Philip Benz (Philip.Benz@wanadoo.fr)
Sat, 19 Jun 1999 15:29:14 +0200
Bill asks:
<< In these French novels that have been mentioned, are
slang and accents and dialects used much? >>
I can only comment on the ones I've read. Here's the spread:
1) Maigret is of course about as center-of-the-road standard
French as you can get. 2) Izzo's _Total Kheops_ is mostly
standard French in the narrative, and although there is a lot
of slang in the insults, the ethnic qualifications and the
dialog, I found it quite digestible. The language makes for a
strong element of local color, a strong flavor of Marseille,
the melting pot of France. Fills the same role as hard-boiled
slang of earlier eras, IMO. 3) San Antonio is the extreme, I
can hardly make it through a page or two without setting it
down, out of frustration, due to the heavy use of
impenetrable slang (though it's been a few years since I last
tried...) Now *that* would be a real dog to translate.
BTW, someone mentioned _Chourmo_, the second novel to feature
the hero from _Total Kheops_, Fabio Montale. Montale quit the
force at the end of Kheops, so I suspect he's beginning to
look more and more like the hard-boiled private eye all the
time.
Cheers, --- Phil Lycé¥ Astier, Aubenas, France Teaching English
with Sam Spade pages at:
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/multiverse/teaching/falcon/falchome.htm
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