Ok, now I need to read House of Leaves.

The newly literate female reader is also why so many early novels are moralistic in nature. Richardson couldn't help but jump at the chance to warn women against... well, having a thought of their own.

It's also more common in older novels, so I wonder if it is a vestige of the novel working itself out as a distinct art form. Early experiments with the novel played around with ways to suggest this all really happened - epistolary novels are an example of this as is the framing of both Frankenstein and The Scarlet Letter (found this old box of papers in the attic of the custom house, you'll never believe what they said!).

Today we see new forms of storytelling emerging, and you see folks experimenting to find what works. I'm thinking about how the Lizzie Bennet Diaries mimics a blogger talking directly to the camera, while later episodes and projects begin to have the camera "accidentally" catch & post moments.

They are pretty similar.