When you read, do you say the characters names in your head, or do you just glance at them and know who the author is talking about? I do the latter, I seldom fully enunciate (in my thoughts of course) their full names - it saves so much time! Ha ha...
Anyway, I'm reading a book that is translated from Swedish and all the names are unfamiliar, since they are Swedish, and I'm finding that it's making my reading that much more work and that much less smooth. Interesting...
And there are a lot of "B" names - so it's easy to get them mixed up. Which reminds me of when I tried to read Crime and Punishment -- there were so many long Russian names and it seemed that most of them started with "R" and I kept having to check back to see who was who...
And that is why, Marc P, I kept your book for the whole time you were on your mission and even longer (I think) without ever finishing it. How lame.
[And I do realize the trivial nature of this post - how having to actually read names takes up so much of my time]
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5 comments:
I know exactly what you mean. I just finished Anna Karenina, and the characters all had double-names - ie Alexei Alexandrovich, Stefan who is also called Stiva Oblonsky, Konstantin Levin, Dolly who is also called Daria, etc etc etc.Not to mention that half of the women are princesses, so sometimes they're just referred to as "princess". . .
That is why I loved One Thousand Years of Solitude. Everyone had the same name.
What Swedish book are you reading? I recently read "Out Stealing Horses".
Hey, speaking of books, is your book list on the side a new blog feature? I love it!!! I have the hardest time finding new books. Now I'll just wait to see what you like and steal your ideas, kind of like I do with my BFF Martha.
OMW, YES...all those Russian names in War and Peace drove me insane. I was calling them nicknames within the first fifty pages. I still can't tell you the main characters real names in that book! Happy to hear I am not the only one.
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