Q: At his web page, under FAQ, Lee Child answers a question about person.
Why are some Reacher novels in first person narrative and others in third person narrative?
Lee says writing in first person is more natural for him. But writing in third person gives him more freedom when building suspense. With third person narrative, the suspense builds easily as the reader can essentially see around corners and anticipate events about which Reacher has no knowledge. With the first person narrative, the reader can only know what Reacher knows. That's it in a nutshell. The storyline dictates what narrative voice would suit best. Certainly, with first person the story is more graphic and intimate as we're inside Jack's head. So far in the series, Killing Floor, Persuader, and The Enemy are in first person narrative. Die Trying, Tripwire, Running Blind/The Visitor, Echo Burning, Without Fail and One Shot are in third person.
A: In general, I use the first person for a memoir and third person
for fiction.
Sometimes I will lapse into first person in a novel. I used
to go back and change it, but now I leave it.
Slips are existential. They
reveal something. I don't always know what.
Less often, I will use third
person in a memoir, but it sounds pompous to talk about yourself in the third person.
Lately, I go back and forth, from first person to third, fictional character to nonfiction
self.
One of the things that this shows is that the I of a memoir is not
always a reliable narrator. It shows, not tells.
Then I tell.
It
shows, I tell.
Q: I'd be willing to bet there are readers who don't know some Reacher novels are in first person and some are in third person.
A: I didn't know.