Peak live TV happened for me this past weekend.
No, not the Super Bowl. I am a Denver Broncos fan that’s still salty/in mourning about the AFC championship game. So it goes.
No, no; this slice of live TV involved the luge, those sleek, small sleds that fly down long corridors of ice and, according to a quick Google search, can get up to 90 mph.
Essentially, sleds that would fly by you on I-5. Or, in some cases, barely keep pace. You know who you are.
Anyway.
During part of the race, a drone soared behind the racers. Its controller navigated and kept pace with the luge, and its camera offered a unique and exciting perspective for viewers as racers glided down a narrow icy sheets that are more than 1,000 meters long. It felt like a racing video game.
I’m a colossal nerd, so naturally I compared the camerawork to the trench run scenes from Star Wars: A New Hope and Top Gun: Maverick.
It got me thinking about unique points of view in books. Sometimes authors forego traditional camera setups and opt to fly drones instead.
I polled some of my colleagues to see if they could come up with a few such titles. They did not disappoint.
***
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Until this delightful book about family, grief hope, and lost things found again, I had never encountered a narrator quite like the one found in Remarkably Bright Creatures.
Ultimately, there are certain chapters narrated from the point of view of an octopus named Marcellus, a Washington state aquarium denizen whose point of view breaks up the main story, but is no less important. He is refined, sarcastic, and warm, and I can’t imagine the story without him after reading it.
We’ll be holding a sold-out author talk for Ms. Van Pelt on Feb. 20 at the Craterian Theater. Hopefully we’ll see you there.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is narrated by the Grim Reaper and set during World War 2 in Germany. Heavy stuff. You’re bearing witness to horrific atrocities and violence through the eyes (eye sockets, technically?) of the spirit harvesting all fallen souls. Unique perspective. Experiencing Death lamenting and empathizing will get you thinking about shuffling off this mortal coil in ways you never have before.
“I’ve seen so many young men over the years who think they’re running at other young men. They are not. They are running at me,” Death says.
Dragon Tears by Dean Koontz
This book has two cops on the run from a supernaturally powered individual who can, well, I won’t spoil it for you in case this sounds interesting. Suffice it to say: the antagonist is a bit of a dark wizard with a temper, driven by vengeance when they don’t get their way.
The book also occasionally puts the reader in the mind of a canine character named Woofer. The bits read like they’re really being spoken by a Very Good Boy. They’re for levity more than anything else, but they also serve the story well.
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Speaking of Very Good Boy POVs, the entirety of The Art of Racing in the Rain is narrated by a dog named Enzo who observes – and helps navigate – his owner’s personal demons, dreams, and passions as his life progresses.
“Here’s why I will be a good person,” Enzo says. “Because I listen. I cannot talk, so I listen very well. I never deflect the course of the conversation with a comment of my own.”
It reminds me of my dog. She just stares with her big, curious eyes and puts her paw on my arm and encourages me to speak when I need to. Zero interruptions.
“I’m here, friend,” she seems to say gently.
I wonder what her narration of my life would look like on paper. Probably a lot of complaining about how I don’t give her enough treats.
Incidents Around The House by Josh Malerman
A horror novel written from the point of view of a child seems like a tall order, but it certainly is an appropriate choice in this case.
Essentially, a young girl dealing with a variety of family troubles is haunted by something she calls the “Other Mommy.” The story is consistently creepy and unsettling, augmented by the fact that it’s all experienced and witnessed by someone so young.
There are certainly other scary stories from a child’s point of view. (Stephen King has done this multiple times), but the first person bent here gives it additional oomph.
Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus by Mo Willems
If you’ve ever wanted to participate alongside the narrator, some books famously break the fourth wall and invite you along for the ride.
Mo Willems’ Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus – along with a host of other delightful sequels for children – invites readers to converse and interact with the narrator: a pigeon desperate to get behind the wheel of a city bus and throw it into drive.
“I’ll be your best friend,” the pigeon promises, followed by, “How about I give you five bucks?”
It brings to mind another classic of the shattered fourth wall genre: The Monster at the End of This Book, which has Sesame Street’s Grover begging readers not to continue turning the pages, as a monster lies in wait on the last one.
What fun!
***
I had a few more, but that’s enough for now, I think.
If anything, I hope this got you thinking about other books that didn’t make this short list and what, if anything, they did for you while reading.
Or, if you’re a writer, what such unique choices do for your writing.
“Often, we don’t really choose a POV for our project; our project chooses a POV for us,” Joseph Bates’ 2017 Writers Digest piece “Why Point of View Is So Important for Novel Writers” reads.
“Often, stories tell us how they should be told—and once you find the right POV for yours, you’ll likely realize the story couldn’t have been told any other way,” Bates says.
And maybe that’s just it. Like drones soaring down stretches of ice as they try to keep a luge in their sights, some stories demand very specific points of view to make them the most potent they can be. Whether it’s dogs, you as a character, the literal Grim Reaper, or something else, some stories are best suited to uniquely qualified narrators.
And we, the reader, will benefit.
So how about you? Are there any books or story collections that are memorable to you because of their point of view?