novels with complicated narrative structure

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The Otter

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My current WIP has twin narratives, one taking place in the past, one in the present. The story is continually weaving back and forth between these. And the narrative taking place in the present has two different POVs.

As you can imagine, this could get confusing in a hurry.

I'm looking for examples of novels that take this sort of structure (leaping back and forth between past and present) and do it right, so I just thought I'd ask...does anyone know any?
 

ralf58

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Restless by William Boyd. One of the best novels I've read this year. The "present" story (actually set in the 1970s) is first person, narrated by a daughter who discovers her mother was a WWII spy for Britain. Her chapters alternate with the mother's chapters, which are told in third person and are set during the war.
 

aikigypsy

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I recently read Tigers in Red Weather, which has five narrators, each of whom has their own section. The time ranges from the 1940s to the late 60s.

It was a creepy family saga -- not my favorite genre -- but technically it worked quite well.
 

Olika

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Hmm. I can think of a couple--Michael Cunningham's The Hours leaps immediately to mind, although the connections between the different characters in that one are more thematic than tangible/plot related.

There's also Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex. It moves in a rather interesting way in that it's being narrated by a character in the present, so it doesn't so much jump back and forth as it does 'catch up' with the narrator. But I can't really recall whether it actually jumps back and forth that much, or just sets in on a time period, tells the story, and then moves forward from it. (It's been a while since I read it.)

Good luck! :)
 

Mutive

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I personally liked Beloved by Toni Morrison.
 

Vito

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Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey features multiple points-of-view, and jumps back and forth in time. It's quite a challenge to read, until you figure out Kesey's technique. After that, it's pretty smooth sailing.

Overall I think it's an amazing novel. Kesey's writing style is sort of William Faulkner + Thomas Wolfe + Jack Kerouac, with a large number of beautifully written passages.

You might want to check it out, if you haven't already done so...
 

Grunkins

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Iain M Banks' Use of Weapons does this effectively.

I recently read Tigers in Red Weather.

I wondered if someone ever used this as a title! This is from my favorite Wallace Stevens poem Disillusionment at Ten O'clock. The final line reads:

Only, here and there, an old sailor,
Drunk and asleep in his boots,
Catches Tigers
In red weather.
 

Lycoplax

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Restless by William Boyd. One of the best novels I've read this year. The "present" story (actually set in the 1970s) is first person, narrated by a daughter who discovers her mother was a WWII spy for Britain. Her chapters alternate with the mother's chapters, which are told in third person and are set during the war.

I'll have to look into that one, as I have a WWII past/present story of my own on the back burner. I have most of the important details figured out already, but my present-day MC is horrifically flat, and I haven't been able to pry her out of 2D yet.
 

cbenoi1

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Soul Intent by Dennis Batchelder. WW2 and present. A bit on the light side and semi-humorous. The whole premise is off the wall.

-cb
 

Coco82

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Exodus by Leon Uris weaves back & forth between the two generations. I'm not sure how the POV was done, but it might be helpful.
 

clairehennessy

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If it's clear to the reader - using italics or even section headings - immediately who's speaking and from when, then you're fine. There are plenty of books that jump around the place, but if they use specific markers (e.g. 'London, 1962') it's much easier. (Trickier to have something in-scene each time to do this bit of explaining for you...)
 

angeliz2k

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My current WIP has twin narratives, one taking place in the past, one in the present. The story is continually weaving back and forth between these. And the narrative taking place in the present has two different POVs.

As you can imagine, this could get confusing in a hurry.

I'm looking for examples of novels that take this sort of structure (leaping back and forth between past and present) and do it right, so I just thought I'd ask...does anyone know any?

I'm in a similar situation, Otter. My current WIP has a complicated structure that I'm a little unsure about. We start chapter 1 with a duel in the "present" (it's 1854) and stay in the present for three chapters. Then in chapter 4, I begin to tell about the "near past", which is the two weeks leading up to the duel. Every other chapter is in the "near past". Once the "near past" narrative thread progresses through time to the day of the duel, that thread will end and I will continue with the present. See? Confusing.

Also, there are two POV character, but the chapters are still past-present-past-present-past-present, and each chapter has only one POV.

So, what I'm trying to say is: thanks for starting this thread!
 

eyeblink

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Have a look at Christopher Priest's Fugue for a Darkening Island - four (I think) timelines, and in first person (past tense) too!

While we're using SF examples, Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed has two timelines.
 

The Otter

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It's encouraging just to know that there are so many examples of this kind of story out there. I'd wondered if maybe it was just a hopelessly confusing narrative structure, but I guess it's all a matter of how skillfully you do it.

I considered stuff like having the chapters from the past all be in italics, but somehow that feels like cheating. The "past" sections are all from the MC's childhood so I've been staring them all with something like "In third grade..." or "On her tenth birthday..." to immediately signal that it's not in the present. But I worry that that could get repetitive, too.
 

TudorRose

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THE ENGLISH PATIENT had a lot of time and POV shifts (if I recall correctly).
 

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Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell has several different short stories with different narratives at different periods of time connected by the reincarnation of the same soul.
 

Quiessa

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It's encouraging just to know that there are so many examples of this kind of story out there. I'd wondered if maybe it was just a hopelessly confusing narrative structure, but I guess it's all a matter of how skillfully you do it.

I considered stuff like having the chapters from the past all be in italics, but somehow that feels like cheating. The "past" sections are all from the MC's childhood so I've been staring them all with something like "In third grade..." or "On her tenth birthday..." to immediately signal that it's not in the present. But I worry that that could get repetitive, too.

I really dislike people using italics for alternative narratives, I find them disrupting to read and it feels as though it devalues the italicised timeline, if that makes any sense. And yes, it does feel a bit like cheating, a bit of a lazy way of dealing with the 'problem'. I think what you're doing sounds much better.

Good luck, it's a really interesting problem to deal with! :)
 

benbenberi

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THE ENGLISH PATIENT had a lot of time and POV shifts (if I recall correctly).

I was just about to say that. THE ENGLISH PATIENT has probably the most complex narrative structure with respect to time and POV shifts of any novel I've read -- but it works beautifully. It's definitely an example for a master-class in technical control of form and voice.
 

Devil Ledbetter

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English Passengers by Matthew Kneale. Multiple viewpoint characters (all first person) and several different time periods throughout.
 
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