How do you feel about unnamed 1st POV narrators?

Iustefan · Feb 1, 2012

Just wondering how people feel about being left in the dark on the MC's name in a 1st POV? Like, dislike unnamed narrating MC? Do you need a reason written into the novel, or is it better left un-said? Do you think there are any intended effects of doing this, authorial tricks at play--when the narrator is left unnamed--or just laziness? Do you feel more like you are stepping into their shoes? Or is there an added kafka-esque mystery added? Does it make the novel feel colder, more black and white?

I am interested because my WIP has an unnamed narrator(MC). It was mostly laziness on my part--i just didn't have a name when i was starting out. Now everything is written this way--conversations naturally leave out his name, its not really needed in narration, etc. It feels right, so i will probably stick with it--but of course i am curious how other people feel on unnamed narrators.

Lyra Jean · Feb 1, 2012

I would find it annoying. If it's first person but the narrator isn't named how will you identify them in the blurb of the book. That's the part I read first.

Zelenka · Feb 1, 2012

I've done it several times in short stories. Not sure how it would work for a whole book but I'm of the school of thought that anything can be pulled off by a writer with enough skill. If you can get enough characterisation into your 1st person voice, we still get that sense of the person.

Actually I just started working on a full length version of a short story I wrote, turning it into a novel. The original story didn't name the narrator and, IMO, it worked because the character came across strongly enough (and it was horror, where a bit of ambiguity can sometimes work in your favour), but I've given him a name for the book, and it's amazing how much just doing that has changed the tone of the piece.

Ray Veen · Feb 1, 2012

It's hard to answer these questions without seeing some of the narrative. Consider posting it in SYW. Ask the folks there if think the MC needs a name.

ios · Feb 1, 2012

I am interested because my WIP has an unnamed narrator(MC). It was mostly laziness on my part--i just didn't have a name when i was starting out. Now everything is written this way--conversations naturally leave out his name, its not really needed in narration, etc. It feels right, so i will probably stick with it--but of course i am curious how other people feel on unnamed narrators.

I do a lot of weird things with names in my novels. I have one in which the MC's real name is never really revealed because it was destroyed; he doesn't exist as that person any more nor would he want to. Others name him, though, so he's not precisely unnamed. But still . . . since I'm using one, it'd be rather wrong for me to say I dislike them, wouldn't it? ;-) Anyway, I don't have a problem with it in general, but if he interacts with others, don't they call him something? The unnamed thing has to feel natural, I think, for it to work.

Jodi

Literateparakeet · Feb 1, 2012

One of my favorite books did that. The book was Rebecca by Daphne DuMarier.

You can see who she handled the book description, and how well it was received by readers at amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0380730405/?tag=absowrit-20

Brickcommajason · Feb 1, 2012

Parker's Spenser lacks a first name, and there's that Nameless Detective series that's in something like its 30+th novel. In a lot of Sandford's work, you have 1st person POV from the killer but he isn't named until 1/2 or 2/3 of the way through.

I find it pretty natural if done well. After all, how often do you use your own name when you tell a story in 1st person?

James D. Macdonald · Feb 1, 2012

Many of Len Deighton's spy novels feature a nameless first-person narrator (e.g. Funeral in Berlin).

kuwisdelu · Feb 1, 2012

If the narrator's name just happens not to come up, and you don't have a compelling reason why he should be named, I don't see any reason to go out of your way to name him. If you're going out of your way not to name him and you don't have a compelling reason why he shouldn't be named, then it's probably problematic.

scarletpeaches · Feb 2, 2012

Literateparakeet said:
One of my favorite books did that. The book was Rebecca by Daphne DuMarier.

You can see who she handled the book description, and how well it was received by readers at amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0380730405/?tag=absowrit-20

Bingo. Anyone who thinks an anonymous narrator wouldn't work should read this book.

KaiaSonderby · Feb 2, 2012

The narrator in Tanith Lee's Biting the Sun doesn't have a name either, but the book was so good, I was more than halfway through it before I even noticed.

Like with most choices, it's not what you do but how well you do it.

Devil Ledbetter · Feb 2, 2012

I would find it annoying, but that's just me.

In Nick Hornby's How To Be Good the first person narrator doesn't get called by her name until about a third of the way into the story. Then it turns out her name is Katie. I came *this* close to bookwalling it.

crunchyblanket · Feb 2, 2012

I think this device works best in short fiction, although Rebecca proved it can be brilliantly effective in longer works too.

allenparker · Feb 2, 2012

My WIP on the desktop doesn't identify people until they are dead. Once they are killed, they get a name and some background. The narrator is nameless until the end. For most of the book, the narrator is trying to find himself so that the plot reveals pieces of him as the other characters die.

As a device, I can only say this is the best thing I ever wrote, or many the worst. I can't decide.The betas are mixed. I guess time will tell.

Dr.Gonzo · Feb 2, 2012

It's been done. It's been done well. Fight Club?

In my WIP, I found it hard to get the name in there somewhere. I started thinking, How often does a friend or a loved one say your name? My mum calls me son, my missus calls me things I'm not to repeat, my friends look at me when they talk to me so don't have to say my name. Every time I tried to fit it in, it just felt... unreal...

I found a way in the end. He's just moved into his new place(right at the start--yay me) and looks at the contract for the apartment that's lying on the kitchen counter. Sneaky.

JMercedesD · Feb 2, 2012

When I saw the question, I immediately thought of the Haruhi Suzumiya light novel series by Nagaru Tanigawa. Technically, we never find out the narrator's name, though YMMV depending on whether you consider his nickname "Kyon" to count. He's referred to by that name only by one or two of the characters, to my knowledge. Everyone else suspiciously omits ever using a name.

As shown above, it can be done and well. I wouldn't be turned off by it, so long as the omission was done so smoothly that it didn't jar the story.

Cyia · Feb 2, 2012

It's not first person, but in all 200,000+ words of "The Historian", the main character is simple "the girl".

Devil Ledbetter · Feb 2, 2012

Dr.Gonzo said:
It's been done. It's been done well. Fight Club?

It was done for very good reason in Fight Club.

As long as there's a good reason I wouldn't have a problem with it.

Dr.Gonzo said:
In my WIP, I found it hard to get the name in there somewhere. I started thinking, How often does a friend or a loved one say your name? My mum calls me son, my missus calls me things I'm not to repeat, my friends look at me when they talk to me so don't have to say my name. Every time I tried to fit it in, it just felt... unreal...

Good point. The only time I ever hear my husband utter my name is when he's mentioning me to someone else. Otherwise it's always Sweetie or Honey.

I miss hearing my name sometimes.

Paper Princess · Feb 2, 2012

I haven't read any books in which the 1st person narrator was unnamed, but generally, I don't see how the character can interact with the others without being given a name, unless it's a side character and the story is being told from her/his perspective.

Lseeber · Feb 2, 2012

As a reader, I don't mind it if it is done well. I guess it allows more of a immersion feel to the story. By not giving the narrator a name, somehow it makes it easier for the reader to become the narrator.

As a writer, the practice completely drives me nuts. I tried to write using 1st person unnamed POV and I had such a struggle with it. But then again, 1st person POV writing is very difficult for me.

Shrug. One of my many areas for improvements I guess.

Laura

Taylor V · Feb 2, 2012

Devil Ledbetter said:
It was done for very good reason in Fight Club.

As long as there's a good reason I wouldn't have a problem with it.

Pretty much this. In a short story it's probably not that big of a deal (I tend to do it a lot), but in a novel there should be a good reason for it and be done well or it will just seem forced.

Buffysquirrel · Feb 2, 2012

I tend to find it annoying after a while. I think that there's a level of skill needed to pull this off, and if the story becomes more and more convoluted in trying to prevent anyone, ever, naming the narrator, then that's when the annoyance comes in.

But among the problems I had with Rebecca, that's not one of the main ones, so, la.

Libbie · Feb 2, 2012

Iustefan said:
Just wondering how people feel about being left in the dark on the MC's name in a 1st POV? Like, dislike unnamed narrating MC? Do you need a reason written into the novel, or is it better left un-said? Do you think there are any intended effects of doing this, authorial tricks at play--when the narrator is left unnamed--or just laziness? Do you feel more like you are stepping into their shoes? Or is there an added kafka-esque mystery added? Does it make the novel feel colder, more black and white?

I am interested because my WIP has an unnamed narrator(MC). It was mostly laziness on my part--i just didn't have a name when i was starting out. Now everything is written this way--conversations naturally leave out his name, its not really needed in narration, etc. It feels right, so i will probably stick with it--but of course i am curious how other people feel on unnamed narrators.

I'm just fine and dandy with it. In fact, I am writing a book now that has an unnamed first-person narrator. Yes, writing a blurb for the back may pose a problem. Writing a query certainly is difficult. But the entire structure and theme of my novel supports the namelessness of the narrator (and another important character, who I couldn't get away with keeping nameless, so I gave him the nickname X instead.)

If a really good agent or editor suggests I out the narrator's name, I will. But until then, I'm sticking to my guns on this one. Secret name is secret.

Libbie · Feb 2, 2012

By the way, I should probably point out that many beta readers so far have been totally cool with the narrator's lack of a name. In fact, none of them has even brought it up, either in praise or criticism, so I'm assuming that it's fitting in seamlessly with the overall theme of the novel and is working as a concept. Nobody seems to have difficulty connecting with the narrator or engaging with the story in spite of her anonymity. I think part of what's helped alleviate a feeling of distance is how incredibly over-share-y she is -- she doesn't hold anything back from the reader, except for her name, and so I think readers are still finding her easy to relate to because she is so honest.

I think that may not be the case in all books, though. Depending on genre, theme, narrative style, etc., namelessness may be far more obvious and therefore annoying. Generally speaking, anything that sticks out is going to be a bad thing. If you can make it seem like part of the territory, then you ought to be good.

Celia Cyanide · Feb 2, 2012

Devil Ledbetter said:
It was done for very good reason in Fight Club.

As long as there's a good reason I wouldn't have a problem with it.

I immediately thought of Fight Club. There was a very good reason for it in Fight Club. If it were done for no reason at all, I think it would annoy me.

How do you feel about unnamed 1st POV narrators?

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