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Discussion of the New Thing [message #49232] Sun, 15 April 2012 21:53 Go to next message
Black Bear is currently offline Black Bear
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Robin's started telling us a new story! As it appears on the blog, we'll continue posting links in Blog Post Threads--but figured we should start a thread over here in case folks want to discuss the story in more detail outside Robin's "hearing." Smile

"The time is always right to do what's right."--MLK Jr.
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Re: Discussion of the New Thing [message #49248 is a reply to message #49232 ] Mon, 16 April 2012 15:44 Go to previous messageGo to next message
shalea is currently offline shalea
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New thing!! Smile Enjoying it so far!
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Re: Discussion of the New Thing [message #49334 is a reply to message #49232 ] Mon, 23 April 2012 10:13 Go to previous messageGo to next message
serenityruler is currently offline serenityruler
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Do you think she'll continue the double story through out or it'll revert to just the narrator's story? I mean, I've seen things where the stories mirror each other in ways(I'm thinking Neverending Story for some reason), but I don't know if I'd like that. It would make the narrator seem like she just wrote about her life and made it more magical. I like writers who are creative and make up stories. You know, like the fact that Mark Twain's Roughing It is so close to Samuel Clemmons' life at that point that biographers have quoted it. (Samuel Clemmons = Mark Twain)
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Re: Discussion of the New Thing [message #49403 is a reply to message #49232 ] Fri, 27 April 2012 23:34 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Deb3y is currently offline Deb3y
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I'm having a blast with New Thing! I can't wait to see what happens next... I can relate to the vertigo of a sudden end to a relationship and the need to do something drastically different... and the terror of doing something drastically different! So many possibilities opening up as the tale goes along. I'm all ears and eyes!

Deb3
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Re: Discussion of the New Thing [message #50095 is a reply to message #49334 ] Fri, 01 June 2012 20:32 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Ithilien is currently offline Ithilien
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I suspect that there will be more double story, but that it'll mainly be the narrator's story. I think the RPG concept is fascinating, so I hope we get some more information about game master (mistress?) interventions at some point.
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Re: Discussion of the New Thing [message #50179 is a reply to message #49232 ] Thu, 07 June 2012 10:44 Go to previous messageGo to next message
sarahkay
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Maybe it's just me, or do these characters say things in a rather British way? Especially since she's a New Yorker, I'm expecting her to use a more American style of speech...even Hayley sounded British to me when she was talking. Maybe I'm imagining it because I'm hearing Robin's voice and tone so loudly in this writing. Anyway. I AM enjoying this very much, just wondering if I'm the only one seeing the British tones and word choices. Smile
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Re: Discussion of the New Thing [message #50202 is a reply to message #50179 ] Fri, 08 June 2012 18:41 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Black Bear is currently offline Black Bear
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Interesting--I'd not noticed this myself, will have to reread and think it over! Robin does occasionally use britishisms in writing, as she's lived there 20 years now, but I think she's pretty careful to check idioms etc. with friends still on this side of the pond. (FYI, if you've not heard Robin speak in person--2 decades in England has not dented her American accent even slightly, though she does say "bloke" instead of "dude" and similar word choices. Smile )

"The time is always right to do what's right."--MLK Jr.
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icon5.gif  Re: Discussion of the New Thing [message #50212 is a reply to message #49232 ] Sat, 09 June 2012 12:44 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Mockorange is currently offline Mockorange
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Hmm! I'd not noticed particular Britishims, but as I am a Brit myself, I probably wouldn't. I'm always curious how much British turns of phrase etc stand out to Americans when reading books / watching TV etc. In general, I tend not to notice Americanisms, but then a lot of our popular culture in the UK comes from the US or at least has US influences. Although a certain amount of pop culture goes the other way too, sometimes this is Americaned up (yes, I know this isn't a word) for US readers / viewers (see 'Sorcerer's Stone' etc). So, just curious how sensitised people on the other side of the pond are to language differences compared to British people.
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Re: Discussion of the New Thing [message #50213 is a reply to message #49232 ] Sat, 09 June 2012 12:53 Go to previous messageGo to next message
sarahkay
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It could definitely just be me--I'll have to go back through and try to find some of the things that stood out to me and see what the rest of you think. When I read Robin's books they don't "sound" British to me, the way Dianna Wynne Jones' books do, but when I read the blog it always "sounds" British to me, so maybe since this story is on the blog and it's a parody of herself, that's the way it's coming out...? Interesting to know that she still speaks with an American accent, though!
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Re: Discussion of the New Thing [message #50217 is a reply to message #49232 ] Sat, 09 June 2012 14:03 Go to previous messageGo to next message
serenityruler is currently offline serenityruler
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Some British phrases are just more fun. My British friends kept asking what the US equivalent to posh was, and I best I could do was snobby, but that's not it. Personally, I like posh now and I use it all the time. Which almost makes me posh by American standards... >.> Weird.

I haven't noticed anything in Kes, but she doesn't seem to have a New York accent either. Then again, Kes is a writer, and they seem to enunciate more, at least in writing.
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Re: Discussion of the New Thing [message #50220 is a reply to message #50212 ] Sat, 09 June 2012 18:32 Go to previous messageGo to next message
shalea is currently offline shalea
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Mockorange wrote on Sat, 09 June 2012 12:44

...So, just curious how sensitised people on the other side of the pond are to language differences compared to British people.


I work for a company which was until very recently British-owned and work on a team with both British and Dutch people, and so tend only to notice the most colorful language differences.
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Re: Discussion of the New Thing [message #50225 is a reply to message #50213 ] Sat, 09 June 2012 22:06 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Black Bear is currently offline Black Bear
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Something worth noting too is that Robin uses British *spellings* on the blog et al, and that can impart a "sound" when we're reading. (Also she'll use UK terms for recent tech developments--mobile instead of cell phone, etc.) so that might factor into your impressions, Sarahkay. Smile

"The time is always right to do what's right."--MLK Jr.
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Re: Discussion of the New Thing [message #50271 is a reply to message #49232 ] Mon, 11 June 2012 16:50 Go to previous messageGo to next message
sarahkay
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Too true about spellings, Black Bear! That definitely contributes to my impressions. I haven't had time to go back through all of Kes yet but in this last episode (17), the dwarf saying "Well, you'll do, I expect," sounded more British to me--I think "I guess" or "I suppose" would be a more common American saying. And earlier when he says "Oh, I'm sorry--you're the new renter, are you?" that "are you?" at the end made me think "British!" as well. But on the other hand, we don't really know where the dwarf is from yet. Also--and I'd love to hear about others' experience with this as well--the first time I remember seeing "er" in print was when I read Harry Potter for the first time. Has anyone seen this in books written by Americans? It's such a small thing, but I was curious. Smile

Anyway, not trying to be nit-picking at this at all--I love Robin's writings and I love KES and I really think the differences in speech are interesting. Serenityruler mentioned that Kes might not sound as much like a New Yorker because she's a writer, and I completely agree that writers tend to enunciate better--I was born and raised in South Carolina and now find myself in Texas and have never had even a trace of a Southern accent.
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Re: Discussion of the New Thing [message #50272 is a reply to message #50271 ] Mon, 11 June 2012 20:15 Go to previous messageGo to next message
shalea is currently offline shalea
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sarahkay wrote on Mon, 11 June 2012 16:50

...the dwarf saying "Well, you'll do, I expect," sounded more British to me--I think "I guess" or "I suppose" would be a more common American saying.


"I expect" is a fairly common rural construction. I've run across it both in the midwest (where my parents' families are from) and here in the southeast.
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Re: Discussion of the New Thing [message #50273 is a reply to message #50272 ] Mon, 11 June 2012 20:22 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Black Bear is currently offline Black Bear
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LOL! It's all Ron's fault! Which makes it my fault, at least at this early juncture... as Robin stated on the blog, a bit where I dip my oar in has finally arrived, and as you'll see when she posts her "how this works" blog entry in a few days, Ron's dialect is (at least partially) my doing. And Shalea's cottoned on to it; I'm from the midwest, and Ron's "I expect" is more in the line of "Yup, I 'spect so," at least in my mind. Smile

"The time is always right to do what's right."--MLK Jr.
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icon12.gif  Re: Discussion of the New Thing [message #50275 is a reply to message #49232 ] Mon, 11 June 2012 20:57 Go to previous message
serenityruler is currently offline serenityruler
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For some reason, I keep putting it in the Appalachians in my head, which is also south of New Jersey in my mind (geography is not my thing). A midwest dwarf is all well and good, but if this is north of NYC, shouldn't there be some thick New England accents out here in the middle of nowhere? I say north because the dwarf (Ron?) said up, which means north in a nonsensical way. I only mention all of this because I enjoy New England accents. I have a special place in my heart for Massholes from Massatwoshits.
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