POV

I'm reading another novel suggested by one of my professorial coworkers, and I find myself jumping from book, to other things, back to book. It took me a few moments to figure out why, and I'm not entirely sure yet that I've figured it out, but I have a hunch.

POV shifts mid-scene make me mental.
This is a stylistic choice. I don't think it's even on the widely accepted "list of big no-nos", but it's on mine. It just messes up the flow to go from one character's head to another. Surely the bit of world-detail presented by the switch can be saved for another time. And, if not, omni-narrator it or have someone say something aloud. Of course people think things that are only somewhat related to the present task. The mind works that way--it just reminds itself of things as it goes along, but keep those little digressions in one head at a time!

I write, often from the POV of multiple characters, but I really try to be sure I keep it to one individual per chapter or scene. Narrator 1 exits stage right; narrator 2 who watches him/her go picks up the slack. Most of the books I read also seem to function like this, leading me to believe it's sort of the "currently accepted norm" for fiction (especially genre fiction).

(An aside:
Can you imagine if writers of genre fiction couldn't stay in one POV character's head per scene? Casts in fantasy novels number in the hundreds sometimes. It would be cacophonous! The reader would get lost in the text...and not in a good way.)

I may really get into this book and wind up liking it. It was, after all, billed to me as a good thinking-woman's antidote to Stephanie Meyer and Charlaine Harris. It has a good set-up in place for the World of the Supernatural that thrives beside normal people, even a couple "that's new" explanations for things like vampires (which is madly rare these days when there's a vamp behind every velvet chaise). It's very accurately Victorian. It is certainly witty and wryly written, but these POV shifts might kill it for me.
And that, my friends, is that.

ETA: The POV shifts don't really end, but Soulless (by Gail Carriger) is a romp of a book. The characters grabbed me enough that I can forgive her little slips into other people's heads. She writes a real strong heroine, not one of these women the author is always telling you is strong, but a real, take-initiative, won't take no for an answer gal. And SMART.

The other thing this book does that's kinda nifty is make a real attempt to stay in Victorian language. It was a nice change of pace to keep that sort of tone up throughout. I don't think I can do it yet, so: nice job Ms. Carriger.
My feelings about POV have not changed, but I'm pleased to say this book really cranked it out once I got into it. I look forward to the next one in the series.