You're telling me a story about someone else's story
October 22, 2017 2:47 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for novels written in first person in which the narrator is telling other people's (or a person's) stories.
Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald is an excellent example that I love. Was recommended Outline by Rachel Cusk but I couldn't get into it. I'm planning on rereading The Great Gatsby. What else is out there?
Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald is an excellent example that I love. Was recommended Outline by Rachel Cusk but I couldn't get into it. I'm planning on rereading The Great Gatsby. What else is out there?
Philip Roth does this when he has Nathan Zuckerman as the narrator - best example is The Human Stain.
posted by rd45 at 3:00 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by rd45 at 3:00 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Thackeray did this in an interesting way with some of his novels that are hardly read anymore—the first one, The History of Pendennis, is narrated by Pendennis himself, while some later novels are written by Pendennis about people he knows. Because you’ve followed Pendennis through his own adventures there’s something very satisfying about hearing from him and his family now that he’s settled down, occasionally appearing in the story or referring to an opinion on the proceedings from his wife, just off-stage, who you also know so well.
posted by Polycarp at 3:05 PM on October 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Polycarp at 3:05 PM on October 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
Heart of Darkness is an example of this: the narrator is describing being told the story by someone he meets.
posted by Orlop at 3:12 PM on October 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Orlop at 3:12 PM on October 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
There’s a great bit in Frankenstein where the narrator tells the story of Frankenstein telling the story of the monster telling the story of the family he was hiding with telling their story. The whole book is the story of someone else’s story, but that’s the most layers of recursion it reaches.
The Call of Cthulhu has a similar narrative nesting-doll structure.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 3:28 PM on October 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
The Call of Cthulhu has a similar narrative nesting-doll structure.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 3:28 PM on October 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
Conan Doyle?
posted by runincircles at 3:40 PM on October 22, 2017
posted by runincircles at 3:40 PM on October 22, 2017
House of Leaves has a few layers of this, and it's a good read for the spooky month of October.
posted by Gymnopedist at 3:40 PM on October 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Gymnopedist at 3:40 PM on October 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
Frankenstein
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 3:44 PM on October 22, 2017
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 3:44 PM on October 22, 2017
The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield. A biographer (haunted by her own ghosts) is summoned by Britain's most famous author to tell the story of her life. Much gothic spookiness ensues.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:47 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:47 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
I believe The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco uses this conceit.
posted by dbx at 4:06 PM on October 22, 2017
posted by dbx at 4:06 PM on October 22, 2017
The second half of Swann's Way, often marked off in the text as "Swann in Love," involves the first-person narrator recounting the doomed love affair of another character back when the narrator was just a child.
posted by praemunire at 4:25 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by praemunire at 4:25 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Oh, and if you think Gatsby qualifies despite the modest involvement of the first-person narrator in the actual plot (i.e., the narrator is not simply reporting events with which he had no involvement), Thomas Mann's Doktor Faustus will, too.
The opening section of Saul Bellow's Humboldt's Gift, in which the narrator recounts the career of his dead mentor Humboldt, might also work, but might be closer to the line.
posted by praemunire at 4:30 PM on October 22, 2017
The opening section of Saul Bellow's Humboldt's Gift, in which the narrator recounts the career of his dead mentor Humboldt, might also work, but might be closer to the line.
posted by praemunire at 4:30 PM on October 22, 2017
Sophie's Choice is of this style, mostly (apart from the sections from Sophie's POV).
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 4:33 PM on October 22, 2017
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 4:33 PM on October 22, 2017
Best answer: The literary critic Larry Buell wrote an essay about this called "The Observer-Hero Narrative" that is available on JStor and lists a bunch of classic examples on the first page. Let me know if you'd like help accessing the full piece.
posted by pretentious illiterate at 4:35 PM on October 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by pretentious illiterate at 4:35 PM on October 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
Justine by Lawrence Durrell is a classic example, then there's 3 sequels that look at events from different views.
posted by ovvl at 4:37 PM on October 22, 2017
posted by ovvl at 4:37 PM on October 22, 2017
Herbs and Apples by Helen Hooven Santmyer.
Sue narrates Derrick's story, although Sue figures in the story, too, so I don't know if that counts.
posted by jgirl at 4:43 PM on October 22, 2017
Sue narrates Derrick's story, although Sue figures in the story, too, so I don't know if that counts.
posted by jgirl at 4:43 PM on October 22, 2017
Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate are the very definition of this sort of thing. there are books that use this trick as misdirection, to confuse you about who the story is really about, and there are books that use it as a merciful distancing tool because it would be too painful to be too close. I think these books do the second, but not the first. but who can say. they're the best.
posted by queenofbithynia at 4:59 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by queenofbithynia at 4:59 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Heart of Darkness is an example of this: the narrator is describing being told the story by someone he meets.
Joseph Conrad liked using that framework, and also used Marlow as a narrator for (at least a good portion of) Lord Jim.
posted by LionIndex at 5:02 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Joseph Conrad liked using that framework, and also used Marlow as a narrator for (at least a good portion of) Lord Jim.
posted by LionIndex at 5:02 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham is written in the first person (in Maugham's voice, actually), although the main events of the story mostly concern other characters. The structure of the book is Maugham recalling meetings with the other characters in which they told him of events that transpired. He actually plays a larger role in the story than the structure would seem to imply (there's a reason it's told in the first person), but he's rather less involved in the action than, say, Nick Carraway in Gatsby.
posted by kevinbelt at 5:05 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by kevinbelt at 5:05 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
would the Sherlock Holmes novels qualify? They're really about him, but Watson narrates.
posted by fingersandtoes at 6:39 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by fingersandtoes at 6:39 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
On Such a Full Sea by Chang-Rae Lee is written in first person plural and the story is about a series of interludes in one young woman's life.
posted by fuse theorem at 6:50 PM on October 22, 2017
posted by fuse theorem at 6:50 PM on October 22, 2017
The Virginian by Owen Wister is a good one for this. I'm normally not a huge fan of Westerns, but I really enjoyed this book.
posted by helloimjennsco at 10:10 AM on October 23, 2017
posted by helloimjennsco at 10:10 AM on October 23, 2017
Nthing Oscar Wao. Wonderful, knockout novel.
Rachel Cusk's 'Outline' is really worth persevering with (and 'Transit', too, the similar one she published this/last year). If you can get used to the weirdness, and the sort of intentional absence of the narrator, they're amazing!
posted by considerthelilies at 6:13 PM on October 23, 2017
Rachel Cusk's 'Outline' is really worth persevering with (and 'Transit', too, the similar one she published this/last year). If you can get used to the weirdness, and the sort of intentional absence of the narrator, they're amazing!
posted by considerthelilies at 6:13 PM on October 23, 2017
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The Turn of the Screw
posted by supermedusa at 2:49 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]