Coverdale's one-sided narrating

My thoughts on the The Blithedale Romance were that the book was a unsatisfying read. the book was solely presented from Coverdale's point of view which led to a skewed representation of each of the characters within the story. Due to the one sided narrating by Coverdale each character became a reflection of what he thought that he saw withing each character. At the same time, this one sided narrating led me to feel that Coverdale was presenting this story as an outside observer and was not truly interacting within the story. There are a couple of examples that help to show the Coverdale is telling the story from an outside view. "The idea of presenting myself before my old associates, without first ascertaining the state in which they were" and "Had it been evening, I would have stolen softly to some lighted window of the old farm-house, and peeking darkling in" (206 and 207). By him saying this he is saying that he would rather view the people he has narrated about from a distance rather than interact with them as a normal character within a story would. Another example that shows Coverdale as an outside viewer is when he is up in his hidden tree. "Even where i sat, about midway between the root and the topmost bough, my position was lofty enough to serve as an observatory" (99). Not only does this quote show him as an observer but helps to show that he has presented the other characters within the story from this point of view. I also think that this tree represents how Coverdale is/feels as a person. This tree is like his "Ivory Tower" from which he can judge all. How Coverdale judges the other characters is due to this feeling that I got that he perceived himself as better (more knowledgeable) then the other characters. Coverdale presents the story like a fly on the wall. He is there but he has no true interactions within the story and this leads to the story being told from a very one-sided and self-centered view. This one-sided skewed representation led for me not to like Coverdale as a character, but also cause for the book to be an unsatisfying read.