Biblical Wood ...

... The Bible's Literary Merits.

David is indeed reported as seeing Bathsheba bathing and then acting to bring her into his bed. David's thinking isn't reported, but the reader is nonetheless encouraged to imagine what David is thinking. After seeing Bathsheba, David pauses and considers his next action: He sends to "inquire about the woman" and learns that she is "the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite." Only after learning those things does David carry out his act of adultery.

I am surprised that James Wood, who so much extols the virtues of realism, does not appreciate that the Biblical approach is supremely realistic. All that we know of others is what they do and say. By confining themselves to what the characters do and say the Biblical narratives are supremely realistic. All that we know from being told what Raskolnikov is thinking is that he is deceiving himself. Put together David's actions regarding Bathsheba and his deathbed request to Solomon and you don't need to know his thoughts to know that he is ruthless to a degree that rubs elbows with sociopathy. Connect that with the religious dimension and you come face to face with no easy faith.