Point of View

Ben Lerner tells his novel in the first-person stream of consciousness narrative from the point of view of the narrator of “10:04”, the point of view of the narrator of “The Golden Vanity”, and the point of view of himself as writer. This is done for various reasons. First, Lerner seeks to break down the wall between the worlds of reality and fiction. He does this by inserting large elements of his own real life in fiction, thereby fictionalizing reality. He also does this by including a short story narrator within the novel narrator’s story. Essentially, the three distinct narratives ultimately become one, wherein reality is nearly impossible to separate from fiction. This becomes especially challenging when Lerner inserts himself directly into the novel and begins speaking to the reader. Likewise, the stream of consciousness aspect of the narrative means that one thought, feeling, or...