The Sword and Laser discussion
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AO: Audible version - half way through
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I'm not that far, but someone linked a bio of the narrator, who's an actress living in New York and working with a dialect coach, so it seems reasonable.
I'm about where you are and I'm completely enchanted at this point. I find that if I read anything soon after listening, I read it with a Welsh accent.I haven't noticed her shifting unless she's using another voice for another character.
I love her rolling rrrs.
Y'all are making me wish I listened to it...I went on youtube and searched for "Welsh accent" just to get a fix, ha!
I never noticed that it changed that much listening to it, though someone in the book later comments Mori's accent had shifted.
I got to the part where she says her friends tell her that her accent is sounding more "posh." I'm now convinced it is intentional on the part of the actress doing the narrating, and I think it's positively brrrill!
I'm loving the accent. I'm only 20% in so haven't noticed any changes yet. I would not have picked up this book if I hadn't listened to the Audible sample. The accent got me in - and is keeping me in. The whole extended family history thing feels like info dump - but told with that accent it's like "I don't remember anything you just said, but I really love the way you said it."
I live in Wales and although the accent is passable, it's a bit here-one-minute-gone-the-next IMO even earlier in the book. Which is possibly why I missed the shift to a "posher" version!
And like there is no generic American accent, there is no generic welsh accent. I can tell where people come from within about 5 miles of my home town, It's THAT different to locals. So not heard it but let's hope she's nailed an Aberdare dialect .....
David wrote: "And like there is no generic American accent, there is no generic welsh accent. I can tell where people come from within about 5 miles of my home town, It's THAT different to locals. So not heard i..."I've actually heard that Americans from the Pacific Northwest where I grew up are the most "accent less" (in terms of different American accents, not universally) but of course everyone on earth usually sees other people as being the ones with accents...I know I have an American accent but there's nothing fun and unique about mine, it's kind of news anchor ish I suppose.
Regardless of how granular you get on the nature of the accent, I think it was a significant enhancement to this particular story. It gave a certain nuance to the story and made me feel closer to the character/story somehow. I also have been listening to SiriusXM Book Radio and they've been playing "The Secret Pilgrim". They have a wonderful English voice actor which greatly improves the book (having read it before and was kind-of eh about the book). Just my thoughts....
Is it my imagination, or does the accent shift dramatically after Dec 16th? Or maybe I was reading too much into the signature line she uses that day.
My question to others listening along: is the narrator shifting her accent from Welsh to English? At fist it seemed very thickly Welsh, but it seems now as if she has modified it to sound like it has been affected by the upper crust English girls the main character is boarding with (and mostly hates.) I'm not an accent expert, so maybe I'm wrong, but it does seem very cleverly done if so.
Duncan