Anyone have any opinions on epistolary novels (a narrative in the form of letters) or epistolary interludes in standard novels? It's an idea I've been toying with for a short novel I wrote years ago and recently dug out of my desk. It needs something, some kind of hook that will support its structure, and I was thinking of giving my MC a friend he could correspond with here and there to add a little meat and a little POV shift without actually giving another character a voice. Does anybody find this cheesy or gimmicky? Not a whole novel of it like Steve Kluger's Last Days of Summer (which is excellent, by the way) but just as a little curve ball I can toss at the reader when there's a natural beat to the action.
Not a novel or even a conventional narrative, but a story of sorts told through letters between two people... Griffin & Sabine.
What are "standard novels"? 'Dracula' is all written in letters, and diaries, if memory serves. I like a letter in a novel, as long as it sounds natural and not a "trick"/technique (which annoys me). I'm sure other people can provide more examples of novels all written in letters.
I cannot begin to tell you how much I enjoy epistolary novels and other works. To me, it's always a very fresh and inspiring genre. I'd say go for it!
There is plenty of classic literature that's epistolary, and I'm sure you could find some of those. But Language Arts by Stephanie Kallos (contemporary) is done with epistolary interludes. It worked really well for this one (imo) because Kallos used the epistolary aspect to reveal something big about the main character. I never saw the twist coming. That, I think, is a good use of the device.
Yeah, go for it. It's a great way to get a character's voice across. And a great way to get two characters' voices across, if all the letters are part of the story, not just one side of it.
