What is a Light Novel? Part 3 – Laying out the Perspectives

For this little project, I went through many definitions of what a light novel is, both from Japan and from the non-Japanese world. And I have to say, as I look at my survey of the definitions, I’m reminded of the parable of the blind men and the elephant.

In short, for those who aren’t familiar with the story, an Indian king wants to teach his son a lesson, so he brings an elephant into the royal court and also brings in a group of blind men. Then as the young prince watches, the king in...