Character Dialects too much Characterization?

Use this forum to discuss the November 2019 Book of the month, "Deadly Waters: The Vietnam Naval War And Its Aftermath", by Randy Miller.
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Re: Character Dialects too much Characterization?

Post by LyorBoone »

Jyockel08 wrote: 24 Jan 2020, 20:20 I struggle with dialect sometimes, but I’d rather think about what they are saying, rather then be confused on whom is speaking because all the characters sound exactly the same.
I agree with you there. That's one place where movies excel. All the characters might be written similar, but a great actor can take that material and make the character breathe a life of its own. It's more difficult to do that in a book, especially if a writer pays more attention to the plot points than the characters. New dialects show characters getting the attention they deserve.
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme” - Mark Twain. Dare we say the same thing about every story that gets told in the world?
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Post by Storm+ »

Although I definitely understand and appreciate that the author worked so hard to include so many different dialects, I don't think that it was really necessary for him to change the spelling of almost every word in certain sentences when he could have accomplished the same thing by "changing" only a few words a sentence rather than most of them. Even given that most readers would be able to pick up the meanings of the words rather quickly, the fact remains that it might discourage at least some readers from wanting to read any further, especially given how much dialogue there is immediately upon starting the book.
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Caille53
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Post by Caille53 »

That was definitely my first issue with this book. Generally speaking, these accents are best left up to the readers’ minds. It was very distracting to try to figure out the individual words while reading the sentences.
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Post by Mrunal Tikekar »

I am currently reading a book where almost the entire story is written in a certain dialect, and I am having a tough time understanding most of it. I do agree that this can get overbearing at times. On a flip side, it also adds a realistic flavor. So once you get used to reading the dialect, it actually becomes an enjoyable read. Maybe it would be a good idea to add a glossary.
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Post by randy6175 »

MrunalT wrote: 25 Feb 2020, 01:23 I am currently reading a book where almost the entire story is written in a certain dialect, and I am having a tough time understanding most of it. I do agree that this can get overbearing at times. On a flip side, it also adds a realistic flavor. So once you get used to reading the dialect, it actually becomes an enjoyable read. Maybe it would be a good idea to add a glossary.
Deadly Waters has two glossaries!
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Post by Kansas City Teacher »

I liked and thought it accentuated the fact that people in the military come from all over and form new bonds. I did have to re-read some words and sound some out, though, but I enjoyed this.
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Post by Songjohn007 »

I love the book also and find it interesting. Though the effect of dialects is intentional by the author, but can still be a barrier to some reader to slowly or never comprehend.
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Post by winecellarlibrary »

I tend to struggle with dialects that are written in this manner. I remember reading The Color Purple in high school and being completely confused by the nickname "Shug" in the book. I read it as "shugg" (rhyming with "shrug"), but it was meant to be an abbreviation of "sugar." It really breaks up the flow of reading when you're trying to determine what a particular word, like "fahm," is supposed to say. I like it better when authors portray dialects without respelling and abbreviating so many words.
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Post by mentokat75 »

Admittedly, I had a hard time with the dialects, not realizing there was a whole glossary in the kindle version until the end. While I struggled and had to read and reread a couple of times, it did give me that "Lost in translation" feel like you'd get when struggling to understand someone with a heavily unfamiliar accent in person. For that reason, I gave it a pass.
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Post by Jasy95 »

I personally struggle a lot with this kind of thing! Not just in this novel, but in other books as well. When I'm reading, my goal is typically to get into the "zone" where I'm just flowing through the novel and picturing things in my mind. But with this kind of dialogue, I find it really difficult to get into that mode, since I constantly have to be stopping and rereading to make sure that I correctly understood what the dialogue is supposed to say.
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Post by markodim721 »

I like it when a writer uses different slangs and dialects, because I think that way it contributes to the authenticity of the characters in the book.
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Post by Agbata precious »

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."
Good piont. I agree with you.
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