The Big Time | Techniques

The Big Time Techniques

Leiber's technique in The Big Time is unusual. The son of actor parents, himself an experienced actor, Leiber chose to set his novel up very much like a well-made play. Greta Forzane serves as first-person interior narrator, commenting on and interacting with the other characters. Various soldiers enter, are individualized largely by their use of language, and exit, stage left or right. Confined as the plot is to one room, the action is relatively limited, but the crispness and intensity of the dialogue more than make up for what might otherwise be a shortcoming. The technique seems a bit artificial, but Leiber uses it with enormous skill.