Quote:
Originally Posted by ApK
But outmoded language will send kids running and screaming to the TV faster than anything. And I can't really blame them. When they have to stop twice per paragraph to ask what some turn-of-the-19th-century idiom means, how can they get involved in the story?
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I personally find 1600 English to be annoying archaic (yes, including the bard), but everything from the late 1600's to present, except for occasional passages meant to reproduce spoken dialect, reads to me as my own present language.
I think the popularity of current fiction, as compared with nineteenth century novels, has more to do with current books mirroring today's values and interests, rather than the language.
One reason I like a lot of nineteenth century novels may be that my taste and values are a little old-fashioned. George Eliot may have been a bohemian in her day, but is just about where I am now.