As a writer, I really struggle with first person narrative when it comes to long pieces. It allows the writer to get into the protagonists head immediately, and can be a great tool in short stories, but developing a particularly captivating voice over the course of a novel is a painful, complex process.
Marvel at some of the best, craziest, most unique narrative voices in fiction to date.
10. Holden Caulfield, “The Catcher in the Rye” by JD Salinger
Catcher is a polarizing read, and Holden is the most polarizing element of the book. While his antics can become tiresome, his inner-dialog repetitive and his cynicism pretty far off base (at times, anyway), there is hardly another novel with such an intimate narrative. Holden tells the story from a psychiatric ward, and there is very much a wall between the events of the book and the reader–a wall named Holden Caulfield. Catcher is not a book, but a conversation, and Holden is one of the most dynamic conversationalists you’ll come across.
Stahr Magazine 