C. M. Dree asked Sally Green:

I've seen a lot of readers debate whether they liked the second person chapters or not. I found them brilliant! Am I correct to think the narrative was meant to show how Nathan was in such a bad psychological shape that he was basically dissociating from himself and his circumstances?

Sally Green Hi! Thanks for the question, Cute (if I can call you that).

I'm delighted you love 2nd person (as I do), but I'm aware that many people find it awful. It really is a marmite thing.

To answer your question simply - Yes. The narrative is meant to show exactly that and give the reader that feeling of being in bad psychological shape.

Here's a slightly fuller explanation:-

I first used 2nd person on a creative writing course (and even there I remember many would-be writers detested it). The course book* says this: 'It is a provocative device, which can meet with resistance from the reader.' (check) 'But when the method succeeds, it can involve the reader deeply in the story. It is best used for stories … about lonely, obsessive character. In that case, the 'you' seems to refer to a divided self, as if the character is so wounded or alienated that he has had to become his own confidant.' Well that pretty much sums up Nathan perfectly. And at time Nathan is coaching himself, as someone might do in tough physical trials saying to themselves 'keep going, don't stop now, you can do it…' Only Nathan is doing it all the time because his whole life has become a trial.
The course book goes on to say that 'this technique is difficult to sustain over a long narrative as it can become airless and tedious, so most writers alternate it with other points of view in long narratives.' And I used this device for part of the story but not the full novel.

I wrote HALF BAD before I had a publishing deal or an agent and whilst I hoped to gain both I didn't really believe that would happen. The great thing about that is that I felt free to push my own writing and do what I wanted and so I used 2nd person because it was appropriate and I loved it (and was aware that it was not loved by all).

I researched it a little (googled 2nd person!) and read a number of novels that use it, though there are few. There was only one novel that used it in a way that I could learn from:-
Complicity by Iain Banks. Take a look on the Amazon website where you can 'look inside' and read the opening for free and this is one part that is in 2nd person. It's a super novel - I love it. And it gave me the confidence that I was using 2nd person in the 'right' way in HALF BAD.

Another notable novel that uses second person is The Reluctant Fundamentalist - although 2nd person is used in a different way here to the way I've used it and this wasn't much help to me in my writing (though I love the book).

*Creative Writing - A Workbook with Readings Edited by Linda Anderson, published by Routledge, 2006 The Open University

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