Author Lee Child switches among three personal pronouns—“I” “it” “we”—in the review he wrote for January 17, 2016 New York Times Book Review.

Since I have several past posts about Lee Child and two of his novels, I was interested to read his review of “Hunters in the Dark” by Lawrence Osborne: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/17/books/review/hunters-in-the-dark-by-lawrence-osborne.html?_r=0

Using the above link, you can judge for yourself whether his use of personal pronouns is perfectly ordinary or is consistent with the normal version of multiple personality that is common among novelists.

The first sentence of the review begins: “I read this book…”

The third sentence says: “…the pedant in me reared its caviling head…”

The first sentence of the second paragraph says: “…we can acknowledge…”

Who is “we”? Does it refer to “I” and “the pedant”? Or does “we” refer to we readers? The use of “we” toward the end of the review could easily be interpreted as referring only to we readers.

Yet, it is a rule of good writing to maintain a consistent point of view in a circumscribed piece like a single chapter in a novel or a book review. And when the book review starts from the perspective of “I,” it is a little unsettling to have it switch back and forth between “I” and “we,” plus “it” on one occasion.

If I had not read the Lee Child biography and two novels, I might not have noticed his use of pronouns in this book review. If you have not read my previous posts, you may feel I am making something out of nothing.