Write On! :: Comments :: Points of view

That's a tough issue. Robertson Davies has finessed it in a number of ways. One of my favorites among his novels, Fifth Business, is written as a series of auto-biographical letters from a schoolmaster (the main character, Dunstan Ramsey) ostensibly to his headmaster. It's a rollicking good tale, whatever the presentation. In a more recent essay, the author remarks that the critics seem to have missed his point: the headmaster Ramsey is addressing is in fact God. He's justifying his life, and the one great quasi-crime he's felt guilty about all his life.

Of course, one drawback to being too close to one of the characters is that you can't have any action in the novel not witnessed by that character. So sometimes a small ensemble of POV characters can be useful. But it's important for the reader to be able to tell immediately which character that is (some novels in fact use character names as chapter titles for this purpose).
Exploring dark places since last Thursday
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A lot of characters are willing to tell their stories, but there are some that aren't, and those are the ones that I find jarring in first person.

The main character you mention, Dunstan Ramsey, apparently has a reason to tell (or write) his story, and that's great.

Of course, one drawback to being too close to one of the characters is that you can't have any action in the novel not witnessed by that character.

True enough, but then working within limits can provoke some great stuff, sometimes better than if you have as much room as you want.
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Who needs to be big and burly when you can just apply physics?
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