Ooh, the omniscient narrator--very good point. You're right. (I sort of went more off on the movie tangent, but I don't want to imply that that's totally responsible for the way literature's evolved--it's probably just one of many factors.)

But yes, the omniscient narrator--perhaps part of a greater trend towards invisible style? That's probably too reductive again. Maybe people just started moving away from it. Where I work I almost always have to write in first person limited so I'm hyper aware of being limited to pov but also trying to get in description while still sounding conversational.

I feel like I can't add anything to your comment--I loved reading it. I'll probably be thinking about it tomorrow too. And also that catcher's mitt. Awesome!