[ebooktalk] Re: Present tense novels
- From: "Trish Talbot" <trish@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <ebooktalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 25 May 2013 15:56:38 +0100
No, it isn't a first person narrative, Ian. The present tense writing doesn['t
detract from the story, although I can't say that it adds much to it either,
but I just find it slightly annoying.
Trish.
----- Original Message -----
From: Ian Macrae
To: ebooktalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, May 25, 2013 10:25 AM
Subject: [ebooktalk] Re: Present tense novels
Is it a first person narrative Trish? The Mantel Cromwell books are written
in 3rd person present and I think in that case it gives the text a sense of
urgency and the reader the sense of being there.
On 24 May 2013, at 23:47, Trish Talbot wrote:
I am reading the latest Sarah Dunant novel, "Blood and Beauty" (submitted
by David). It's a good book, though I don't think it's one of her best, but
then, I prefer story to historical fact. However, this is an example of
something that Clare pointed out some months ago - the habit so many writers
seem to have developped lately of writing everything in the present tense.
This novel is set in the fifteenth century, so why is she sticking to the
present tense? Perhaps she thinks it creates more of an ethos of realism, but
it doesn't. For me, whe whole thing would be more credible if she had written
it in the past tense. It is a historical novel after all.
Trish.
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