Hey guys, Can anyone recommend any literary short-stories (or novels), or even any journalistic pieces that are told in second person? And while I'm asking, literary short stories that have a very poetic flow? Or poems that while poetic are very heavy in narrative? Gracias.
This sounds alot like homework to me. Hm. Well the only second person novel I'm ever read was Escape From The Carnival Of Horrors by R. L. Stine. It's a kids' book, but I loved it back in the day. It's interactive.
I think all the interactive Goosebumps books are written in second person. I loved those when I was little. Must read again...
Who but an English Teacher would make a distinction between a 'literary' short story and a non 'literary' short story? There's a short story by Ray Bradbury that's told in the 2nd person. I don't remember the title. I don't know if certain people would call his work literary.
LOLS honest, not homework. I wish it was my homework, but my degree is in a completely unrelated field to my writings. No, actually, I wrote two things the other day (both were reaction pieces to something), one was a narrative and the other was narrative poem and without realizing, I wrote both of them in the second person. Only when I went back to revise the two pieces did I realize that they were in second person which like blew my mind because they came out so amazingly awesome and two people that read it didn't realize it either. And I really haven't read much of second person so I thought I should consult with some work of the greats and see how they do it since I'm in my stage of revising. Why literary, it's because I'm aiming for literary and my pieces really would not fit into any genre. Anyways I did find some work. "Until Gwen" by Dennis Lehane happening to already be in my collection.
Second person works well for How To books. For fiction, it generally is rubbish. Someone will undoubtedly jump in and say. "But wait! Welker Finkelstein wrote a delightful and groundbreaking novel in second person that blew me away." Well, maybe. But every piece of second person fiction I have had the misfortune of reading has been steaming wet crap.
You could try 'Everything Matters!' Most of it is narrated in second person, though there is some in first person as well from a different character. Very interesting book, especially since each paragraph has a number that's in constant countdown to the end of the world. Literally.
Thank you, but I didn't ask nor did I want that lecture. Because I know that I should show and not tell, and I know that I shouldn’t use adverbs cause they’ll turn me green in one spell, and I know that my sentences shouldn’t be long but short like the tartar tent in the midst of a forest of pagodas because it’s better to reach for the branch on the ground than hurt myself for the one in the clouds, and I know, believe me, I know, that I shouldn’t start a sentence with because because it’s simply not write, and I know that I should never ever ever-r-r-r switch perspectives cause I can’t possibly do it right, and I know that I’m to be put in my place and told to put no stock in my dreams cause I know, that on this site, second person is equivalent to karela in the mouth of the white, and I know, yes, that I shouldn’t take my chances cause I’d be wasting my time because on this site, this tiny little finger that hold all my power wasn’t born in the stars but in the slums of some city street where drug dealers sleep. And I know, yes I know, that I should most definitely, continue to keep with my keep, because I know that at least this way, I’ll have some place to lay my head down for the night, even if it be thighs.
In the words of the Stones, you can't always get what you want. But if you try sometime, you just might find you get what you need. But I will adjust my answer to fit your mood. No, I cannot recommend any such book.
