Nov 15 2009
Mistaken
Library
Literary Cat
One of my few talents is being able to spot a misspelling or typo at twenty paces. I rarely read a book without finding at least one spelling or grammatical mistake*. I guess that makes me pretty white, but I can’t help it. Possibly it’s the aftereffects of having an utterly useless degree in linguistics**.
I might tell someone about it, especially if they happen to be nearby when I read it, but I’ve managed to resist the urge to actually write in a correction. It’s surprising how often people feel the need to write their comments or corrections in library books. That, and the horrible habit of dog-earing pages. There ought to be a fine for that.
Among the most recent crop of library books was Peter Mayle’s “A Good Year”, one of his enjoyable novels set in, of course, his beloved Provence. An exasperated reader had annotated the book as follows.
On a wine-tasting scene:
“With but 3 bottles, the wine would be swallowed, followed by water.”
Good to know.
“No, she wouldn’t care for a goddam [vigorously scribbled out] drink.”
Apparently our oenophile objects to profanity.
*I have to admit to a certain smugness when I find one in “The New Yorker”. I recently noticed that they spelled Mary Beth Peil’s name “Piel” in a review of the TV show “The Good Wife”. My Dawson’s Creek addiction finally paid off (Ms. Peil was a recurring character in the show).
**I have never had a job which had anything to do with my degree.