I am very disappointed and a little bit pissed off. If I’m really enjoying the book, I won’t let it dictate whether or not I continue reading it, but I’ve noticed that the pleasure I’m taking in reading it gets taken down quite a few pegs. I am not talking about typos. I’m talking about the wrong word totally befuddling the sentence it’s in and turning the story I’m diligently following into a sour “huh?”
“The Casual Vacancy” by J.K. Rowling, copyright 2012. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book because I so enjoyed the Harry Potter series. I wasn’t a true “Potter-Head” but I was enchanted by Rowling’s style of writing, as was most of the world. And I enjoyed reading “The Casual Vacancy” too until page 338. The sentence was: “For instance, what her grandmother would have said if she had known that Parminder had been accused of loving another man’s husband, and a gora to boot, in a public forum.” No gay male couples in this scenario either. I’m sorry but I could’t help feeling offended by this. I mean, can’t J.K.Rowling afford the best editors/proofreaders on the planet? Perhaps I should just be willing to overlook such mistakes but when I get into a good book, I really immerse myself in it and I don’t like getting a slap in the face by the very author I’m devoted to that week.
No, I’m not done whining yet.
Next case in point:
“The Girl Who Saved The King Of Sweden” by Jonas Jonasson, copyright 2013. This book is by the author of the internationally bestselling sensation, “The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared”. I was loving this book too! Jonasson is a whimsical, hilarious story-telling genius and I was savoring the feeling of being tucked into bed while the author narrated the story to me in a Swedish accent. Then came page 234 and “Harry and Margareta Blomgren” morphed into “Henry and Margareta Blomgren” for just one sentence, then mysteriously went back to Harry and Margareta ever after. Do they think we won’t notice? As someone who considers reading among the greatest pleasures of this life, I take umbridge! I am much more likely to let a misprint slide if the book only marginally holds my attention or if I just want to finally know whodunnit. But you great writers of the world, we DO notice, so make sure your editors proofread twice!
Response Magic