Point of View

The novel is written in the first person, as a reflection on the state of the author's mind as he moves through a summer full of both solitude and intense interaction with friends and alcohol. He is speaking from a place of reflection on these things, and so alludes throughout to the fact that he will be going insane before the close of the story. For that reason, he is able to point out the elements of the story that contribute to that madness, or will later play a role in it. He is also able to speak with a degree of insight into the other characters in the story that would only come from reflection on their significance to the story after the fact. His perspective on them as characters from his past, and whom he has admired as thinkers, strategists on life and other...