tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6727653.post115934250702155502..comments2023-10-27T00:42:05.512+13:00Comments on Books and Writing: Talking DialogueSherrylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04405534589743973581noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6727653.post-1159431730269147942006-09-28T20:22:00.000+12:002006-09-28T20:22:00.000+12:00Not the Elizabeth George. It's the new Barry Mait...Not the Elizabeth George. It's the new Barry Maitland, <EM>Spider Trap</EM>. (It also contains a reference to a 'grizzly corpse.')<BR/><BR/>Here's a pretty standard line of dialogue:<BR/><BR/>'The whole street's talkin' about it. They say it's a Yardie burial ground. Is dat for true?'<BR/><BR/>And here's my favourite exchange:<BR/><BR/>'Not on t'phone. Dem bwoys real bad, seen? You know dem. Is like dem cyan wait fe kill someone. I don't need fe talk to nobody, but I do need fe get money, seen?'<BR/><BR/>'Yes. I understand.'Snailhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15063904446757916981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6727653.post-1159421038943891932006-09-28T17:23:00.000+12:002006-09-28T17:23:00.000+12:00That wouldn't be the new Elizabeth George, would i...That wouldn't be the new Elizabeth George, would it?Sherrylhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04405534589743973581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6727653.post-1159418362874772632006-09-28T16:39:00.000+12:002006-09-28T16:39:00.000+12:00My two pet peeves with dialogue: info dumps and ph...My two pet peeves with dialogue: info dumps and phonetically-rendered dialect. You can skip over the first problem but the second is insidious.<BR/><BR/>I'm reading a novel at the moment in which the West Indian characters say things like 'dat' and 'dere' and 'dem'. This is a 2006 novel, not something from the 19th century. What was the author thinking? (Or the editor, for that matter.)Snailhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15063904446757916981noreply@blogger.com