I completely agree!! I'm not very well-traveled myself, so getting to hear even the accents of the east coast words like "bahn" made me giggle. Felt like I took a little weekend adventure across America.
Character Dialects too much Characterization?
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Re: Character Dialects too much Characterization?
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I am curious as to how you came up with the spellings of the altered words. Had you seen the spelling beforehand from some source or pretty much come up with them yourself?randy6175 wrote: ↑01 Dec 2019, 01:27Have to say, it was a rough decision to do the dialog in regional accents. Against all educated advice I went with it anyway. It was important to me to contrast all of the different cultures entwined in the Vietnam War in a distinctive way.AvidBibliophile wrote: ↑30 Nov 2019, 20:07 I appreciated the inclusion of the various accents, dialects, and slang terminology used; it gave an authentic coating to the raw dialogue scenes, but yes, there were moments when I had to read a sentence one or two times to get the intended gist of the spoken reply. I liked the lines of Lailani dialect: "Youa comma with me, I taka care a youa nice."
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I completely agree, and it wouldn't have been easy to do! It's hard enough to write ordinary dialogue that spellcheck will happily accept, let alone construct entire scenes of conversation that have been so incredibly individualized to certain characters. I bet Iowa and NC were both lovely locales in their own ways! I've never lived anywhere but Texas and Oklahoma, so I found these authentic dialects to be quite enjoyable indeed.ohlendorfbe wrote: ↑05 Dec 2019, 11:36 I really enjoyed the dialects as written in this book. I agree with the author that it emphasized the contrast between different characters. Being an Iowa girl, then having lived in North Carolina for 26 years, I can empathize with those who couldn't understand what was being said at times in the book; but I feel that the different dialects enrich our American experience. I'm certainly glad it was written the way it was!
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That's a great question, and one I wouldn't have thought to ask! It was nice to see the appendix of all the altered words and their translations at the very end of the book. And you know, I've never really pondered the origin of the official dictionary's phonetic spellings before... which ancestral dialect would reign supreme? But regionally-accented phonetic spellings are a whole other entity entirely!
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Let's just say I was hooked on phonics, but it was beyond difficult, and from my point of view, the best part of the book is when Zack decided to lose his accent!LyorBoone wrote: ↑03 Dec 2019, 22:31I am curious as to how you came up with the spellings of the altered words. Had you seen the spelling beforehand from some source or pretty much come up with them yourself?randy6175 wrote: ↑01 Dec 2019, 01:27Have to say, it was a rough decision to do the dialog in regional accents. Against all educated advice I went with it anyway. It was important to me to contrast all of the different cultures entwined in the Vietnam War in a distinctive way.AvidBibliophile wrote: ↑30 Nov 2019, 20:07 I appreciated the inclusion of the various accents, dialects, and slang terminology used; it gave an authentic coating to the raw dialogue scenes, but yes, there were moments when I had to read a sentence one or two times to get the intended gist of the spoken reply. I liked the lines of Lailani dialect: "Youa comma with me, I taka care a youa nice."
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Yes, indeed. If you have experienced the accents, you can tell that they are authentic. After the first hitch at sounding them out phoenetically, I found the accents improved the aura of the book. I could hear the characters, as well as picture them and their actions.randy6175 wrote: ↑01 Dec 2019, 01:27Have to say, it was a rough decision to do the dialog in regional accents. Against all educated advice I went with it anyway. It was important to me to contrast all of the different cultures entwined in the Vietnam War in a distinctive way.AvidBibliophile wrote: ↑30 Nov 2019, 20:07 I appreciated the inclusion of the various accents, dialects, and slang terminology used; it gave an authentic coating to the raw dialogue scenes, but yes, there were moments when I had to read a sentence one or two times to get the intended gist of the spoken reply. I liked the lines of Lailani dialect: "Youa comma with me, I taka care a youa nice."
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Thank you for creating this post!
That was something I have noticed about the book. I think it is rather useful than irritating. It helps to distinguish characters and adds a uniqueness to each of them. It helps to connect and to comprehend the personalities of the characters as well.
In overall, I was actually happy that an author has done this. Well done!