I listen to the radio only when driving. Thus, I hear the BBC News and an interminable radio drama, The Archers. Today, I again heard an episode of Pilgrim. Fantasy is strange on radio. We hear dialogue and sound effects. The latter could mean almost anything.
How would Poul Anderson play in a purely auditory medium? We would not have to see any of the extra-terrestrials. We would hear Ythrians flapping their wings. A radio audience would have to be informed somehow of what Mereians etc look like. Their voices would have to sound alien. (In Narnia, the Talking Beasts should speak English but should nevertheless sound like the kinds of animals that they are: beavers; lions; mice etc.)
Poul Anderson's works can be read aloud on audio but can they be effectively dramatized in that medium? I would appreciate a multi-media approach but audio has obvious limits.
10 comments:
I've had some of my work done in 'radio-play' styles. It works reasonably well, with a mix of performance, sound-effects and reading of the narration.
Kaor, Paul and Mr. Stirling!
Paul: I'm inclined to agree, audio would not work well for the works of Anderson.
Mr. Stirling: I'm reminded of a podcast someone sent me. Using CC I could follow along and one thing I noticed is how badly most do at any kind of public speaking. Far too many "You knows," "ers," "uhs," "ums," etc. It might be a good idea to revive the Classical and Medieval focus on RHETORIC, the art of speaking well and clearly.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: That's why dialogue in fiction doesn't actually match speech patterns.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Absolutely! And I first came across that idea, more or less, in one of Dorothy Sayers' mysteries. One character complained the statements of witnesses in novels were far too polished and clear compared to the mess often made by real world eyewitnesses. He was told writers had to do it that way to advance their stories and keep them from getting boring.
Ad astra! Sean
Actual writers tend to talk 'bookishly' too, btw, from what I've observed.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Well, it takes a certain level of "edeecayshun" before a book gets written! (Smiles)
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: it's not that, or not -just- that. It's a matter of habit. I tend to talk like dialogue in a book, I'm told -- probably simply because I spend so much time thinking about that.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
And I share a little bit of that kind of phenomenon. I've been told I speak in somewhat old fangled ways, and using one or two dollar words. To say nothing of greeting people with "Kaor." Only bookish minded people who read ERB would do that!
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Sean and others!
I’m not much of a fiction writer, but I recall someone in the USPTO Toastmasters club saying that I and one other member spoke written English.
Best Regards,
Nicholas D. Rosen
Kaor, Nicholas!
And that is good! Too many simply don't SPEAK WELL.
Ad astra! Sean
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