Man this is great. Is that true about Finnegan’s Wake going Chinese-publishing viral? If so, what confounding factors are in play, and did its appearance at no. 2 by any chance inspire this piece? Also: I’m pretty sure it is “starves on tripe.”
Fascinating! I did read a China Miéville novel (Embassytown, which is wonderful) wherein simultaneously spoken sounds (from different mouths) were rendered in a kind of fraction format (the kind with the numerator and denominator above and below a horizontal line); the audiobook, which was equally wonderful, used multitracking so that the sounds would be voiced simultaneously, which was a spooky and effective device, I thought.
As for the game, everyone I knew as a child (St. Louis, 1970s) called it Telephone.
Love this one. We called it telephone. I was always tempted to change it on purpose...like for fun. It sort of ruins it, but it makes for a good laugh (hood giraffe). Also, after a brief stint working in the McDonald's drive thru in high school, I learned that I cannot differentiate between Large Fries and Large Sprite, and almost always made the incorrect guess.
Yes, changing it on purpose is the constant temptation. That's why I added Finnegans Wake in, which does exactly that. 'Hood giraffe' would do Mr. Joyce proud (Peanuts' Good Grief, pronounced by a shy Lithuanian learning English). And you're dead on about Fries and Sprite sounding similar (I never thought about it, and only someone who worked selling it would really see it through constant repetition). The spelling is so different it masks how close they sound. Thanks so much for commenting! As always, you add to my unfinished articles.
Man this is great. Is that true about Finnegan’s Wake going Chinese-publishing viral? If so, what confounding factors are in play, and did its appearance at no. 2 by any chance inspire this piece? Also: I’m pretty sure it is “starves on tripe.”
The FW is true. I always wanted to include it somehow. Not sure what inspired this one of mine, probably talking about games to a friend. Thanks so much for your kind words and dropping a line! https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/feb/05/finnegans-wake-china-james-joyce-hit
So funny: “‘At first I felt very surprised, and I feel very surprised now still,’ says [translator] Dai.”
Fascinating! I did read a China Miéville novel (Embassytown, which is wonderful) wherein simultaneously spoken sounds (from different mouths) were rendered in a kind of fraction format (the kind with the numerator and denominator above and below a horizontal line); the audiobook, which was equally wonderful, used multitracking so that the sounds would be voiced simultaneously, which was a spooky and effective device, I thought.
As for the game, everyone I knew as a child (St. Louis, 1970s) called it Telephone.
Curious! Will check it out. Thanks for taking the time to drop a line!
Love this one. We called it telephone. I was always tempted to change it on purpose...like for fun. It sort of ruins it, but it makes for a good laugh (hood giraffe). Also, after a brief stint working in the McDonald's drive thru in high school, I learned that I cannot differentiate between Large Fries and Large Sprite, and almost always made the incorrect guess.
Yes, changing it on purpose is the constant temptation. That's why I added Finnegans Wake in, which does exactly that. 'Hood giraffe' would do Mr. Joyce proud (Peanuts' Good Grief, pronounced by a shy Lithuanian learning English). And you're dead on about Fries and Sprite sounding similar (I never thought about it, and only someone who worked selling it would really see it through constant repetition). The spelling is so different it masks how close they sound. Thanks so much for commenting! As always, you add to my unfinished articles.