# Do you prefer books written in the third or first person? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 19, 2004, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-books-written-in-the-third-or-first-person/269968 "2004-10-19T03:14:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-books-written-in-the-third-or-first-person/269968/21 "2004-10-24T01:29:49Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > I’m still looking for a book written in _second person_. I first encountered second person narrative as a first grader — and future tense, no less! A little kid’s book titled _You Will Go To The Moon_. (Hasn’t happened yet, BTW) ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-books-written-in-the-third-or-first-person/269968/22 "2004-10-24T02:54:06Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > I’m still looking for a book written in _second person_. _Bright Lights, Big City_ by Jay MacInerney (sp?) is in second person. I prefer third, for both reading and writing. That little bit of distance helps me to “see” the book more clearly. One of my all-time favorite books, though, is _Confessions of a Crap Artist_ by Philip K. Dick. That book has two first-person narrators, and two third-person narrators. Surprisingly, it never gets confusing, and it was far more effective a technique than if Dick had just written it all in third person. I once wrote a piece of flash fiction that was in second person future tense. I’ve not sent it out to possible publishers yet, because I’m really iffy about the “experimental” POV/tense. Although, really, sometimes a story just has to be in a weird POV, sometimes it just fits. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-books-written-in-the-third-or-first-person/269968/23 "2004-10-24T07:17:33Z")
All the narration in the **Spider-Girl** series is done in second person. It’s annoying as hell, and would make it unreadable if it wasn’t a comic. I really dislike present tense. I’m not entirely sure why, I guess past tense is so much more familiar. Patricia Cornwall’s **Blow Fly** lost me after a chapter or so because I found the present tense so irritating. Fortunately my gf finished it and told me I didn’t miss anything. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-books-written-in-the-third-or-first-person/269968/24 "2004-10-24T07:41:40Z")
I think it depends on the book. I used to like 1st person a lot better, but there are some books where it just wouldn’t work, because you really have to get inside several characters’ heads. And present tense is really, really annoying. I can’t even imagine a book in future tense. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-books-written-in-the-third-or-first-person/269968/25 "2004-10-24T10:05:37Z")
First person is best for detective stories, as we get the facts as the character does. Otherwise, third person. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-books-written-in-the-third-or-first-person/269968/26 "2004-10-24T14:25:45Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > First person is best for detective stories, as we get the facts as the character does. Not to mention it makes that whole “She walked into my office looking as hot as a cup of coffee from the McDonald’s drive through” type narrative possible 😉 I prefer third person, but I won’t put a book down just because it’s in first. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-books-written-in-the-third-or-first-person/269968.md?page=1)