How to read?

[Dri]

Excerpt from Little Lord Fauntleroy:

"If any one had told me I could be fond of a child," he said, his harsh voice low and unsteady, "I should not have believed them. I always detested children—my own more than the rest. I am fond of this one; he is fond of me" (with a bitter smile)*. "I am not popular; I never was. But he is fond of me. He never was afraid of me—he always trusted me. He would have filled my place better than I have filled it. I know that. He would have been an honor to the name."

The remark is put in parentheses, however when read those remain undetectable. I think it would somehow disturb the flow of words if it were read as it was written.

Would anyone mind if e.g. the sentence were extended to:

"He said (with a bitter smile)."?

Or would you prefer to read it exactly as is?

Regards,
Igor

[kri]

Excerpt from Little Lord Fauntleroy:

"If any one had told me I could be fond of a child," he said, his harsh voice low and unsteady, "I should not have believed them. I always detested children—my own more than the rest. I am fond of this one; he is fond of me" (with a bitter smile)*. "I am not popular; I never was. But he is fond of me. He never was afraid of me—he always trusted me. He would have filled my place better than I have filled it. I know that. He would have been an honor to the name."

The remark is put in parentheses, however when read those remain undetectable. I think it would somehow disturb the flow of words if it were read as it was written.

Would anyone mind if e.g. the sentence were extended to:

"He said (with a bitter smile)."?

Or would you prefer to read it exactly as is?

Regards,
Igor

Except for minor mistakes and transpositions of words, you really should read the text as is. If you need to, try to read "(with a bitter smile)" more narratively so it sounds a bit different from the dialogue. We've had similar questions about changing the text in the past - admittedly asking to change offensive stuff - and the answer is that we're not here to editorialize the works that we're reading.

[hugh]

i agree with kri... I think with a drop in octave and intonation you can convey that the bitter smile is a comment on the dialog, not dialog itself.

[kayray]

Yup, lower your voice a little for the parenthetical remark, and don't worry about it. It'll be fine.

[Dri]

Yup, lower your voice a little for the parenthetical remark, and don't worry about it. It'll be fine.

Thank you to all for the advice. I'll try the original.