Perspective

On a purely technical level, the main point to note about the book's perspective is that it is written from the first person point of view, mostly in the past tense. There are occasions when the narrative slips into present tense, but while such diversions serve to heighten the book's already strong sense of immediacy and intimacy, they are relatively rare. The past tense perspective, on the other hand, reinforces the book's thematic emphasis on how going home both reawakens and redefines memory. Also on a technical level, it's important to note that the author is writing from his own, limited perspective. In other words, the narrative voice is not omniscient (i.e. with total insight into the minds and feelings of other characters) but offers exploration, explanation and commentary on others based solely on what the author observed and intuits, and on himself based on what he...