Reading: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and Don Quijote

Watching: Wyoming

Moving: nope

10 September 2002: Driving

Sometime since we've been in the house I watched "How Green Was My Valley," curious about whatever movie could beat "Citizen Kane" for best picture in 1940. It was okay, but I have a hard time seeing Roddy McDowall as any character but Cornelius. Then sometime this spring Egg told me she was reading How Green Way My Valley and what a great story. Soon after that I borrowed (and have since renewed multiple times, because yes, I walked to work hardly at all this summer) the audio version from the library. I knew from the movie and again from listening how to pronounce some of the Welsh names, but not how to spell them. I know what to do with a double d in Welsh, but I never would have thought to spell the minister's name Gryffydd instead of Griffith. I've skimmed the book in shops a couple of times, looking for spellings of the names.

At some point during the vacation I remembered Harry Crewe's given first name and realized that her nickname therefore isn't random. "Oh!" I yelled, pleased with myself. Egg and I have had some fun with her pronunciation versus my spelling guesses in Valley, and her attempt at Huw's sister was along the lines of "ANGer-ad." (Huw itself is the Welsh version of Hugh, though the H seems less aspirated.) One reason Harry's name hasn't stuck with me is that I did the same thing reading Blue Sword as Egg did reading Valley, and so I promptly forgot the name as having no connection to her chosen handle. But "Harry" derives almost reasonably from the Welsh pronuncation of Angharad, AhnHHHARred, with plenty of trill to the gh and an almost rolled r. Would McKinley's own countryfolk know how to pronounce that, as overrun with Caoimhes as they are and distinguishing among "Mary," "merry," and "marry" as they do? Because this is one Usan who absolutely didn't.