This isn't a loaded question, or even a thinly veiled excuse
for a rant, I promise. I genuinely want, nay, need your views on this.
I'm currently reading a range of titles with a view to recommendation
in the Summer Reads pages of the July issue of Chase Magazine. Even though I
was hooked by the blurb, barely a few chapters into one novel, I discounted
it. It was sprinkled with grammatical errors. At first I'd hoped they were typos which the publisher might pick up in the next print run. But the mistakes were too
consistent; the author didn't understand the correct usage of apostrophes and capital
letters, to name but a few examples.
This isn't me being a pedant or feeling superior (I'm
constantly reaching for The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation and toss and turn at night in
fear of typos in my own writing) it's just that mistakes of this kind ruin the
reader experience for me. You see, I start to picture the writer sitting at
their desk which takes me away from the world of the characters in which I want
to be immersed. In the case of apostrophes used to denote a plural noun, I'm
looking for what the noun is 'possessing' and not what the noun is 'doing', and
it's confusing. It spoils my read.
However, regarding this particular novel, there is much to
commend the plot. The section I read made me smile and choke in equal measure
which is a good barometer of potential enjoyment. And so, after closing the
book early and stomping downstairs to the kettle, it occurred to me that I might enjoy this story if I could
get beyond the mistakes. Moreover, it may be that other readers
are perfectly able to do this, losing themselves in the story - mistakes included. Maybe by not featuring these books on my
review pages, I am depriving the readers of a novel which they might love?
My question is this: do you, as readers, manage to gloss
over a writer's errors and still stay engrossed in the story? If the answer
is yes, then I feel I need to re-address my book reviewing criteria. I'm not
saying I will say a book is wonderful if I don’t feel it is - I only
review books I enjoy, preferring to spread the love, rather than ruin the day
for a fellow writer whose work may simply not be to my taste – but I might try
to push further on into the novel before discounting it on account of sloppy
presentation. If the answer is no, then I shall continue in much the same vein
as I do now.
I'd love to know your thoughts!
