What I found most difficult to grapple with in this story was, quite simply, the authenticity of the narrator's voice. While this has clearly been brought about in many of the other texts we have read, the narrator in this book provides no exception. If anything, the lack of a narrative personality and voice forces the reader to try and create one own his/her own - which leaves the text with no clear objective and readers with endless possible interpretations. I commented about this on Alana's post and, in thinking about it more, I am considerably more bothered by it than I had originally thought.
The idea that there is no personality in the narration leaves the creation of the voice in the hands of the reader. This, however, does not necessarily take away from the authenticity of the narrator; instead, it hands readers endless possibilities left in the interpretation process. Is this purposeful? And, then, does the lack of narrative personality emphasize a larger theme in the text? Or is the narrator just lacking this personality and/or the author lacking a potential drive to create a rounder voice?
I agree with you, Sarah! Either Albanov is using a bland voice to manipulate his readers in some way, or he is just a bad writer. Perhaps he does not even care that he lacks any narrative skill, and just simply wanted to get his story published so that he could be recognized that way.
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