Let’s Talk Bookish: First or Third Person Narration?

Hey, everyone! I hope you’re all doing well. I have another discussion post today, one that was pretty interesting to write.

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme created by Rukky @ Eternity Books and hosted by Aria @ Book Nook Bits where we discuss various topics and share our opinions. Today’s topic is Do you prefer first or third person narration? (suggested by Mikaela @ Mikaela Reads).

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Prompts: What kinds of narration do you prefer? First person? Third person objective? Third person omniscient? Third person limited? What are the pros and cons of different kinds of narration?

* Third person objective: The facts of a narrative are reported by a seemingly neutral, impersonal observer or recorder. | Third person omniscient: An all-knowing narrator not only reports the facts but may also interpret events and relate the thoughts and feelings of any character. | Third person limited: A narrator reports the facts and interprets events from the perspective of a single character.

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Point of view is one of the things that I track with my reading, just because I’m curious to see what kind of narrations I usually read. For the most part, I read books with first person or third person limited narration. So far in 2022, I’ve read 13 books with a third person perspective and 10 books with a first person perspective. I’m surprised by this, since I normally read first person POV books. Last year, I read 33 books with first person perspectives and only 19 books with third.

Like I said, I prefer first person. For me, it feels more real when ‘I’ and ‘we’ are used–like I’m fully immersed in the storyline and not just on the outside, knowing things about the characters. When a story is in first person, I’m experiencing everything right alongside the character. I’m not saying third person doesn’t do this, but it’s a bit different when it’s being narrated as if you’re on the sidelines and watching.

When I do read in third person, I like limited better than omniscient or objective, the latter being one I usually never read. With limited, we’re just focused on one person’s thoughts and feelings. I feel like omniscient can cause it to be harder to track the characters, since you know everything about everyone. I don’t think I’ve read a book that has third person objective. Or if I have, I didn’t know it. I feel like it would hard to relate to the characters since you wouldn’t know their thoughts or motivations. The only way to know them would be through dialogue, actions, or anything specifically stated.

I’ve also read books that had sections in second person perspective, namely The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert. It wasn’t a lot of the story, just certain parts that added an underlying aspect. I don’t mind second person and in those books, it was cool to read in a different perspective, as if you were truly in the story.

Overall, I prefer first person more than third. I love reading both, though. There are some books that do great with third person perspective, some of which are favorites of mine, and probably wouldn’t work as well with a first person POV. Genre plays a bit of a role in POV as well. I don’t read a lot of romances but the ones I have read are usually in first person. Coming-of-age stories are also in first person a lot of the time. Fantasy goes either way; I’ve read ones in first person and just as many in third.

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Do you prefer first person or third person narration? Which do you read more?