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Divided by a Common Language

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Jack’s guest blog post is all about communication –

This year I’m going back and forward more often than usual between Scotland and the US, so I’m more aware of the differences between US English and British English. When you factor in Scots and Scots English it gets even more ‘interesting’!

What I’ve discovered over the years is that it isn’t just about vocabulary, but also figures of speech and even cultural attitudes. Indeed, history and ‘imagined history’ feeds into the mix too.

Of course, I live in rural Appalachia which has a very particular form of American English and culture. Strangely enough a great many of the peculiarities that set Appalachian language apart can be traced directly back to Scots and Ulster Scots. Just today I had a group of ladies visiting the bookstore from Kingsport and I asked them what they would call a paper bag. As one, they responded – “a poke”- (exactly the same word my grandpa would have used).

Each year, around this time I begin to focus on my annual small group tour of Scotland, and part of that is to prepare the group for any difficulties of language and culture they may encounter. Some are fairly well known – sidewalk/pavement; pavement/road; dollar bill/pound note; no need for tipping etc., etc.

But despite my 12 years living here plus a previous 15 of annual visits I still get caught out. It was only recently I realized that few folks around here had any idea what a ‘fortnight’ was, and that taught me what it’s actually short for – fourteen nights.

What I have developed is an ability to recognize the expression on someone’s face when they have no idea what I’m talking about, but don’t want to seem rude or ignorant.

And I must admit that I usually get Wendy to check my guest blog posts, just in case I’ve slipped into Scots-English mode again.

Lang may yir lum reek – – –

Bless your heart – – –

The Monday Book: UNWIND by Neal Shusterman

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So yeah, most readers have a secret fondness for at least one area of YA fiction. Mine is dystopians and fantasy. And frankly, as far as I can tell, these days all YA fantasy IS dystopian.

I picked up UNWIND by Neal Shusterman to shelve it, from a box that came in for trade. And got intrigued with the premise on the back cover, about the last American war (The Heartland War) being fought over reproductive rights. And how now life begins at conception but from 13-18 a child can  be “unwound,” body parts farmed out for all sorts of operations for all sorts of reasons. It’s a boon to the economy and really a good deal for everyone except the Unwound Kids.

And it all goes from there. The book follows three kids, one whose parents give up on him, one a ward of the state, and one a tithe, from a family who has ten kids. Shusterman actually begins the four sections of this novel with quotes from ebay, denying someone the right to sell his soul (because if it doesn’t exist it’s fraud, and if it does exist it’s body parts, which they don’t allow), another about Ukranian orphans being organ harvested in 2003 (mass grave found outside the orphanage and shut down after outrage) and a third about Einstein and consciousness.

Shusterman’s book is intended to be more terrifying than gross. It goes for the jugular. And of course it has parts that just don’t hold up, but one really needs to enter this dystopia with a little willing suspension of disbelief, or what’s the point? And once you have, it’s a lot like reading Sheri Tepper. The exquisite sarcasm crafted so carefully in the words of those who escape Unwinding, reflecting back the odd slogans about bodies and rights, is funny. Dark, but funny.

It’s a creepy book, but well-plotted, with solid characters that don’t just serve as straw men. You know the people in this novel, which makes it all the more disturbing how some of them meet their end.

Two thumbs up (both still attached, thanks) for UNWIND.