Okay, I am obviously old and to boot, I must not have anything worth while to worry about – however this is really really bugging me, so it is time to get it off my chest.
I recently received a new novel, a friend of mine got it for me while I convalesced after my operation. I didn’t have the operation in the end (I still kept my gift though) and I started the new book at the weekend.
I reached page 20 and there was a description of the character out for a walk, what he saw in people’s windows and then the narrative was “he tried to visualise what a passer-by would learn about himself and Maureen”
My question is – what would a passerby learn about himself walking past someones house??? Obviously anyone with half a brain knows that if a passerby walks past your window they are highly unlikely to find out something about themselves (maybe at a push – fat upon window reflection, or this hat doesn’t suit me like I thought it did) so surely this piece should read “he tried to visualise what a passer-by would learn about him and Maureen” making much more grammatical sense as Him being the main character in the book and owner of said home and window and Maureen being his wife.
As I am a doddery old 33yr old, with Job, child, husband, house to run and a million and one other things to do. I have the time to write to the publishers to ask about the use of dodgy grammar. In this email to them I write out the whole paragraph, in context and, the reasons why it can’t surely be the passerby that learns something about himself, but that the passerby himself learns something about him the character (if you’re still with me at this point well done, and kudos for sticking with me) and do you know what, they only replied to me, to say that they were sending it to the editor to ask… I could not believe it!
The reply I got back though, was, yes they are referring to the passerby, they don’t think he will learn anything about the owners of the house as there are net curtains, blah, blah, blah and that all authors have their own idiosyncratic style of writing…..
aarrrgghhhh……….
I replied – My question wasn’t about that, it was around the use of incorrect English, why does he say he wonders what they would learn about himself?? He should say he wonders what they would learn about him. If you walked past my house and had a nosey in my window, I wouldn’t watch you and think, I wonder what she learnt about herself, I would wonder what you’d learnt about me!!!!!
I can’t believe how much this has bugged me but it all goes with the continual emails that I get saying “If you have any questions please come back to myself” WHAT??? or ” If there is a problem shall I speak to yourself” WTF?!?!?!?!?
If you have any questions come back to ME!!!!!!
If there is a problem shall I speak to YOU!!!!
Seriously people, English is not hard!!!
EXAMPLE :
I can do it MYSELF, I can cook it MYSELF, I will help MYSELF
You can fix it YOURSELF, You can do it YOURSELF, help YOURSELF
He can read it HIMSELF, She can reach it HERSELF, They can do it THEMSELVES….
We did it OURSELVES
You can’t say – you can come back to myself, or you can speak to myself – What?!?!?!?! How are people so stupid that they write or say this on a daily basis…..
So now I am waiting for the Editor of the publishing house, who I follow on Twitter but I don’t think they follow me, to find out a) why they didn’t read my email properly the first time round and, b) how an Editor doesn’t need an English degree or equivalent to edit a Novel? Although it would seem that the people who reviewed the book also have no grasp of the English language, so there really is no help for any of us.
Me, Myself and I however all truly hope this isn’t the case….
I apologise for any grammatical errors in my blog, I will happily take criticism, as I write I do proof read and spell check. I can confirm though that my irrational fury is increasing, not on a therapeutic decline which I had hoped this rant would achieve…..
jo4nna.com 