LogFAQs > #897074713

ParanoidObsessive posted...

What you're describing is a "translation convention", though, which is sort of a different thing.

Well, I suppose that, too. Also the general overall tendency to just have much of fantasy mirror real-world conventions that most people are familiar with. For example, most works have horses instead of some other kind of domesticated steed (bearing in mind that horses "evolved" to their current form through selective breeding during the domestication process; in theory, other commonly available animals could have filled the same role -- especially in the absence of horse ancestors -- but instead of getting a horse analog, we tend to just get a horse). Granted, I guess it's just a matter of world-building without doing a lot of actual building for the most part. (Notwithstanding that there are certain conventions readers want and expect.)

ParanoidObsessive posted...

"Common" on the other hand is more a contrivance to help the reader and to make things easier for the author by making it so that the characters can actually communicate with each other.

Which is the other half of my issue, given that historically people could kinda understand each other and that language would itself be a lot simpler -- there was less need for artifice because fewer complex ideas needed to be expressed.

Then, where it concerns communication, literacy tends to be waaaaay higher than it should be in countless works. Granted, in some cases it concerns heroes and villains -- who are meant to be exemplars (especially if they're noble-born and would therefore are more likely to have education; or, to a far lesser extent, merchants who would need some grasp for simple written records) -- but you'll often also have people of lower birth who you wouldn't expect to be able to read at all, let alone write. One offender was that kinda lousy book Dragon Weather which I mentioned (6-9 months ago?) in this topic some time ago where you had a culture with a social safety net so non-existent that beggars are rounded up to be used as slave labor yet so many of the characters had enough education to be able to read.

That said, reading and writing is tremendously practical as a means of communication so I can understand upping the literacy rate. And it's sometimes used to tremendous effect for storytelling, such as with Dracula where the novel consists mostly of compiled diary entries and letters iirc.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

The version I linked to was the TV version the BBC did in the 80s, which consisted of six episodes. I first watched it on PBS when I was like 6 or 7 - it was pretty much what got me into the series in the first place (and I still have it on VHS tape), especially the actual guide segments, which at the time looked awesome and really sci-fi-y:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuumnjJWFO4&t=2m06s

(Oh, how well some things age, and how poorly other things do)

It's easily far better than the movie, even with 1980s cheap TV effects (then again, I like 1970s Doctor Who, so I'm very forgiving). And you should be able to find most/all of the episodes on YouTube or elsewhere online if you look hard enough.

Yeah, I kinda figured that it was a series by following one suggested video to the next until I found full episodes on YT which is how I then knew part of my weekend was going to vanish in short order =p YT is generally incredible like that, other than the fact that anything you bookmark might not be there the next time you come back thanks to DMCA takedowns.

At any rate, the demonstrated effect doesn't look *that* bad. I will confess that I had forgotten about the babelfish and never drew a connection with the translation service of the same name.

And I got into the series through the books -- starting with Hitchhiker's Guide -- and, other than the awful movie, wasn't aware of any supporting material.
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