Our Sides of the Stories: Favorite Books Told From Another Point of View

Our Sides of The Stories: Favorite Books Told From Alternate Points of View

By Julie Sara Porter, Bookworm

Have you ever read a book and thought to yourself, “This can’t be it; this can’t be the whole story?” Did you ever root for the antagonist more than the so-called hero? Did you ever wonder what was going through the heads of the secondary characters when this entire daring do was taking place? Well this countdown is made for you.

Call them “Postmodern Literature.” Call them “Parallel Stories.” Call them “Perspective Flip.” Call them “Really Well-Written Fan Fiction.” I just prefer to call them alternate points of view. The criteria is that the story has to be told from another character rather than the original protagonist, whether it is the antagonist or another character. There is one exception in this countdown but the protagonist is portrayed so differently that it counts. In one case, the story is told from a character that did not meet the other character in canon, but is unquestionably an inspiration. These include plays, short stories, and novels. The list is arranged in descending order to my favorite alternate point of view.

15. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard- Original tale: Hamlet by William Shakespeare- In Shakespeare’s play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Hamlet’s two money-hungry sometimes comic relief friends hired to spy on the Danish prince for his uncle/stepfather. In Stoppard’s witty and dark play, the duo took center stage as they get involved in Elsinore’s politics almost against their own will.

Stoppard’s play is full of wit and clever byplay as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern turn many of their verbal sparring into an almost tennis match. They play clever games such as when they flip a coin and count which side up, or where they engage in conversation by asking only questions. Their intelligence shows in these dialogues.

Stoppard’s Absurdist take of Hamlet turned around the idea of plays and fiction in general. The duo question their involvement in the conspiracies that surround Hamlet, wonder if they ever really knew him at all, and wonder if they are characters in someone else’s design.

14. Grendel by John Gardner-Original tale: Beowulf- This is probably one of the works that popularized the concept of alternate points of view. Instead of the Anglo-Saxon hero, Gardner’s main character is the monstrous creature that haunts Hrothgar’s castle. Instead of being a giant ogre-like beast, Grendel is furious at these humans who built their kingdom over his lands and his attacks seem almost reasonable. He thinks Beowulf is a monster. (Indeed Grendel doesn’t call him by name. He refers to him as a “brute” and a “beast”)

In Gardner’s clever almost subversive retelling, Grendel becomes almost a symbol of nature or early civilization fighting their conquerors. He is also an existentialist character deeply wondering about his own existence in a world of monsters, human and otherwise.

13.  Fagin the Jew by Will Eisner-Original tale: Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens-Like Shakespeare’s Shylock, many consider Charles Dickens’ Fagin to be a victim of Anti-Semitism. Eisner’s graphic novel took this idea and gave it a story of his own. Fagin becomes a truly tragic character as he recounts his life story to Charles Dickens himself before he is led to the gallows.

His background is moving as Fagin recounts his childhood in the Ashkenazic Jewish community of London and his separation from his family because of a pogrom. He survives the only way he can in Victorian London by becoming a pickpocket and then training younger pickpockets as he ages.

12. “The Case of the Impecunious Chevalier” by Richard Lopoff-Original works “A Study in Scarlet” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle/”Murders in the Rue Morgue” by Edgar Allan Poe-In Conan Doyle’s original Sherlock Holmes story, “A Study in Scarlet,” Watson compares his friend’s detection to Poe’s C. Auguste Dupin. Far from flattered, Holmes’ is offended. He calls Dupin a “very inferior fellow,” and ridicules Dupin’s ratiocination example of guessing his friend’s thought process as the work of a show off. In Lopoff’s interesting meeting of minds, Dupin reads Holmes’ insults and is rather offended especially since he trained Holmes in one of his earliest cases. Lopoff not only cleverly repaid the debt that Holmes and Doyle owe Dupin and Poe, but the story becomes a challenge between the two mental giants.

This short story is actually from an anthology book, My Sherlock Holmes, which tells of Holmes and Watson through other eyes such as Moriarty, Mrs. Hudson, Wiggins of the Baker Street Irregulars, various clients, Irene “The Woman” Adler, and the two Mrs. Watsons.

11. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley- Original tale: King Lear by William Shakespeare-Smiley does many of the other authors on this list one better. Instead of simply revising the story of King Lear through the eyes of his eldest daughters, Goneril and Regan, she transplanted the story to modern day. Instead of two greedy princesses fighting their senile father for control of his kingdom, the novel instead is the story of two women fighting for control of the family farm from their abusive alcoholic father.

The two protagonists, Ginny and Rose, the modern equivalent of Goneril and Regan, become strong-willed sympathetic characters trying to survive in a man’s world of farming and remembering the incest from their father when they were younger. The plot moves from their rejection of their father and their betrayal from a man who seduces both sisters to its inevitable conclusion with the two sisters’ lives ruined forever.

10. Rebecca’s Tale by Sally Beauman- Original tale: Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier-If any character on this list needed their story told more, it is certainly Rebecca De Winter, Maxim De Winter’s first wife from Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca. We learned about her from De Winter, Mrs. Danvers, and Rebecca’s cousin, Jack Favell. Heck even the second Mrs. DeWinter got a say and she never knew Rebecca in life. Beauman cleared up that oversight by providing the reader with Rebecca’s journal.

Through her own eyes, Rebecca is hardly the paragon of beauty and social grace that Mrs. Danvers, Favell, or Mrs. De Winter see or the scheming harpy in Maxim’s version. Instead she is a troubled strong-willed woman with attitudes and affections that counter her upbringing of the times. Rebecca adds to Du Maurier’s tale and Rebecca’s actions towards her marriage to Maxim and her decisions leading to their final encounter become less arbitrary and more understandable through Beauman’s writing.

9. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire-Original tale: Cinderella-The first of two Gregory Maguire novels on this list. Maguire certainly has a history of telling stories from other points of view and this one is no exception. This recounts the story of Cinderella largely from her two stepsisters, the possibly mentally disabled Ruth and the aspiring artist Iris.

The stepsisters are fascinating as they try to survive accusations of witchcraft that cause them to flee England, their eccentric domineering mother, and their beautiful agoraphobic stepsister, Clara. Iris is effective as she tries to please her mother and make her mark as an artist studying under the Dutch Masters. Ruth’s story is particularly heartbreaking as she survives to hear their story become a legend which bears little resemblance to the facts.

8. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire-Original tale: The Wonderful Wizard of OZ by L. Frank Baum-Maguire’s second book on this list is probably the most famous work on here mostly because of the well-known musical. In the equally fascinating book, Maguire tells of the Witch of the West’s (called Elphaba) ostracism from Munchkinland because of her green skin, school days at Shiz University where she meets Glinda, studies of magic, and her activism for the rights of sentient Animals.

Elphaba becomes a unique character branded wicked because of her inability to follow the status quo and rejections of the manipulations of the Wizard and Madame Morrible, her devious former schoolmistress. Her journey from naïve schoolgirl to OZ’s Public Enemy #1 is a fascinating one.

Warning: While I like this story, I did not like the sequel Son of a Witch near as much and never read the other books in the series, A Lion Among Men or Out of OZ, so I don’t have a high or much of an opinion about the rest of the OZ Quartet series.

7. The Merlin Trilogy/The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart-Original tale: The Legends of King Arthur/La Morte D’Artur by Sir Thomas Malory- If a bookstore stocked up on only the various books, movies, plays and what not about the legends of King Arthur, there would not be room for anything else. Indeed this list has two in the major countdown and two more in honorable mention. Stewart’s Arthurian books tells the legends from two characters: Merlin in the beginning and Mordred in the final book.

In the Merlin Trilogy, Merlin recounts his childhood under Aurelius Ambrosious, his training in divination, his relationship with Arthur, and his love affair with Nimue, his young protégée. The final book The Last Enchantment is particularly moving as Merlin recounts the final days of Camelot, his faltering relationships with Arthur and Nimue, and his feelings that there is no longer a place for him in a world that moves ever so closer to progress.

Mordred’s book, The Wicked Day, tells of his life with his four half-brothers and his encounters with his father/uncle, Arthur, leading up to their inevitable confrontation. Mordred tells his story not with the world-weary detachment of Merlin, but instead with bitter cynicism and sarcastic one-liners such as when he ridicules his brothers, Gawain, Gareth, and Gaheris as pretentious social climbers using their relationship to “their Uncle the High King” to their advantage. He is also rebellious towards his upbringing by his mother and stepfather as a tool of vengeance against Arthur. His tender side is shown as he grows to respect and care for the King and is reluctant to bring about his downfall.

6. “The End of Little Nell “by Robert Barnard Original tale: The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens-This is the exception to the rule in this list of telling the story from the original protagonist’s point of view. Many may know of the tragic ingénue of Dickens’ book The Old Curiosity Shop whose death caused many a reader to cry or they may sympathize with Oscar Wilde that “One must have a heart of stone to read the death of Little Nell without laughing.” Barnard’s version of the Dickens heroine would agree with Wilde’s assessment.

Instead of a Victorian too-good-to-be-true victim, Barnard’s clever story gives us a young manipulative gambling prostitute who is well on her way to achieving her ambitions of being “England’s Queen of Crime.” Nell derisively talks of the other characters in The Old Curiosity Shop such as Daniel Quip, the antagonist and ex-lover, the do-gooder hero, Kit Nubbins (“a dim spark if ever there was one.”) and others. She mocks their gullibility in how they swallow her goody-two-shoes persona. She calls Dicken’s portrayal of her “garbage by a hack writer”. However she accepts that persona as the perfect disguise so she could continue her illegal activities by faking her death to become a part of London's Underworld.

Like “The Case of the Impecunious Chevalier,” this story comes from an anthology. It comes from Dickensian Whodunits, a book of short stories in which Dickens’ characters and Dickens himself get involved with various mysteries and crimes.

5. “Toil and Trouble” by Edward D. Hoch- Original tale: Macbeth by William Shakespeare-In Shakespeare’s play, The Weird Sisters are merely a plot device to reveal the prophecies that send Macbeth on his way and portray Jacobean fears of witches. Hoch’s brief but suspenseful story gives the three sisters a backstory, individual characteristics, and a more personal involvement in Macbeth’s life. Told primarily from the point of view of Selene, the middle sister, the story recounts how the sisters studied witchcraft from their teacher, Hecate. It also tells of their relationship with each other as Persephone is the leader guiding her younger sisters, Selene is the smart one able to see things that the others do not, and Artemis is the shyest and youngest but also filled with her own importance.

The atmosphere is equally as dark and chilling as Shakespeare’s play as the sisters become involved in the bloodshed and murders around them. The story also comes to a strange, but fitting conclusion as the trio realize that they have been manipulated and refuse to take part in these events any longer.

This too comes from an anthology, Shakespearean Whodunnits. Like the Dickens book, this book involves various Shakespeare’s characters participating in solving murder mysteries often concerning events in their own plays.

4. Marley’s Ghost by Mark Hazard Osmun-Original tale: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens-Ebenezer Scrooge’s late partner, Jacob Marley takes center stage in this moving surrealistic variation of Dickens famous Christmas story. Marley recounts his childhood, his life of business, his death, and his after-life.

The early years of his childhood are moving as Osmun reveals Marley’s closeness with his twin brother, the possibly autistic, Ezra. It also shows many of the hardships faced in Regency and Victorian England as the readers are treated to scenes of coal mines, poverty, debtor’s prisons, and other institutions.

The afterlife sections are surrealistic as Marley tows his chains in a strange world where he encounters three pagan spirits which will be familiar to readers of Dickens’ original tale. The after world shows the guilt and longing for redemption inside Marley’s soul and his anguish over his separation from his long-lost brother and the miserly solitary fate of Ebenezer Scrooge, his partner and friend.

3. Medea by Euripides –Original tale: Jason and The Golden Fleece/Jason and the Argonauts- The oldest story on this list. Some have called Medea the original feminist play and I would have to agree. Medea has been characterized as a femme fatale, dark sorceress, or a sociopathic villain in various works. Euripides took a more empathetic approach to Jason’s love interest/companion.

In the days after their journey, Medea recounts how she helped Jason acquire the Golden Fleece by using clever tricks and ruses to aid his search, murdered a king, and cut herself off from her father to join the Argonauts and Jason.  After the adventure, Medea is understandably hurt when he rejects her for another woman. She wonders what was in that entire struggle for her.

Medea’s decision to kill her and Jason’s children becomes more understanding when Medea reveals that is based partly on a jealous rage to make Jason hurt, but also to protect the children from a life of exile. Medea definitely is seen as a multi-faceted fascinating character as she challenges the fate that she has been dealt with in a faithless and ungrateful lover and questions who is the real author of her and Jason’s tragedy.

2. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys-Original tale: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte-Bertha Rochester is seen in Bronte’s original book as the mad wife in the attic, Jane’s dark alter ego and an obstacle towards her happiness. Rhys gives her a complete makeover into a passionate woman challenging her marriage and suffering from her husband’s coldness to the point of madness.

Bertha, called Antoinette Cosway in this book, is a Jamaican white woman descendant of former slave masters. She suffers from the hatred of the black locals, her mother’s mental illness and preference for her mentally disabled son, Pierre, and the indifference of her emotionally abusive stepfather, Mason. She fights her circumstances by arguing, studying obeah magic under her family servant, Christophine and flirting with other men.

Antoinette’s story becomes a feminist story as she challenges the circumstances around her, particularly her arranged marriage to Rochester.

Besides being a feminist novel, Wide Sargasso Sea is also seen as an attack on colonialism. Antoinette’s fascination with Jamaica’s natural beauty and closeness to the culture contrasts with Rochester’s discomfort with the wilderness around him and desire for ownership of the people. Antoinette is truly an outsider in every sense of the word. Because she is ridiculed as “a white cockroach,” she is unwelcomed by many people in Jamaica and is considered a wild Jamaican by the English; she is unable to fit in. Much of Rochester’s mistrust of her comes from his willingness to believe accounts from others about her character. This results in his rejection of Antoinette and her subsequent madness.

1. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley-Original tale: The Legends of King Arthur/La Morte D’Artur by Sir Thomas Malory-The best alternate point of view

tells of the Arthurian legends through the eyes of its female characters primarily Morgan Le Fey and Guinevere.

The two become a study in contrasts in their narratives. Morgan Le Fey, called Morgaine,

is trained on Avalon’s community of magical women. Her aunt, Vivienne AKA The Lady of the Lake rears her to study magic, practice divination, and honor the Goddess. Guinevere is trained in a rigorous convent where she practices Christianity but fears the outside world full of sin and what she deems as black magic. Morgaine is raised to be a powerful leader and advisor to royalty. Guinevere’s only goal is to be the wife of a king and possibly the subject of someone’s courtly love poems.

The religious and feminist aspects of the two characters come to a head in their involvements with Arthur. Morgaine and Arthur become involved in a pagan ritual which alternately fascinates but then disgusts Arthur when Morgaine bears their son, Gwydion (later called Mordred). Guinevere tries to get her husband to embrace Christianity and to honor no gods but the Hebrew-Christian one. Guinevere and Morgaine also have to deal with their romantic feelings for Lancelot in the former and Accolon in the latter.

The struggles between the two are fascinating to read as the known events of the Arthurian legends become turned around. The book’s best character is Morgaine who fights the male dominance of Camelot to protect her pagan beliefs and the connections to the Goddess.

Other works worth mentioning are Andrew Lloyd Weber’s musical Jesus Christ Superstar, Finn by John Clinch, March by Geraldine Brooks, Jack Maggs by Peter Carey, The Wind Done Gone by Alice Randall,  Rhett Butler’s People by Donald MacCraig, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Gentleman Trilogy by Pamela Aiden, Captain Hook: The Adventures of a Notorious Youth by J.V. Hart, I, Iago by Nicole Galland, I Am Mordred and I Am Morgan Le Fay by Nancy Springer, The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood, Ahab’s Wife or The Star-Gazer by Sena Jeter Naslund, and Mr. Timothy by Louis Bayard.

So that’s my list. What are some of your favorite stories told from other points of view? Which long neglected or misunderstood character do you believe deserves to finally have their say? Let me know in the comments below or through Facebook.