Thursday, 8 March 2018

A Unitary POV

When Jaan meets Ivar Frederiksen and Erannath, the meeting is described from Jaan's pov, e.g.:

"Jaan, who had never before seen an Ythrian in the flesh..."
-Poul Anderson, The Day Of Their Return IN Anderson, Captain Flandry: Defender Of The Terran Empire (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 74-238 AT 15, p. 187.

Jaan thinks that Ivar's blue eyes stare whereas Erannath's golden eyes search. We are then told what the human and Ythrian eyes see:

"They saw: a young man, more short and stocky than was common among Orcans..." (ibid.)

There follows a description of Jaan. Has the narrative shifted from the unitary pov of Jaan to a composite pov of Ivar and Erannath? No, because we are being told what he knows they see.Thus, the pov remains Jaan's. Poul Anderson rarely, if ever, loves control of pov.

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