taming of the Shrew_ by Henry James (still a story that folks argue about that narrator). "Where we see it and they don't" is the definition of the unreliable narrator. Yours is in first person.
Adam, do you know of a story in any other point of view that works with unreliability?
(I’m planning a story where the narrator is dying of cancer and on morphine, going in and out of sanity. If you’ve had a loved one on morphine you’ll know the dynamic.)
But I think it’s rare. A lot of humor relies on it. So I have to think narrators that withhold to delight, surprise or shock might count. Possibly horror narrators?
Okay, fair enough!
I really enjoy these peeks into your creative process. Of course you now have me thinking about my own self-deceptions and lazy victimhood (I’ve gotten much better but still not immune). It always amazes me that my longest, most intimate relationship is the one I feel most shy about at times. Maybe because the stakes are the highest. I should know better, but it’s far from rational. Thanks for planting these little seeds of “aha,” Adam.