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Depends on the story and how well they do it.
I have no problem in changing from the viewpoint of one character to another at appropriate points, as long as they are all first person, or all third person and not mixed.
I know M&B are sometimes looked down on, but it's a light short read with a happy ending.
A few of the Modern Romance authors annoy me because they suddenly change from the thought processes/ dialogue viewpoint of the girl or boy to the boy or girl.
Occasionally it works, most of the time it jars.
That's how I wrote my novel 'bound'. I wanted to show the effect that a kidnapping had on the people effected: the victim, family and friends. I have written it all in first person, because I think it's the best way to notch up the tension.
The only thing that annoys me is switching viewpoint during one paragraph - trust me I've seen this in published novels.
I seem to have slipped into it without meaning to. I like to use it and I like to read it - especially when the view point switches to someone you don't yet know and you're constantly looking for clues to key them into the story.
I recently reread the classic Peyton Place for the first time in years, brilliant POV changes and you don't often realise it is happening. I began to watch for it and realised how cleverly it was done. But not within a paragraph. I sent a bookb back to one of my reasonably good authors recently because he was jumping viewpoint every few lines. I haen't had it back yet ...
I just gave up on a fantasy book because the viewpoint kept changing. In 11 pages he had introduced 3 major characters and in a fantasy book at that level, a completely different city and time and place, it got so confusing because each brought in a different layer of the society there. I am not going to persevere with it, life is too short to read something that I have had on the shelf for seven months anyway, which says to me, I didn't really want to read it in the first place. (It was a Christmas gift, the person who sent it knows the author ... so far he has not asked me what I thought of the book) - this really is one instance when a whole chapter from one viewpoint would have been better, get the reader settled into the city first. Then again, perhaps people who read way out fantasy ("Jay Lake is more inventive than a hive of meth-addicted weasels") would get on with it better than me.
"life is too short to read something that I have had on the shelf for seven months anyway, which says to me, I didn't really want to read it in the first place."
I've had books on my shelves for several years and not got round to reading them. I will eventually, depending on priority. My reason for buying this way is because I have a theory that at least when I'm skint, which is often, I'll never be short of something to read, and also because some of the books that jump out at me I'd probably forget about and then not read at all. If they're on my bookcases, I don't forget them, and then when I read them, I usually wonder why on earth I didn't read them before. There's only been one or two occasions when I've bought a book and then not read it through coz it's boring, but mostly, when I buy for pleasure, I'm spot on. A few books I had to get for university I still haven't finished - I suppose I really should get rid of them, but I just can't bring myself to do it...
I know what you're saying TP, it works that way with the reference books. I recently paid an obscene amount of money for an obscure biography of one of the most notorious earls of the 15th century, even though I know it will be some years before I get to his book. The biography, being rare, may not be around then. But this particular fantasy was part of a Christmas gift mailed from the States via Amazon. If I had thought it would appeal,it would have been read long before now, when I go sorting through the home library for 'something to read'. On the table, in place of the fantasy, is Credo by Melvin Bragg, for a very good reason. It is set in the Dark Ages and I am about to begin a history course which covers the Dark Ages. That has been there for some time, too, but I knew I would read it.
Comments
Do you like it when authors change from two or three characters viewpoints' during a chapter? People seem to have very strong opinions on this...
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I have no problem in changing from the viewpoint of one character to another at appropriate points, as long as they are all first person, or all third person and not mixed.
I know M&B are sometimes looked down on, but it's a light short read with a happy ending.
A few of the Modern Romance authors annoy me because they suddenly change from the thought processes/ dialogue viewpoint of the girl or boy to the boy or girl.
Occasionally it works, most of the time it jars.
The only thing that annoys me is switching viewpoint during one paragraph - trust me I've seen this in published novels.
I just gave up on a fantasy book because the viewpoint kept changing. In 11 pages he had introduced 3 major characters and in a fantasy book at that level, a completely different city and time and place, it got so confusing because each brought in a different layer of the society there. I am not going to persevere with it, life is too short to read something that I have had on the shelf for seven months anyway, which says to me, I didn't really want to read it in the first place. (It was a Christmas gift, the person who sent it knows the author ... so far he has not asked me what I thought of the book) - this really is one instance when a whole chapter from one viewpoint would have been better, get the reader settled into the city first. Then again, perhaps people who read way out fantasy ("Jay Lake is more inventive than a hive of meth-addicted weasels") would get on with it better than me.
I've had books on my shelves for several years and not got round to reading them. I will eventually, depending on priority. My reason for buying this way is because I have a theory that at least when I'm skint, which is often, I'll never be short of something to read, and also because some of the books that jump out at me I'd probably forget about and then not read at all. If they're on my bookcases, I don't forget them, and then when I read them, I usually wonder why on earth I didn't read them before. There's only been one or two occasions when I've bought a book and then not read it through coz it's boring, but mostly, when I buy for pleasure, I'm spot on. A few books I had to get for university I still haven't finished - I suppose I really should get rid of them, but I just can't bring myself to do it...