Third-Person Limited Omniscient Narrator Blown Away By Surprise Ending.
PROVIDENCE, RI—The third-person limited omniscient voice, a narrative mode used to convey a story through the thoughts and senses of a literary character, was reportedly “caught totally off guard” after the main character was unexpectedly killed in the last chapter of the new novel Bertram’s Way.
“Holy shit, I did not see that coming. Did you see that coming?” the disembodied literary device said on page 367 following the last paragraph of the novel. “Man, right in the head!”
I realize that only geeky writers will laugh at this. But there have just been too many times when I’ve had to explain - to college-educated adults - the difference between third person point of view, passive voice, and the past tense. A satire that hinges on understanding third person limited POV - that’s just sweet.
(From The Onion.)
5 responses so far ↓
mimi // November 2, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Meg,
It isn’t necesary to be a geek or a writer - it’s just funny. Not Robin Williams funny. Chritopher Moore funny.
Writing humor « lying for a living « Web Writer // November 2, 2007 at 8:51 pm
[...] November 2, 2007 at 8:49 pm · Filed under writing Writing humor « lying for a living [...]
Patti // November 3, 2007 at 2:38 am
I laughed. A lot. Twice. However, I’m a known geek, who recently described the difference between a synecdoche (substitution of the part for the whole, e.g., “the hand that rocks the cradle”) and a metonymy (substitution of something associated with someone/something for the someone/something, e.g., “the crown”) as a chainsaw. If you have to cut it off, it’s a synecdoche.
Meg // November 3, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Patti, that sounds like the perfect blurb for a literary thriller. “At a gruesome crime scene, all that’s left is the hand that rocks the cradle. The police (and the victim) are stumped. The police are convinced metonymy is to blame…until they find a chainsaw. ‘Let metonymy go,’ the cops say. ‘It’s not him. If you have to cut it off, it’s synecdoche.’”
Patti // November 4, 2007 at 8:11 pm
Excellent! Have at it, Meg.
Leave a Comment