Samantha Alviani
asked:
Can anyone distill the structure and point of view of this novel? trying to describe it to a class in more depth, and I've been describing it as multi-viewpoint chronological.
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Prodigal Summer,
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Kathy
I wouldn't say that this is about point-of-view in the standard sense. I would say that this is a novel with three parallel narratives. These narratives are linked by the themes of the novel (nature, eco-systems, mothering, life, death, etc.), but the characters are only tangentially linked and we only realise how the characters and their narratives are linked as we come towards the close of the story. I would say that our realisation of these links is deliberately delayed by the writer to illustrate how the interdependence of parts of an eco-system is not always easy to discern.
Erica Miles
Yes, it is definitely multi-viewpoint, but as for the structure, there is something more than mystical about it. The mystical is combined with the sexual. Reading this book is like being lost in a giant, hazy cloud of pollination. One is utterly overwhelmed with the power and gorgeousness of the writing. Even though it is multi-viewpoint, the characters are somehow all connected by this magic cloud of sexuality. The whole earth is bound up in it. And the characters, even those not directly interacting, are somehow neighbors. I hope that helps.
Cynda
One thing I see missing from many of the reviews is making note that is is a "green or ecological novel." The point of view may be bigger than the story lines. It may be the point of view of the Earth? Perhaps?
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