Mark,
Thanks for info! I guess my tendency to read older material
(which got me interested in the genre in the first place) has
left me relatively uninformed regarding some of the more
recent trends in hardboiled fiction.
With regards to "Fright", the story is being told as a kind
of reminiscence by a third person narrator sometime in the
future relative to the events of the story. There is no
obvious indication of a lack of direct knowledge of events on
the part of the narrator when the shift to first person
narration occurs. It seems to be primarily a means of
heightening the tension when Marshall's perpetual conflict is
most acute.
Now, I have yet to finish the book, but so far there is no
indication who the narrator is or what their relation to the
story might be. If and when this information is divulged,
perhaps the reason behind Woolrich's choice to change
narrative perspective will become clearer.
Best, Harry
Quoting
DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net:
> Harry,
>
> In recent hardboiled fiction, mostly PI novels,
there's a trend to
> incorporate chapters of third person material in a
narrative that is
> first person overall. This is often to report events
that the narrator
> did not witness/was not involved in and/or to show
the actions of the
> killer, often serial killer, being hunted by the PI.
Block, for
> instance, has used it in at least one recent Scudder
(I think he used it
> in the most recent one, too, which I have not yet
read). The recently
> deceased Benjamin Schutz used the technique in his
first novel, Embrace
> the Wolf.
>
> Mark
>
>
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