That's a bit intriguing. I wonder if the author might have been thinking of past-life regression, in which the regressed person might well speak in present tense while "watching" the events of the past life unfold.It had a modern day thread written in past tense and a historical thread written in present tense. Conventional logic might indicate that's backwards. I remember doing a double-take when I first started reading it, but after I settled in, it began to make sense to me and I was surprised not to be bothered by it.
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Present Tense Novels
- Margaret
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 2440
- Joined: August 2008
- Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
- Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
- Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
- Location: Catskill, New York, USA
- Contact:
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info
I'll be hoenst I cannot recall every reading a present tense novel.
News, views, and reviews on books and graphic novels for young adult.
http://yabookmarks.blogspot.com/
http://yabookmarks.blogspot.com/
- LoveHistory
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 3751
- Joined: September 2008
- Location: Wisconsin, USA
- Contact:
[quote=""keny from prague""]very true. but i used to devour those as a young lad. its probably a guy thing, but there was something incredably satisfying about feeling like you had some control or influence over the events of the story. interactive reading. teachers hated the books but i loved them. and id read every possible ending.[/quote]
Actually I loved those books too. Didn't run across many, and that may have added to their appeal for me.
Actually I loved those books too. Didn't run across many, and that may have added to their appeal for me.
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- Scribbler
- Posts: 26
- Joined: August 2010
- Location: Tarzana, CA (northwest of Los Angeles)
- Contact:
Present Tense Novels
I think it is difficult to write an entire novel in the present-tense and have it not seem awkward. There is a screenplayish element to it - but a screenplay is a set of directions for a bunch of people making a movie. I think sections in the present tense can be very effective as a contrast to the general narrative of a novel. It might be used as a character seizes the narrative voice, taking over in first person present from a third person single viewpoint past tense. But I am not fond of an entire book in the present tense. I feel almost out of breath as I try to absorb the story.
Richard Warren Field
http://www.richardwarrenfield.com/
http://www.richardwarrenfield.com/TheSwordsofFaith.htm
THE SWORDS OF FAITH, a unique novel about the "Third Crusade" (Richard the Lionheart and Saladin) that stresses tolerance between the faiths even during a time of great conflict.
Richard Warren Field's blog: http://creativeeccentric.wordpress.com
Richard Warren Field
http://www.richardwarrenfield.com/
http://www.richardwarrenfield.com/TheSwordsofFaith.htm
THE SWORDS OF FAITH, a unique novel about the "Third Crusade" (Richard the Lionheart and Saladin) that stresses tolerance between the faiths even during a time of great conflict.
Richard Warren Field's blog: http://creativeeccentric.wordpress.com
- Vanessa
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 4378
- Joined: August 2008
- Currently reading: The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan
- Interest in HF: The first historical novel I read was Katherine by Anya Seton and this sparked off my interest in this genre.
- Favourite HF book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell!
- Preferred HF: Any
- Location: North Yorkshire, UK
I don't think I take too much notice. As long as I'm enjoying the story, it doesn't really matter to me, although I do have a preference for book written in the first person. I feel like they're chatting to me!!
currently reading: My Books on Goodreads
Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind
Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind
- MLE (Emily Cotton)
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 3566
- Joined: August 2008
- Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
- Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
- Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
- Location: California Bay Area
I dislike present tense. The only book I ever read written in that tense was Wolf Hall, and like sweetpotatoboy, the pronoun issue was evenmore annoying than the present tense, but I didn't like the book at all. I might not have disliked it so thoroughly if those two issues were removed. But the whole thing smacked of 'cleverness', and any hint of contrivance will put me off.
If the Help was written in present tense, I missed it entirely (odd, because usually if a book is written present tense, I won't even read past the first paragraph.) But I can't go check my copy as it is in California, and right now I'm in France.
If the Help was written in present tense, I missed it entirely (odd, because usually if a book is written present tense, I won't even read past the first paragraph.) But I can't go check my copy as it is in California, and right now I'm in France.
- Madeleine
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 5860
- Joined: August 2008
- Currently reading: "Mania" by L J Ross
- Preferred HF: Plantagenets, Victorian, crime, dual time-frame
- Location: Essex/London
I must admit I'm not that keen on present tense, although if it's reasonably well-written and a good story then I'm OK with it.
I don't mind first person at all, I agree that it can seem as if the narrator is talking to me personally, although first person means you only tend to get one side of the story.
I don't mind first person at all, I agree that it can seem as if the narrator is talking to me personally, although first person means you only tend to get one side of the story.
Currently reading "Mania" by L J Ross
- Miss Moppet
- Bibliophile
- Posts: 1726
- Joined: April 2009
- Location: North London
- Contact:
[quote=""Michy""]True, although if an author is really good they can manage to make other characters' feelings come through. I'm thinking of what Daphne du Maurier did with My Cousin Rachel.[/quote]
Or get some plot mileage out of the central character's misinterpretations, as du Maurier did in Rebecca. She certainly was the queen of first-person.
Or get some plot mileage out of the central character's misinterpretations, as du Maurier did in Rebecca. She certainly was the queen of first-person.
[quote=""Miss Moppet""]Or get some plot mileage out of the central character's misinterpretations, as du Maurier did in Rebecca. She certainly was the queen of first-person.[/quote]
Yes she was, and the male voice at that.
Yes she was, and the male voice at that.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be
...is the only place I want to be