Grammar Mistakes In Books

[Amphion]

Actually, I leaned something quite interesting about the editing process from my mom, who is a professional editor, the other day. When the publishing company sends the text to the printer, they get "blues" back, as a final check of the layout of the manuscript. They can then give it one last looking-over before the book is printed. At this point, however, every page where an error is found has to be re-set. And that costs money. So the publishers have to ask: "Is it really worth thirty dollars for that period?" And sometimes, the answer is no.  

[Bladeglory]

YoTeAmo

I remember last year, when I was reading a book, the book had errors on every page. There were spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes, and repeated sentences. When I see books that have many mistakes, it makes the book pointless to read. If the author can't go over her work after writing it, she must not have thought the book was very fascinating. If you ever write a book, please check over your work and make sure there aren't a lot of mistakes. It makes the reader focus more on the mistakes than on the book itself.

That's something I could really get ticked off at, but a mistake once in awhile is totally fine. The world is never perfect. We also need to keep in mind that there is, unfortunatly, a thing such as a deadline... When I find mistakes every so often, I just chock it up to people who don't care enough to spend every second they have to do thier job wink and the fact that producers of everything aren't given enough time to catch and fix every mistake.  

[Radio Chaos]

Recently found book errors for me.

Tuck Everlasting

Mae Tuck

Don't worry bout me none

"Don't worry about me none?" It should be "Don't worry about me at all."

Eragon

Eragon

I am running outta names to give you. Wait, I have suggested male names. So you must be a female!

Also, in the Eragon error, The was no end quotation mark (") at the end of the paragraph.  

[Gilco]

When I see an error in a book I stop and think of how many people had to read it and say "ok, this is good." Then I laugh and keep on reading. It only bothers me when I start to realize more than 1 or 2. I begin to doubt the credibility of the editing and such.  

[Palundrium]

I don't really think a grammar mistake can kill a book, but many together can certainly kill the illusion. When I read a book, I tend to lose myself in the world it creates, and continually finding little typos or grammatical errors continually knocks me out of that trance. neutral  

[Alaisiaga]

Sometimes grammar mistakes, when repeated, can kill a book. I understand artistic license in writing, especially dialogue, but sometimes, it's just too frustrating and difficult to read when someone writes an accent. If I like the book, sometimes I'll actually gloss over the mistakes as I read (which is really impressive, and a way to tell that I really am drawn into the story-- normally I edit as I go).

Case in point: The Cambridge Quintet. It's supposed to be a hypothetical meeting of the minds, including Turing and Wittgenstein. Yet the author insists on writing things like:

Wittgenstein said that "Blah blah"

(I only borrowed it, so forgive the lack of a real quotation.) This is how you write a research paper. This is not how you indicate dialogue in a book. This, and the author's complete lack of proper writing style, made it a chore to finish reading this book.  

[Cherished Strawberries]

If a book has some grammatical errors, I don't see why it's such a big deal. If you know what they mean, then it's just as good, right? So what? You're going to hate that book because you found an error? Not me. I personally find it quite satisfying to find errors that the editors missed; for some reason it makes me feel good, like I've done a service by finding that one little mistake. Although, it's sort of bad when they use slang in their books. It makes me sad.  

[Zoe green eyes]

The other day I found an error in my British Literature book. It made me laugh rather than mad though. They had put Octopuses instead of Octopi. It was just kind of funny. 4laugh  

[HolyKnightHamster]

Although grammar mistakes in books are bad in most cases, there are certain books in which the mistakes are intentional. for example "Beasts of No Nation" by Uzodinma Iweala is a great book. It's a story about a young African boy who gets pulled unwillingly into a West African civil war. The spelling and grammar mistakes, instead of disctracting the reader, draw him into the world of this poor boy as he does what he needs to survive.  

[Amphion]

Zoe green eyes

The other day I found an error in my British Literature book. It made me laugh rather than mad though. They had put Octopuses instead of Octopi. It was just kind of funny. 4laugh

That's not actually a mistake. Octopus is Greek, not Latin, so the correct plural is octopuses. Although, most dictionaries accept octopi as well, along with the rather obscure octopodes.  

[Patron with a Mission]

Doesn't it depend? I mean, in dialog, for example, wouldn't a syntax error indicate something about the character speaking? Also, couldn't it also indicate something to the theme in general sometimes? Just a thought I had...what do you all think?  

[Miradora]

(LD)Croaks

If your reading a good book that you like then why would it matter if there was a spelling mistake or a comma or period missing?

Okay, I was able to get by "your" as a typo for "you're" the first time. I'll always give the benefit of the doubt initially because I find equally egregious errors when I proofread my own drafts. However...now I have to go find the quote from one of your subsequent posts that has the same error. I'll be back to edit...

(LD)Croaks

You think your so high and mighty? ...Your all criticizing people for what you could never do!

Found it...them, actually. I wouldn't dream of calling attention to this except that this is the Grammar Guild.

On the topic of errors in published books...
I do find them distracting and truly appreciate the authors who use beautiful (sometimes archaic) language and the editors who earn their pay. There are some grammatical structures in the English language that may go the way of the dinosaurs, although I hope they don't. The first step on the slippery slope is for conditional and subjunctive verb forms to disappear from spoken conversation.

"If it was up to me"...rather than were

Improper use of subject and object pronouns is another pitfall.

It's amazing what a picky university professor can do. I had a professor in grad school who literally deducted points from your paper for EACH error, no matter how minor. His motto was Observe the Amenities. Mentally we added, "Or else!" One of my fellow students got tired of losing points and began to come to me each week to proofread her papers. She was repeatedly losing points for run-on sentences and one or two other chronic mistakes. It only took about 3 weeks for her to change her evil ways...She has a doctorate now.

So, to (LD)Croaks: In the spirit of lifelong learning. Your rants will command more respect if you Observe the Amenities.  

[Xx_Murderous Doll_xX]

I actually sometimes correct the mistake.
If it's not my book, I simply shut it...
If I can't correct it, it bothers me forever, and then I can't enjoy it.  

[bakuretsuai]

Well put, Aubrey Nicole. I cannot fathom any plausible excuse for something like that to get past (what should be) a crew of editors, the writer, the typist, ect. It used to bother me until I took something my mom said to heart.
"Baby, mediocrity is everywhere in the world right now. That's why you don't even have to do your best to be a cut above the rest. Just imagine what your best could be seen as."
Sad, yet truthful words.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing the writer. I happen to be an aspiring writer and I make a good number of typos and errors regularly. But if I'm working with an established company I would expect their editors and such to have already made certain that there was a check into that.
I see things like that in a published work and it distracts me, because I'm the kind of nut that will sit there for a minute trying to figure out why that one sentence looks so strange to me.  

[Love Shatters Windows]

Yes yes I can understand how it's frustrating and all, and also forgive me if I mispell something, but honestly, does it "ruin" the book? No. It's not the author's fault, it's the editor's. And furthermore, sometimes (though not all as you can see) mispelled words are there for a reason, as to...set the mood and time and place.
Obviously there is a flaw to that hypothosis in the case or mixing words like "you're, your, and there, their, or they're."
Honestly, it sometimes does get confusing and frustrating, but just ignore it. Like I said, it's not the author's fault so...IT'S STILL A GOOD BOOK.