Spy Line | Techniques

Spy Line Techniques

The first two novels of the trilogy are told in the first person by the protagonist, a quiet, unpoetic, stubborn man not given to wit, sarcasm, or colorful display. His narration is plain, staid, and straightforward. It is occasionally sprinkled with some English slang or some German words, phrases, and sometimes a sentence — usually a quotation. The third novel Spy Sinker is told mostly from the point of view of Fiona, but this technique is predominately a failure. Critic Franz G. Blaha tells us why: The previous two novels are narratives that set forth Samson's quest to find the truth and to recover his lost reputation for loyalty and integrity. However, because Fiona did not share in this quest "her perspective," asserts Blaha, "is alien to the reader" of the quest volumes. Therefore, in Blaha's eyes, her attempt to tell what she had not experienced "is not very successful."...
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