Except in first person narratives, Poul Anderson follows the literary convention of an omniscient narrator who knows the innermost thoughts of a viewpoint character but who presents only one such character at a time. Occasionally, by using the pronoun, "we," the narrator reveals himself to be not omniscient but a contemporary of the fictional characters.
There is an older literary convention of a first person narrator who is not one of the characters but who comments on them, e.g.:
"I would not like to accuse a man in Curry's position of misreading a letter..."
-CS Lewis, That Hideous Strength IN Lewis, The Cosmic Trilogy (London, 1990), pp. 349-753 AT CHAPTER 1, p. 367.
"I am not suggesting for a moment that the Bursar of Bracton was in any way misrepresenting the position." (p. 370)
There is another good one but I am having the usual difficulty finding it. This kind of narrator is a vehicle for ironic humor. For more on Lewis' treatment of points of view, see The Ransom Trilogy.
Addendum: After much enjoyable rereading, I have found the other "good one":
"I hope the reader has not been misled into supposing that the Fellows of Bracton were a specially distinguished body."
-CHAPTER 3, p. 403.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I think "The Problem of Pain" shows us Anderson using a first narrator who is not one of the characters in the story proper but who does comment on at least one of those characters. And I'm sure I could find others, as well.
Ad astra! Sean
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