Modern (20th-21st century) novels with 3rd-Person Omniscient Narration?

[ajvenigalla]

Ah, third-person omniscient POV/narration. How the great novels of the 19th century — The Scarlet Letter, Moby-Dick, Bleak House, The Golden Bowl, the works of Jane Austen, and others — used it, allowing lots of description and authorial voice to seep through via this method.

It seems that the only place it survives now with any real clout is in science-fiction and fantasy. Most serious fiction nowadays seems to either go with third-person limited or first-person (though I will admit that I haven't read too many modern novels, the ones I have seen tend to by and large go for either first-person or 3rd-person limited, with some exceptions). So I am looking for examples of 20th or 21st century novels that use 3rd-person omniscient narration effectively.

The ones I can think of are The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Blood Meridian, The Road, All the Light We Cannot See, the James Bond novels, Vile Bodies, and Game of Thrones.

Any others?

[Pike Bishop]

Neither The Golden Bowl nor most (if not all) of James' novels had omniscient narrators as they were lucid reflectors of their characters', usually the protagonist's consciousnesses.

[Pompey Bum]

Strictly speaking, The Road didn't have an omniscient narrator, although the perspective was multiple. But you didn't really know who the man the boy goes off with at the end was, or what he was thinking, and that was important to the story.

[ajvenigalla]

Ok. I just thought Henry James was 3rd percent omniscient based off a selection of a novel of his that I read (that novel was The American)

[Pike Bishop]

The American is one of James' earlier novels, and one of his least impressive, and Newman is a relatively simple James protagonist. So, lucid reflection isn't as much of a factor there as it is in The Portrait of a Lady or his Major Phase novels.

[ajvenigalla]

Ok, thanks, Pike Bishop

[Pike Bishop]

No problem; it's all residue from studying six months for my James exams...residue that is heavily embedded...

[Jackson Richardson]

I've read much of James, and I really, really would like to appreciate him but the penny (or cent) never drops. Yes, I've read The Golden Bowl and, twice, The Wings of a Dove and I've always thought there was a third person narrator with an over elaborate prose style.

Incidentally, Bleak House is not a good example of an omniscient narrator. Half of it is told in the first person by Esther (who has been called elsewhere on this board "the first unreliable narrator") and the third person part is all in the present tense, which does not give a straight forward impression.

[ajvenigalla]

Ok. I mentioned Bleak House because the other half is 3rd person omniscient.

[Pompey Bum]

If you want God for a narrator, try Tolstoy.

[ajvenigalla]

^ I should have thought of that. Yeah, I know Tolstoy used 3rd-person omniscient a lot.

Any other examples?

[Iain Sparrow]

Watership Down is a great example of omni, a story that could only be told as it was.
I think one of the best modern omni writers is Philip Pullman, and his Dark Materials books.

[Pike Bishop]

Most literary texts never fully, or near-fully, have omniscient narrators ,since they usually reveal personal biases compromising that omniscience. Philip K. Dick's novels, however usually include omniscient narrators, despite their ontological instability. Stephen King's fiction, which, like Tolkien's and Rowling's, is more Quality fiction than literature, also has uncomplicated 3rd person omniscient narrators.

[kiki1982]

I always heard that omniscient narration is the oldest of narration kinds. And with the development of the novel, first with the 1st person and then with the 3rd person (whether multiple or not), the use of omniscient narrators diminished, because literary stories became more about feelings and psychology than about telling a story. I personally don't think you'll find many 20th century books that have omniscient narrators, precisely because of this. You'll have a good chance with children's books.

Trollope has bouts of omniscience, particularly when he makes deconstructive remarks, but quickly slips back into 3rd person, so have Saramago and Wodehouse (I think), but they don't carry on for long.

[Pompey Bum]

Ooh! I like the new avatar, Kiki!

I always heard that omniscient narration is the oldest of narration kinds. And with the development of the novel, first with the 1st person and then with the 3rd person (whether multiple or not), the use of omniscient narrators diminished, because literary stories became more about feelings and psychology than about telling a story.

By "oldest of narration kinds," do you mean epic poetry? Most of Homer is omniscient, but that's partly a function of the many independent narratives that were incorporated into the works; although granted, an epic worldview is universal by definition (and the gods are watching the whole story anyway--especially in The Iliad). But a large section of The Odyssey is a first person account of Odysseus' exploits, and early western novels like Satyricon and The Golden *ss are first person narratives. I'm just not sure what early works you were talking about.