Multiple Points of View

This past week I have started re-reading the sea-faring Jack Aubrey novels of Patrick O'Brian. Even though I read all 21 novels about 3 years ago I still find them interesting and gripping.

For those who are interested in a floating point of view (forgive the pun), the author O'Brian does a masterful job that is worth studying. His writing is in the stream-of-consciousness style. One almost feels the camera panning from one character to another, the thoughts and words of the major characters being spooled out easily, with the point of view sometimes following the camera and sometimes remaining with one character. Because the O'Brian novels are packed with action, it helps to be able to see the scene from several different eyes, without a single point of view bottling up the excitement of panoramic sea battles.

The multiple point of view also helps ratchet up the personal interactions between characters. The reader is able to see instantly the internal reactions that lead to the external response, saving the writer from having to do flashbacks or spin out long actionless prose to keep the reader informed of the characters's motivations.

Not all novels need to use many points of view to tell a story, but I have concluded that the fast paced novel benefits from it.

Amy