Please forgive my ignorance, but doubt has been lodged in my mind regarding this subject.
I went to a used book store last Saturday, looking for some books in the Amber series by Roger Zelazny.
When I entered, the two young men behind the counter asked if they could assist me. I asked where I could find books by Roger Zelazny (ZEH-LAZ-NEE).
One of the young men said "It's pronounced ZEH-LAY-NEE. The Z is silent."
"I'm pretty sure it's pronounced ZEH-LAZ-NEE", said I. A silent Z? Were they joking?
The other young man said "No, it's ZEH-LAY-NEE."
Not wanting to proceed further with the "argument", I asked them to show me where "his" books were, purchased a few, then left.
Even though I know I'm right, I still have this nagging bit of doubt burning in my mind. Will someone please douse my doubt?
Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :
My favorite series of all time. I've often had trouble with his name myself.
Posted by RMatthewWare (Member # 4831) on :
The name wasn't listed at behindthename.com (which often has pronunciations) and I couldn't find an official site for him and wikipedia didn't have a pronunciation either. Though I did learn that there is an Internet Scifi Database (isfdb.org). I thought that was kind of interesting. Maybe an imdb.com for spec fic books.
Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :
Somewhere on a Zelazny site, there's a very old interview(from the early 70's). I burned it on CD--don't know where that got off to. Neither am I sure if the interviewer mentions his name.
Posted by Avatar300 (Member # 1655) on :
quote:"It's pronounced ZEH-LAY-NEE. The Z is silent."
"And unfortunately, you're not. Now, where's my book located?"
-or-
"'Zis iz an inzult! How dare you dizparage my akzent!"
Posted by Wastrel (Member # 6532) on :
Avatar300, thank you! The fire of my doubt has been doused. Google failed me. I could not find this in all of my searches.
"And unfortunately, you're not. Now, where's my book located?"
lehollis, I laughed out loud! I wish I'd had this line at the time.
Thanks all!
Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :
LOL. Maybe they got Zelazny and Delany mixed up.
Posted by Wastrel (Member # 6532) on :
Well, I suppose I should cut them some slack.
When I was quite young, my brother had a rather large collection of Robert A. Heinlein paperbacks. The "Robert" and the "A" were printed very close together on the spine. I was 12 before I realized it was Robert A. Heinlein and not Roberta Heinlein. :P
Posted by HuntGod (Member # 2259) on :
Well I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. ZelaZny back in 1991 and he did not correct me when I said "It is a genuine honor and pleasure to meet you Mr. Zelazny!".
I also knew Eric Wujcik who wrote the Amber RPG, which is how I met Zelazny and he used a hard Z though he called him Roger.
I think the guy at the bookstore had been sniffing too much newsprint.
Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :
Wow! I am very envious.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
I was out of my teens before I ran across anyone outside published works who spelled "Asimov" the way Asimov did. Usually it came out "Asiminov" or "Eismenov" or somesuch. And some of these people were teachers.
My spell checking keeps telling me my own name is spelled wrong. Who am I going to believe, me or the computer?