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.

[ajvenigalla]

http://www.polished-pen.com/defending-third-person/

An interesting essay I found defending 3rd-person. It's more oriented to writing, but I think it's a nice read

[ajvenigalla]

Bump.

[kiki1982]

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.

Hmm, yes, you might be right there... Maybe that statement (I think it was by a Dutch teacher sometime) was oversimplified and mainly taking into account literature from the Middle Ages onwards. Although then you face the starting lines of the Divine Comedy, for one, talking in the 1st person.

I'm not sure how the land lies in other literatures than Classic. Say the Nordic ones and Dutch. Maybe those primarily relied on omniscient narration to recite, which makes that more likely. Maybe Lokasenna could elaborate on that.

[Pompey Bum]

I don't know much about Northern European literature (definitely a job for Lokasenna), but early modern Chinese classics like Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Journey to the West seem to have more or less omniscient narrators. I'm no Sinologist, though, so maybe JBI will take mercy on us where the earlier works go.

[ennison]

God-like narrator? Ambrose Bierce. Horseman in the Sky. Wtf does Bump mean?

[Hacienda]

In the general index of posts on a forum, threads are usually ranked by latest post (stickies take precedence); a poster may 'bump' a page even though s/he has nothing particular to add at that point, in order to return that thread to prominence in ranking, and hence the probability of attracting attention and a reply. Forums have quite a few amusing terms (though I don't find bump especially amusing unto itself). My favorite is necro, which is to 'bump' a really old i.e. dead thread.

Banhammer is another one - the meaning is self-evident but some forums have elaborate traditions in shaming or mocking the now-banned poster eg. an admin changing his profile photo to something amusing. I used to frequent a history forum where banned users' profile photos were changed to a photo of Hideki Tojo - general and wartime PM of Imperial Japan - taken after his suicide. That was perhaps a little grim.

[ennison]

Stickies? In the name of Gawd I am living in a swamp full of man-eating words

[ajvenigalla]

"Bump" means I am adding a post to a thread to keep it updated. In a sense, I "bump" the thread to the front page

[Pike Bishop]

Banhammer is another one - the meaning is self-evident but some forums have elaborate traditions in shaming or mocking the now-banned poster eg. an admin changing his profile photo to something amusing. I used to frequent a history forum where banned users' profile photos were changed to a photo of Hideki Tojo - general and wartime PM of Imperial Japan - taken after his suicide. That was perhaps a little grim.

The net truly does an excellent job of showing we never really leave high school...we just--at least most of us--get money for more expensive toys.