How common is the omniscient narrator these days?

[nancylebov]

From an essay about post-modernism:
One rarely sees the universal, omniscient narrator any more; one expects to ride the "novel" inside one of the character's heads.

I've noticed that getting inside the character's heads is more common-- first person is typical for urban fantasy-- but has third person omniscient actually become rare?

I don't know if there's an important difference between being inside one character's head, or in many characters' heads, as in Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire.

Link from haikujaguar.

Comments

[houseboatonstyx.livejournal.com]

Well, an example of 'first person better informed' would be Darley's first two volumes of THE AXEXANDRIA QUARTET (ie JUSTINE and BALTHAZAR). When he got more information about what had been going on, he retold the story incorporating it.

Iirc the third volume, without Darley as narrator, just a conventional third person voice, was regular omni.

At the moment I can't think of a good example of first person omni (ie all told looking back from the very end point) though I'm sure there are some.

I think it's a useful distinction, but there are a lot of points along that continuum.