I'm feeling intellectual again today, Who is the all-time best First person narrator in the history of literature?
Things to consider: I'm not looking for an author who writes really well when writing a first person narrator, I want the character. The narrator of the story itself. (This is way more intellectual than when I asked you all which Shakespeare character you wanted to bang.)
Yesterdays: The Cardamone strikes again (That's right, he's been that good lately that he's earned the right to have the definite article attached to his name). I'm going to go ahead and throw in my own votes for, in no particular order, my top 5 (some of them have already been mentioned) High Fidelity, The Princess Bride, Almost Famous, Better Off Dead, and Finding Nemo.
Nick:
I'm gonna go with Almost Famous. (Cameron Crowe is like the king of movies that work for this, however...Say Anything would be a damn good answer too)
It's got an incredible love story, in which neither guy really gets the girl. The music is awesome, it has incredibly poignant moments.
First time I saw it, it was with a friend from home and some of her new friends like the first two weeks of my freshman year. We get out, and I was damn near choked up I loved it so much. Meanwhile, one of the other guys who was with us just said, 'that wasn't that good, just another movie about a dork.'
I mean, the fact that he's a guy, and I'm not into that, kind of precludes me from further canceling him off the list of people I'd ever want to spend time with. But if I watched that movie with a girl I was interested in (instead of with JayBruzz or Joe), and she reacted like that...it is probably the least attractive thing a girl could do.
How could anyone with a heart dislike that movie?
(On a side note and completely unrelated, has anyone seen the commercial where this evil cunt tells her guy he has to get rid of his record collection, and he in turn converts it all to MP3 form. Some bitch tells me something like that, I'm hitting her with a stack of like 20 records when she gets back, draggin her out the house and throwing all of her possessions out with her. I can't think of a more insulting notion)
I have seen it Nick, and I couldn't agree with you more.
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8 comments:
Do memoirs count? or must it be a 'fictional' narrator? Ray, you really must be more specific.
Holden Caulfield.
Catcher in the Rye.
Perhaps not the best narrator in the history of literature, but definitely worth mentioning. Salinger's protagonist clearly illustrates the jaded youth of America that so many of us could have related to at one time or another.
runner up:
Huckleberry Finn
and
Will from "You Shall Know Our Velocity"
Fictional, I should have been more clear about that, and I already had that conversation with somebody, so thanks for bringing it up Martina. Has to be a fictional character. But definitely put who you were thinking for the memoir too, because I'm interested to see what you were thinking for that.
I'd say for contemporary literature it's Dave Eggers' "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius," if not for his title alone, then for his brazen, hilarious look at his own slice of life characterized against the setting of the early 90s. I guess that's technically a memoir.. So my fictional entry would have to be Charlie from Stephen Chbosky's "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." Perhaps the Holden Caulfield of our generation (as he has been referred), Charlie is the awkward, introspective kid in us all. And what better narrator, than the character who utters (or in this case writes) the words "It's strange because sometimes, I read a book, and I think I am the people in the book."
I love the four-way narrative (Maureen, Martin, JJ and Jess) of Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down. It captures the desperation they feel when they meet and also allows you to have different views of the events of the book all while getting them froma first-person perspective.
Fictional: J.D. Salinger. He can write for a character of any age and it's still believable and captivating. He's also pretty twisted which definitely appeals to me. I don't have the mental capacity at this moment to elaborate on my position, but my vote is Mr. Salinger.
For memoirs: Augusten Burroughs. Just love him.
Regarding memoirs, I really liked Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman. It's really a manifesto of pop culture, but the guy is hilarious. With chapter titles like "What happens when people stop being polite," "George Hill vs Nick Hornby," "Billy Sim," and "The Awe-Inspiring Beauty of Tom Cruise's Shattered, Troll-like Face", he makes rock journalism actually something witty, amusing, and honest. Mainly I just like that he talks a lot about music. which brings me to my second favorite memoir....Love is a Mix Tape by rolling stone journalist Rob Sheffield. God I miss mix tapes. they were so fantastic. Remember when you heard a song on the radio and you had to record it on a mix tape so you could have that song without going out and bying the entire casset? yeah, mix tapes....gotta love 'em.
wow i totally didn't read the question right. hah!
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