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whoelseccs@aol.com
Single Cell Organism
USA
4 Posts |
 Posted - 29 March 2009 : 05:41:36 AM
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I love historical novels. My son, who is 11 and a history nut, does as well. We found your series, were very excited about the detail of your research, then got 15 pages in when the book went downhill. Did you know you can write a book of high quality without being vulgar? Or is the writing borderline and you need to inject modern vulgarity to better illustrate your characters? Guess what? We would have bought every book in the series, but it is so distracting to read the same word over and over again -- hey, why not research a real Roman curse word or make one up? We're not prudes, but a great many modern books and movies, for that matter, are ruined by lightweight writers who feel they are being bold and modern and daring in their depiction of their rugged characters by injecting modern swear words. We've all been on sports teams. Many of us have been in the military. But not ALL of us feel that the only way to be a man is to swear. You are taking the easy way out intead of concentrating on character development and historical details. Lucky for us, there are several other writers who are even more adept at research and haven't stooped to peppering the narrative with modern, lowest common denominator swear words. By the way, when I previewed this message, the swear word (which I wrote) was represented in asterisks. If this is such an acceptable literary device, why is is "bleeped" out on your site?
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AndyCanty
Homosapien
United Kingdom
6782 Posts |
Posted - 29 March 2009 : 11:58:35 AM
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Welcome whoelseccs,
The subject of language is someting that we have all discussed many times, yes the language is there, but we have all drawn the comparision with modern day squadies (which in effect Macro and Cato are) and bad language is part of the vocabulary.
I dont think Simon overuses anything, and many of the swear words used come directly from the roman culture and language, (maybe you should research it before making sweeping statements, there is a excellent book about the language used in roman times. Title anyone??)
Simon could have used latin swearwords but it would not have the same impact as they would need to be translated for the average reader.
I belive you will find the language gets toned down as the series progresses, but it is still there.
As to the forum excersicing the fould language filter, that is a feature of the forum and as such usually not turned off.
regardless welcome, please feel free to partake in the other discussions here.
_____________________________________
If all the worlds a stage?
Where's my script???
http://andycanty.blogspot.com/ |
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Simon Scarrow
Ape
Uruguay
1048 Posts |
Posted - 29 March 2009 : 1:02:10 PM
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Greetings whoelseccs, and thanks for taking the time to raise the issue. Contrary to what you seem to think, it was a difficult decision to include the expletives. I wanted to write a story about Roman soldiers who felt like real soldiers. I did try to write in a more toned down fashion to start with but it felt stilted and not at all right. Then I thought that I would just write the dialogue in the argot of soldiers, as I recalled it. When I read back over the results I was shocked to see how often expletives turned up. So I edited at least 80% of them out. And I guess it still feels too excessive to you.
That's the funny thing about the printed word. The spoken word is so ephemeral that we are a lot less careful about what we say, and accept. Yet the moment you provide a word with a more concrete anchorage in the sweep of time by writing it down, it attracts far greater concentration of meaning. Which is why if you copied dialogue down verbatim and presented in print it would not feel realistic or acceptable. Now you could argue that the shift from one medium to another implies a different set of rules, and I have some sympathy with that view. I also think that in general expletives should be used sparingly, since overuse neutralises the impact and reduces the semantic load to that of any other low order adjective. In the case of my books, however, expletives are used to be true to the spirit of the men I depict.
When I began the Eagle series it struck me then, and still does, that the real light-weight writers are those who surrender the responsibility of rendering the real world accurately in writing. Instead they go for a watered down, 'safe' mishmash of euphemistic reality that is designed not to make the average reader uncomfortable. I have discussed this with some other historical writers, who you will have heard of and no doubt read some of their books, both of whom very deliberately toned down their dialogue for purely commercial reasons. That's fine, and they sell more books than I do and good luck to them. But they have compromised their writer’s integrity as far as I am concerned. And not just me. I receive plenty of mail from ex-servicemen and those still under arms who praise my books for capturing the feel of military life. Their praise is worth more to me than easy sales by giving in to the notion of the average reader.
Speaking of which, I read an interview just this morning with the guy who writes 'The Wire' and his approach to this issue is even more robust than mine. To quote: '**** the average viewer. When you want to write the truth, writing for those who know nothing else sets the bar too low.' Actually that's a lie. What he really said was 'fuck the average viewer.' Now compare those two versions. How pathetic and mealy mouthed that **** is. It is the playground sensibility of a child who has just discovered that ‘bum’ is a rude word. It is a pointless ritual of moderation that ultimately moderates nothing, and robs the moment of its full weight of expression and meaning. That is why, ‘fuck the average viewer’ is the right thing to say. It gives far more sense of the challenge the writer is setting down, far more sense of the break with the safe, dead end inertia of paranoid TV executives and their complacent audiences. Without that willingness to move things on, a willingness to confront realities, which you yourself know to exist, then TV cop shows would never have moved beyond ‘Dixon of Dock Green’ here in the UK and ‘Starsky and Hutch’ in the US.
Actually, I think it is an exciting time for TV and some fiction. Shows like BSG, The Wire and The Shield have been the best things going because they unflinchingly go for characters that feel real, and talk real (allowing that BSG’s ‘Frack’ is an unavoidable compromise, but hey, it’s better than ****). In my own small way, I have tried to do the same for the Roman legions. Cato and Macro are soldiers, not social workers, not Political Correctness Consultants and not the Salvation Army. They speak for themselves. If you are not comfortable with it, then you don’t have to read it. The safe, watered down stuff is readily available on the ‘buy one, get one free’ table. The choice is yours.
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Edited by - Simon Scarrow on 29 March 2009 1:43:32 PM |
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Simon Scarrow
Ape
Uruguay
1048 Posts |
Posted - 29 March 2009 : 1:08:59 PM
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| Alex, can we please please change the forum rules for the grown ups? |
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scarrow
Forum Admin
588 Posts |
Posted - 29 March 2009 : 1:32:59 PM
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I think the filter's changed now. Let me just test it; fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.
It filters on a prescribed word basis. Let's just try some other control words:
arse, tits, bum, ****er, ****, ****, twat.
Excellent, fucking well works fine now.
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Parmenion
Homosapien
United Kingdom
14676 Posts |
Posted - 29 March 2009 : 2:57:24 PM
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Ok first...me and the wife have just pissed ourselves laughing at this thread..
Next: well said Simon.
TheUS seems to be the worst for excessive P rubbish, but we in the UK re not imune, i frigging hate hearing about X number of people complaining about a show like the wire being to graphic and using too much expletive language, if you dont like it feck off and watch another programme, the remote has other buttons including an off one.
Whoelsccs i would have afforded your comments some respect as every one is entitled ato an opinion, but you diverted into a personal attack on simon, why lighweight was brought into it i dont know, if you dont like the word fuck, then fine dont read it, ut i bet your 11 year old gets to the playground and walks around fing , bing , cing and every other one he can tink of in front of his mates, its part of being a young boy, young man and even a grown up.
There is even a film about the word fuck, its actually a veryclever and funny film, showing just hw the word fuck is in fact the most expressive a versitile word in the english language.
oh and before you say i have avoided full expletives in the main for this post, yes i did, because i wanted to , not out of prudishness which seems to be your problem, enter the real world, teach your kid what the word means and how it can be used and whats excessive use. that would be better parenting, instead of pretending it didnt exist.
Centurion Parmenion
LASCIATE OGNE SPERANZA, VOI CH'INTRATE
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whoelseccs@aol.com
Single Cell Organism
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 30 March 2009 : 04:59:08 AM
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Simon-
Thank you for your thoughtful and lengthy response. I can appreciate where you are coming from and will advise my son to wait until he is considerably older to read your books. And you are right, if we don't like it, don't buy it. As for implying that anything less "authtentic" is on the buy one get one free table, well, I'm sure that's a typical reaction to anything that isn't written or marketed like your own books. I took a pot shot at you, so you took one at all the other guys. Touche.
As for Parmenion-
Well, not every mother's son uses poor language on the playground with his mates. I do not profess to know exactly what my son does or doesn't do out of my sight, but he is well raised enough in a family that discusses many issues at the dinner table nightly -- and he see how his father acts and speaks and treats people -- that I hope he has enough class not to sink to the lowest common demoninator to constantly use common language. I not so old that I don;t emember those days and peer pressure. Still, some of us excercised good judgment and restraint in how we conducted ourselves, even at 11. And if using every swear word in the book is what you think makes you a man, well then, I feel sorry for you. Last time I checked, it took far mor than that...
For the general readership, I will concur that the series is not for 11 year olds. But my son is still quite enthusiastic about historical novels to pursue other authors with his own money. That, I will encourage and I will also encourage him to strive to take the high road --in language, in how he treats other people and in life. |
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Parmenion
Homosapien
United Kingdom
14676 Posts |
Posted - 30 March 2009 : 09:52:07 AM
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quote:
And if using every swear word in the book is what you think makes you a man, well then, I feel sorry for you
i think you will find thast is NOT what i said, i said that quote:
its part of being a young boy, young man and even a grown up.
and if you think your child does not use these words then im sorry you are fooling yourself, generally every single person i have ever met, inc the ones who prfess to be highly religious and pious swear at some point. it happens, there is nothing wrong with it used in context, it does no0t have to be classed as the lowest common denominator, and its not common language, but it is part of our language.
To be honest it people who try to demonise it that cause a lot of the problem, and will in fact perpetuate its use far longer than if you jusdt accepted its use.
If you step back and see the context its used in rather than the word then you would have a better understanding of when its wrong and when its permissable.
Centurion Parmenion
LASCIATE OGNE SPERANZA, VOI CH'INTRATE
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Ankhsy
Homosapien
United Kingdom
7861 Posts |
Posted - 30 March 2009 : 10:38:10 AM
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Lancaster University did a study on word usage in the UK (results to be found in the paper "Social Differentiation in the use of English Vocabulary: Some Analyses of the Conversational Component of the British National Corpus" by Rayson, Leech & Hodges).
The word most characteristic of male conversational speech across ass social levels was "fucking". "fuck" was in 6th place.
Whilst I do no approve of use of that word (except when I am absolutely furious and about to kill my Other Half), to sanitise contemporary speech by its exclusion, especially in circumstances where its usage is extremely high (like in the military) does no favours to capturing the context and spirit of the times/story. As Parm says, the idea is to be able to appreciate the difference when such usage is warranted or not.
"To be clear-headed rather than confused; lucid rather than obscure; rational rather than otherwise; and to be neither more, nor less, sure of things than is justifiable by argument or evidence. That is worth trying for."
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Simon Scarrow
Ape
Uruguay
1048 Posts |
Posted - 30 March 2009 : 11:13:06 AM
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Whoelseccs, I'm delighted that you provide a good role model for your son. It is one of the ways that children learn about the right register to use for each context they find themselves in. Kids are pretty adept at behaving appropriately and not swearing in front of parents and teachers, while conducting themselves differently in their peer group context. There's no harm in that and it is a good social skill to learn. The trouble occurs when parents/responsible adults don't provide the right model of restraint and moderation and the child does not learn a range of registers/modes of behaviour, so that their use of language becomes undifferentiated. So in fact I applaud your values, just as long as you don't assume that your son will adopt them on a pars pro toto basis, since that will not make his life easy!
On the question of whether he should be allowed to read my books, I am slightly concerned by the censorious approach you seem to be taking. What transpires in a book largely stays in a book, whether that is gore, sex or swearing. The reader has a very private and personal relationship with their novels, and does not tend to use literary characters as role models in my experience. Celebrities and their ilk seem to do that job far more effectively. It's interesting to compare notes with you here since I have a 12 year old son who has been working his way through the series. I had been very unhappy about letting him read the books until he was older and once he had finished Under The Eagle, we sat down and talked about it. What was fascinating was that while he was surprised by the language (and mostly because it was penned by his kindly old dad) it quickly became a non-issue as he immersed himself in the world of the book. Having talked through his responses to computer games, films and TV and the ways that might influence his behaviour it was clear that any 'adult' material he encountered in books was well down the list of influences on his behaviour. I think it is very easy to over-react to such issues. The personal relationship a reader develops with a book is unlike other mass media experiences. It is intensely private, so that my Heathcliff will never be the same as yours. However, with more public media the experience is shared and often therefore emulated. That's where the real problem is. Anyway, from one dad to another, I wish you the very best of luck in raising your son.
On the matter of potshots, I was serious. I am constantly disappointed by the degree to which the publishing industry plays safe all the time. I am not sure if you are aware of it but my US publishers took all the series up to the Eagle in the Sand, and then stopped. The swearing, violence and so on had not been an issue, but the moment I started depicting Judaea, Jews and proto christians the publisher went into a panic. Never mind all the painstaking research I had carried out to make the tale an accurate depiction of the time. I take considerable care to get things right. By the way if you want a truly eye-watering account of Roman expletives then I recommend a book called 'The Latin Sexual Vocabulary'. There are plenty of other historical novelists who take a very very slack view over accuracy, and kowtow to the paranoia of their publishers. I mean it, and frankly I'd rather my son was reading books like mine, than the cartoon history he would get from some others. The other thing to consider is who the intended reader is. Even though I know that some quite young people are reading my books, I only write for me at the end of the day. I do not write with a view to pleasing everyone. If younger readers want to read my stuff they will find a way to it, but failing that, there is a lot of fiction out there that is written specifically for a younger audience. What we don't have at the moment is an age rating for books as we do for films. Would you want that? I'm not sure. One of the brilliant things about novels is that readers find their own level of comfort and don't have to be dictated to by others who want to define their tastes for them. So, as one dad to another, I'd ask you to think very carefully about the implications of denying your son access to reading material. If he doesn't like a book then all well and good, HE can choose not to read it.
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whoelseccs@aol.com
Single Cell Organism
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 30 March 2009 : 6:14:25 PM
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Simon-
I am actually NOT censoring his reading, and with much older siblings, he has been exposed to more sophisticated as well as more mature conversations, movies and the like (we took him to see the opening night of Pearl Harbor at 3 1/2. Not only was he not phased by the action and bloody scenes, he became obsessed with Kate Beckinsale). He is the one who felt the language in your book was too distracting. He is the one who, after finishing a school "unit" on Ancient Rome, searched and read numerous articles on the Caesars, Constantine and began watching the wonderful BBC series on the Fall of Rome online. He found companies with small Roman soldiers, and while lobbying me for weeks to order them, proceeded to construct ballistas (out of spare balsa wood left over from other projects) that fire toothpicks. I ordered a couple of sets of soldiers and he painstakingly painted them in detail I can only see with a magnifying glass. The point of my rambling is that his enthusiasm drove the train here. I simply encouraged it as has his mother (a history major) his knowledge of World War II.
I have no doubt that Turner will swear with the best of them. As you suggest, I only the hope the example set for him by his parents will have some lasting effect.
I understand and appreciate your use of modern language, including curse words, to illustrate the reality of being a soldier and the heat of battle. I did think it was funny that my son was hoping that character would die soon, as he found his language annoying.
You'll be happy to know I defended your position in a lively conversation following dinner last night. And the good news is, my wife is still speaking to me. |
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Slavkov
Dinosaur
United Kingdom
225 Posts |
Posted - 30 March 2009 : 8:44:59 PM
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Hi all isn't the word in question Saxon for push?
Also, the one situations I remember the word being used first, was when a certain hero was being surrounded by many Germans. I thought it brought the severity of the moment perfectly to life.
It's also the point where I became hooked.
Slav |
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Simon Scarrow
Ape
Uruguay
1048 Posts |
Posted - 30 March 2009 : 10:04:54 PM
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Wow whoelseccs, you are a lucky man. My sons have a degree of interest in Roman matters, after my having paid out a small fortune in books and toys. Can I borrow your boy for a day or two to get mine a little bit more motivated? Incidentally, there is a company here in the UK that is about to bring out a line of figurines depicting characters from the books. If no-one else in this house paints them up I sure will.
And many thanks for standing up for me. (Looks over shoulder) I know how perilous a lively conversation with a spouse can be. As we say in the UK, 'You're all right, mate.' |
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whoelseccs@aol.com
Single Cell Organism
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 01 April 2009 : 4:49:37 PM
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Simon-
I appreciate your kind remarks and am pleased to inform you that this discussion, on the forum, as well as in our home has resulted in my son reading your book, F words and all. He's devouring it, actually, and told me to tell you he appreciates your attention to detail. As I intend to read it after he's finished (as I did with his Alex Rider books, great fun), I better get my glasses improved. Small type.
Guess I will order the Centrian (the book that drew him to the series) after all.
If he can get past the distraction of the language (again, HIS concern, not mine), then he's likely to have a much broader selection of writing to choose from. I wonder if I'll be able to get him to tackle Follet's Pillars of the Earth?!?
As for US publisher/distributors' balking at the Judean theme, it doesn't surprise me. I had a comic srip, based in Ancient Egypt (a la Johnny Hart's B.C.) ready to launch by Tribune Media in Chicago. The deal suddenly went cold and eventually died as a result of an uneasy sales manager who felt Egypt and anything related to the arab world might be hard to sell. Go figure. |
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Crastinus
Single Cell Organism
4 Posts |
Posted - 01 April 2009 : 11:12:47 PM
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Never posted on the site before but felt the need to comment.
Have been reading Mr Scarrow's books since age of 13 (now 17), and barely noticed the use of bad language as it fitted the characters and scenes seamlessly, or perhaps I was just enjoying the books to much to notice.
Big fan, keep the books coming :D |
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Parmenion
Homosapien
United Kingdom
14676 Posts |
Posted - 02 April 2009 : 08:19:40 AM
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Welcome Crastinus, hope you stick around! its nice when new blood turns up, feel free to kick of some topics, ask questions and if you want, cause a little mayhem
Centurion Parmenion
LASCIATE OGNE SPERANZA, VOI CH'INTRATE
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DESI
Single Cell Organism
USA
39 Posts |
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DESI
Single Cell Organism
USA
39 Posts |
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Beerswimmer
Invertebrate
USA
119 Posts |
Posted - 05 April 2009 : 8:50:00 PM
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As someone who has been censored on this forum for my beliefs, I vote to move this to the Political mudslinging forum. And I wish to be able to respond!
UT ALII VIVANT!!! |
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AndyCanty
Homosapien
United Kingdom
6782 Posts |
Posted - 05 April 2009 : 9:30:09 PM
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Hey beer please feel free to pitch in. I dont belive you were censored completly, i think you just touched a nerve here with the content and apparent "glorifying" of your hunting exploits. You have to remember that a majority of this forum are Europe based, and hunting is frowned upon over here.
the US has differant views in differant states. I do not agree with hunting for the fun of it. You post and the subsequent arguments went from a lively discussiion to mudslinging on a personal level which I belive Alex stepped in and and said stop.
So please dive into the discussion, but please (and this goes to all who may wish to respond) keep it on topic nad steer clear of personal attacks or provocative comments.
We dont want to censure here and Simon ad Alex take large steps to ensure the discussions are lively and open, but they will step in if it gets person or to heated.
{Quietly puts soapbox away} 
_____________________________________
If all the worlds a stage?
Where's my script???
http://andycanty.blogspot.com/ |
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DESI
Single Cell Organism
USA
39 Posts |
Posted - 05 April 2009 : 10:20:55 PM
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Shakespeare is a lot worse when it comes to dirty.
The novel of Huckleberry Finn mentions the N word numerously.
There are many great works of literature that have 'adult' things.
Are you against them too?
Church of Satan
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Beerswimmer
Invertebrate
USA
119 Posts |
Posted - 06 April 2009 : 11:16:29 PM
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Priorites and what is normal to YOU. The books go into details about horrific injuries and bloodshed of people, yet a few dirty words are the problem. What's worse? We read about Cato and Macro doing well in battle by killing people, yet it's wrong to hear them say something.
Everyone eats sausage, but they don't want to see it made..... Priorites....everyone has them, and they are all different. But are they wrong?
UT ALII VIVANT!!! |
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AndyCanty
Homosapien
United Kingdom
6782 Posts |
Posted - 07 April 2009 : 09:00:05 AM
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Fair point Beer, we do seem to be concentrating of the language, and forgetting about severed limbs and gushing blood.
Anyone else miss this?
_____________________________________
If all the worlds a stage?
Where's my script???
http://andycanty.blogspot.com/ |
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Simon Scarrow
Ape
Uruguay
1048 Posts |
Posted - 07 April 2009 : 09:59:22 AM
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| That's true. I think this an appropriate moment to announce my new inaction series, UNDER THE CLIPBOARD, a searing drama following the lives of two courageous animal rights petition collectors on the gritty streets of Tunbridge Wells. Marvel as they they use expletives drawn from the Enid Blyton dictionary of somewhat harsh rejoinders. Sweat nervously as they encounter an undercover benefits investigator who suspects them of claiming on the sly. Goggle as they inadvertantly swat a fly on a hot summer's day and then cry along with them as they undergo post traumatic inadvertant insect extermination therapy... How can such a series fail? Tax exile, here I come! |
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AndyCanty
Homosapien
United Kingdom
6782 Posts |
Posted - 07 April 2009 : 10:14:36 AM
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LOL, thats improved my day no end, needed a good chuckle!
_____________________________________
If all the worlds a stage?
Where's my script???
http://andycanty.blogspot.com/ |
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Parmenion
Homosapien
United Kingdom
14676 Posts |
Posted - 07 April 2009 : 12:15:43 PM
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Im sure someone would find offence...just look at the village that blocked the google car from filming their lovely village for the street view google program...because it show burglars where the nice houses are....like they didnt already bloody know!!!
Centurion Parmenion
LASCIATE OGNE SPERANZA, VOI CH'INTRATE
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Carus Andiae
Small mammal
United Kingdom
722 Posts |
Posted - 19 April 2009 : 12:23:28 AM
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I am the proud owner of a slim volume entitled How to Insult, Abuse and Insinuate in Classical Latin. The Romans, as the volume demonstrates, were capable of beautifully composed and scathing put-downs. However, whilst I can just about imagine Macro coming out with "Qualis illic homunculi!" ("What weird little munchkins!" - Apuleius) or "Quid rides, Vervex?" ("What are you laughing at, Sheep's Head?" - Petronius), I'm not sure that even Cato would ever dismiss someone with "O tenebrae, lutum, sordes, o paterni generis oblite, materni vix memor!" ("Oh heart of darkness, of dirt, of degradation, forgetful of your father's fathers, with scarcely a memory of your mother's mothers!" - Cicero).
When writing about soldiers, something short, sharp and (given that your readers are probably not fluent Latin speakers) Anglo-Saxon is required to give that air of authenticity, if not necessarily complete accuracy. There are few modern swearwords - most of them are very venerable, and the Romans had their equivalents. It is no accident that the word 'vulgar' originally simply meant everyday, commonplace - as in the Vulgar Latin that our heroes would have used in contrast the the Classical Latin of poetry and formal prose.
I don't approve of gratuitous swearing in any medium, but I believe that it is justified in Simon's books.
In the meantime, I leave you with an observation by Martial which should perhaps appear at the start of all the 'Eagle' series:
"Qui gravis es nimium, potes hinc iam, lector, abire quo libet" (If you are likely to be the really pernickety type of reader, do you mind leaving now? Just head in the direction of absolutely anywhere else.")
* * * *
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxem immane mittam. |
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Titus Tullius Hibernus
Single Cell Organism
Ireland
37 Posts |
Posted - 19 May 2009 : 8:22:17 PM
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I'v read all the Eagle books and I started reading 'em when I was 13. Until then my favorite books had been the Harry Potter series so when I opened Under the Eagle I was pretty surprised but when I continued reading it I found that it did really help give guys character. This might just be me but I found that it did realy help 'caus I captain a U-16's and coach three teams from 8-14 year olds and I find that when I'm reading I just come across a paragraph that reminds me so strongly of when I'm yelling at kids I coach I just have to laugh.
Also I have learnt that when I'm coaching young kids their always the rudest little assholes, I listen to 'em and you just think "I definetly didn't swear that much when I was 8". |
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Parmenion
Homosapien
United Kingdom
14676 Posts |
Posted - 19 May 2009 : 8:42:10 PM
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me and you are going to get on just great...welcome to the forum!
Centurion Parmenion
LASCIATE OGNE SPERANZA, VOI CH'INTRATE
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Andy Crookes
Single Cell Organism
United Kingdom
3 Posts |
Posted - 26 August 2009 : 11:58:25 PM
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| As a member of HM Armed Forces the language and actions of the soldiers depicted in the books is quite accurate from a modern perspective, from the bad language down to the insults to their collegues at the slightest mis-demeanour, in fact it was one of the things that drew me to the books as it helped flesh out and add realism to a century of legionaries who are with a few exceptions nameless and faceless. Real life isn't polished, clean and politically correct however much we'd like it to be. |
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Decurion
Single Cell Organism
USA
35 Posts |
Posted - 27 August 2009 : 02:03:25 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Andy Crookes
As a member of HM Armed Forces the language and actions of the soldiers depicted in the books is quite accurate from a modern perspective, from the bad language down to the insults to their collegues at the slightest mis-demeanour, in fact it was one of the things that drew me to the books as it helped flesh out and add realism to a century of legionaries who are with a few exceptions nameless and faceless. Real life isn't polished, clean and politically correct however much we'd like it to be.
I agree with Andy. As a former US Army soldier, I can vouch for the fact, that at times, nothing substitutes for a good swear word. At one point, during Desert Storm, after 4 months in the desert, the greeting of the day in my particular Cav unit went for "good morning (Sir, or rank of individual)" to "Good fucking morning!" This extended through all ranks, and I believe I even heard our Chaplin mumble something to that effect.
It can be a hard, nasty and brutish life. More so in the times Mr. Scarrow is depicting. I for one think it adds authenticity to the whole series. The hollywood habit of years ago, depicting soldiers exclaiming "Gosh darn" when they have had appendages shot off always annoyed me.
Thank you sir, you have captured the mind of a line soldier. An attitude that goes back, I am sure, to the beginnings of armed conflict.
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Can you write a book without saying ****?
