Les noms canadiens...

[fajrdrako]

Many years ago I read a Dick Francis novel which had a French-Canadian character named Baudelaire. His first name was normal enough, and I've forgotten it; but his surname stuck in my head because it sounded so very un-Canadian to me. I've never heard of a Canadian named Baudelaire. Which doesn't mean I've heard every name there is in Francophone

Comments

[darthhellokitty]

Les noms canadiens...

I was SURE you were posting about snacks of some kind.

[fajrdrako]

Only because you clearly know me too well...

[elebridith]

Just a thought, because John Rogers just mentioned it on the Leverage blog - in a TV show, a name has to "clear", so that no real person can sue you. No idea if that goes for books too, but maybe they just wanted to avoid that - and tried too hard, if it doesn't even *sound* canadian? The Italy/France mashup could have been avoided though.

[fajrdrako]

That might have been part of the reading, though I suspect they really didn't have much of a sense of what names are generally used in Canada - that they never stopped to consider that French-Canadian names aren't necessarily the same as the names you'd find in France. Just... a different mix.

[silverwhistle]

They're both hack novelists, so I wouldn't look for authenticity with either.

[fajrdrako]

Clearly, I have unrealistically high expectations for my hacks.

(Still love your icon here.)

[silverwhistle]

(Still love your icon here.)

Yes: Brian is very good at expressing WTF? or face-palm,

[fajrdrako]

It makes me smile every time I see it. So expressive!

[mmegaera]

I was thinking perhaps cheese curds and fries or something from the subject line, but you hit me with names instead!

As a writer, I always try to make the names work for where the character comes from. I think it's a vital bit of characterization.

[fajrdrako]

I was thinking perhaps cheese curds and fries or something from the subject line

Well... I do like to think and talk about food...

But not this time.

Yes, names are important. And difficult. Makes me realize why so many people like to write fantasy, and invent their own worlds, where things are correct because they say they are correct.

And you never know what will jar someone out of a story.

[silverwhistle]

Rubbish naming is a huge turn-off for me. If I don't find the character names credible in context (geographically or culturally), or if they're too obviously allegorical or plain silly, I won't even open some books. Even in fantasy, soem writers test my patience.

[fajrdrako]

Yes, even in fantasy - in bad fantasy - there are writers who just don't get it, who don't understand that fantasy is all about words - more so even than most other fiction. That's one way to test whether a book is worth reading or not.