Blogger: Etta Wilson
Location: Books & Such, Nashville Office
Weather: Cool and leaves falling
Like so many others in this country (and soon to be in 29 more countries), I’m reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Since I lived in Mississippi during the time in which the book is set, I was particularly interested in the story. Although I was in a university town north of Jackson, a lot of it rings true.
But beyond the setting, plot and characters, I’m entranced by the author’s use of African American dialect and especially the large amount of rich, regional idioms. For example, on page 208, ” [her] basket ain’t got many pawpaws left in it” means the character has lost her wits. A little further down on the same page, we find the simile, “like bees buzzing on a comb.” I wonder if all readers know that’s a honeycomb, not a hair comb.
Following the oh-so-careful rules of editorial sensitivity, I’ve usually counseled authors to be careful in the land mines of idiom and simile. You have to have almost grown up hearing these expressions, have great recall, and then you have to translate them so that they don’t repel readers who have not. But using such expressions in speech and narrative can do much to delineate character.
I’m trying to mend my ways (is that an idiom?) and develop some guidelines about when to use idiom and simile. Questions that come to mind are:
- When is an author served by using idiom and dialect?
- Are they more useful in fiction or nonfiction?
- Are they more useful and acceptable in historical writing than in contemporary? Why or why not?
Let’s explore answers in the next few days. In the meantime, what books have you read rich in idiom and simile that either worked for you or repelled you from continuing with the book?
I love this post! I grew up with sayings like, “he was as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rockin’ chairs,” or better yet, when shocked or surprised, the speaker would say, “well I’ll do know,” which makes absolutely no sense at all unless your family is from Oklahoma, like mine. But to the questions at hand, I think idioms and dialect are always better when used in a work of fiction and when the location of the story has been well established. My favorite books displaying these would be Alf Wight’s series, “All Things Great and Small.” Alf, also known as James Herriot lived and worked in the English dales as a county Vet, masterfully capturing the local forms of speech. I laughed and cried through ever book he had written and actually saved a pet or two based on his stories! Marvelous!
Can’t think of specific examples right now, but I know I’ve read books where the idioms and expressions of speech, like you list here, totally made the book. They captured the person or the era and brought it closer. If the author uses them well (e.g., within context, and ones that the reader can quickly gain the sense of) then it works really well.
Linda, you make me want to read James Herriot again, and I didn’t know his name was Alf Wight! Thanks for the enlightenment.
Etta
I hadn’t heard of The Help before this post, but I hadn’t even clicked on the (more) before you’d convinced me it was a must read. Thank you!
In re: speech patterns and idioms, for my last WIP I had to learn to use southern slave dialect from the eighteenth century (or as near as anyone can, from where we now sit). It was certainly something that developed with many drafts, and I tried to keep a light touch. I found that word choice and the rhythm of speech in dialogue and narrative goes a long way on their own, then a sprinkling of colorful idiom is all that’s needed, like spice in a cake. But it comes down to knowing the characters and the linguistic influences that shaped their speech. Two slaves on the same plantation or farm might speak very differently, for any number of reasons. For example, there were instances of slaves on some southern plantations who spoke Gaelic, or English with a Scottish accent, because that’s what they grew up hearing. That was the kernel of historical fact, encountered in another author’s novel (who was kind enough to share her research with me) that inspired my last WIP.
One of the pleasant surprises I encountered in writing my first historical fiction was that I could “hear” my grandmothers talking in my head as I typed dialogue. I don’t know if it’s a Southern peculiarity, but speech patterns here are rich in idiom and simile, and were even more so a few generations back. People of that era were definitely colorful, and I found that as long as I used these devices in the context of dialogue or inner thought, there was rarely a problem.
What a fun post!
And commentary!
Thanks!! 🙂
My Dad had the very same clients it seemed as Dr. Wight (who knew?) – just different names and locations. All Creatures Great and Small was required reading in my high school, a public school in Houston. Imagine that. Required reading based on the Biblical song “All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.” How times have changed.
Though not exactly what you were meaning perhaps Mrs Etta… reading through Spurgeon’s Sermons does carry one back 125 years ago. It takes my brain a bit to wrap around his speech but the treasures there… Wow.
“First, I would bid you stand and see the place where the Lord lay with emotions of deep sorrow. Oh come, my beloved brother, thy Jesus once lay there. He was a murdered man, my soul, and thou the murderer… I slew him-this right hand struck the dagger to his heart. My deeds slew Christ. Alas! I slew my best beloved; I killed him who loved me with an everlasting love…” (from sermon XI based on Matthew 28:6)
The Secret Life of Bees comes to mind. When used well and judiciously, I think idioms/similes helps the fictional world come to life. 🙂
Great brain fodder!
Yes, All Creatures Great and Small comes to mind. I’ve read the book and my children and I have listen to the book on tape. Pat
What an interesting discussion. Like LInda Rue I can’t think of any specific examples off hand. (hmmm-idiom) Maybe The Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Wonderful Southern-ese in it.
Jean Hall
http://write2ignite.wordpress.com
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman contains similes and idioms on almost every page. It adds to the humor and voice of the story, although written for young children ready for their first chapter books. Another book rich with idiom and simile is Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. Although written for a little older reader than The Whipping Boy, the use of idiom fits perfectly with the characters and setting. I love exposing the children in my life to well-crafted stories rich with writing devices such as metaphors, similes and idioms. When I challenge them to come up with their own similes, I am often surprised–and more often entertained!
Barbara, thanks not only for mentioning two great middle-grade titles but also for reminding us of how creative children can be with language.
Etta