On pp. 152-153, there is a conversation between Eric Tamarin-Asmundsen and his mother, Sandra. Eric paces and repeats himself. Sandra replies. A single sentence informs us that this passage is narrated from her point of view (pov). After:
"She drew heavily on her cigar." (p. 153)
- we read:
"The smoke tasted harsh; she'd had too many in the past several hours." (ibid.)
Only she directly experiences that she tastes and reflects. If we had been told that she grimaced as if at a harsh taste, then the pov would have been that either of Eric or of an omniscient narrator. However, when Eric responds to something that she says:
"'What?' It blazed in Eric." (p. 154)
Surely only Eric directly experiences that a realization blazes within him? Or is it sufficient that his mother perceives his realization through his tone of voice and facial expression?
In the following passage on pp. 154-157, Sandra is off-stage as Eric in his personal spaceship catches up with the retreating Hermetian fleet which is under the command of Admiral Michael Falkayn. The pov seems to be that of Eric, not of Falkayn, and this is confirmed when we are told what Falkayn is heard to say but are then told how Eric feels and what he sees, not just that viewscreens show the stars but that:
"Around his eyes blazed the stars..." (p. 155)
As a new viewpoint character, Eric returns at the beginning of Chapter XII:
No comments:
Post a Comment