Saturday, 28 September 2024

POVs In The Mermaid Tavern

"The Sensitive Man."

The opening paragraph is an objective description of the Mermaid Tavern. The second paragraph introduces a viewpoint character:

"The sensitive man paused for a moment in the foyer, sweeping the big circular room with a hurried glance. Half the tables were filled." (p. 131)

This is definitely the sensitive man looking at the room, not anyone else looking at him. This paragraph concludes by telling us his surname:

"Dalgetty typed [the people in the bar] as he watched." (ibid.)

The pov (point of view) stays with Dalgetty except for once briefly while he is in the company of a rec girl:

"A young man, she guessed..." (p. 135)

Poul Anderson did not have full pov control while writing these early instalments of his first future history series.

1 comment:

S.M. Stirling said...

Yup, Poul's technique improved rapidly.