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the lion was lovely, this was a good idea. one thing that really stands out about this book compared to more modern fiction is that it was very obviously written to be read aloud by an adult to a child and it's incredibly charming

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QC (in Berlin 7/29-???)

@QiaochuYuan

· Dec 15, 2021

thanks for the input everyone, gonna start with the lion. i will try imagining c.s. lewis reading this to me in a kindly grandfatherly voice

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QC (in Berlin 7/29-???)

@QiaochuYuan

closely related is that the narrator is an actual character - he says "i" at several points, says to the reader that he will not be telling the reader certain things, stuff like that - and i feel like modern fiction mostly doesn't do this and is worse for it

9:39 PM · Dec 18, 2021Twitter Web App

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QC (in Berlin 7/29-???)

@QiaochuYuan

Dec 18, 2021

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@QiaochuYuan

(with the notable exception, off the top of my head, of n.k. jemisin's the hundred thousand kingdoms, where the narrator is a specific character in the story and it's a major reveal who)

QC (in Berlin 7/29-???)

@QiaochuYuan

Dec 18, 2021

the narrator character is written in such a way as to establish a relationship between him and the reader, and it's a wholesome relationship - the narrator is obviously trying to teach and parent the reader, it really shines through

QC (in Berlin 7/29-???)

@QiaochuYuan

Dec 18, 2021

modern fiction with a third-person omniscient narrator has a narrator who is basically a camera. not a person, doesn't have a personality or a point of view on events. there's something subtly weird about this imo. it's a kind of pretending to an objective pov that doesn't exist