Oh, I've seen it done well. Considering that Barry Eisler's Rain series is about a Japanese-American mercenary (who is really only American by birth and happenstance, but comes across as solidly Japanese in terms of mind/heart), Eisler does an amazing job of taking a very Japanese character and making him, and his choices, explicable. Without smacking you in the face or creating predictable contrasts to let you see where Rain is making a "Japanese" choice compared to what an American might have done.
But I think that also requires someone who really knows the culture (or character) well, to have that assured style that as the reader, you can accept that the rules won't be switched up on you while you're still learning.
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Date: 12 Jun 2011 02:35 pm (UTC)But I think that also requires someone who really knows the culture (or character) well, to have that assured style that as the reader, you can accept that the rules won't be switched up on you while you're still learning.