05/15/2005
Entry 4: Perhaps a New Edition?
I like the book No More Dead Dogs, but there is a point that made me think the book could use a new edition. In the book, the main character Wallace Wallace thinks that the book he was assigned to read was outdated in language and in situation. When the drama club puts on a play based on the outdated book, Wallace makes changes to the language in order to update the book and play. This is the same problem I see with No More Dead Dogs. While the plot and situation still is relevant, a lot of the words used in the dialogues are outdated. The following words are used in the dialogues and I think they are outdated:
"goofing off" pg. 8, perhaps use screwing around, playin'
"bamboozled" g 9, perhaps use conned
"chump" pg 85, perhaps use idiot or moron
"can it" pg 67, perhaps use shut it
These are some of the outdated words used. I have a middle schooler, and I can honestly say she has never used these words with her friends. Perhaps a reason for Korman to use these words was because they were used more during his time in middle school or because they are not as harsh, but they really do not reflect how a middle schooler talks nowadays. Maybe a look into a thesaurus would help with finding new words.
So, perhaps a new edition of this book could be done. But overall I think that No More Dead Dogs is still a good read and that middle schoolers would still enjoy it. It still appears highly recommended from middle schoolers, according to teenreads, so maybe the outdated language does not matter as much as I think.
12:09 Posted in Book Journal 1 | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this
Comments
When exactly was this book published? My group is reading "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" written in 1970 and I too have noticed some of the same language issues. I picked them up right away, but I wonder if YA readers, especially younger ones, would pick up on the language as easily.
Posted by: Becky | 05/15/2005
Becky (and anyone else who may be interested);
The copyright on this book is 2000, but Gordon Korman is in his 40s. So, I think maybe he is just using language that is familiar with him. I don't know why he chose the words he did, but even my middle school age daughter said that no one she knows uses those words. I do think that YA readers would pick up on this, but in this case, the story's is so good that they may not even mind the language.
Posted by: Anita | 05/15/2005
The comments are closed.