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| quasar |
Original Post: Mar 05 '09, 2:20 pm |
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Reviews written: 2103 Member since: Jan 16, 2000
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How picky are you?
I'm about a quarter of the way through a science fiction book I've been enjoying immensely when the following partial line of dialogue completely threw me out of the story:
"Titan, one of the moons of Jupiter"
Mind you, this is a throwaway line for background that's part of a list of locations in the solar system. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the main story. It could just as easily been "Phobos, one of the moons of Mars" or "Triton, one of the moons of Neptune" or any other such combination.
I still stopped reading dead and, almost 20 minutes later, still haven't been able to go back to the book. How picky are you about mistakes like this in fiction? Can you shake off one mistake or do you demand perfection? Does genre matter? Does it matter whether it's a central piece of the story or a throwaway detail? |
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| pestyside |
Posted: Mar 05 '09, 4:30 pm |
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Reviews written: 1868 Member since: Jul 19, 2005
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RE: How picky are you?
Reading fiction with identifiable geography that is supposed to be recognizable and part of the story is fun for me until the details are suddenly totally incorrect. It might be the climate, it might be the names of streets or the geology, but I stop and drop the book. I know authors change these names but when everything else seems to be right on target and they drop the ball with incorrect geography, like you, I lose interest.
Patsy |
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| scmrak |
Posted: Mar 06 '09, 8:07 am (Updated: Mar 06 '09, 8:09 am) |
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Reviews written: 1860 Member since: Sep 27, 2000
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RE: How picky are you?
Quote: quasar How picky are you about mistakes like this in fiction? Can you shake off one mistake or do you demand perfection? Does genre matter? Does it matter whether it's a central piece of the story or a throwaway detail? It usually bothers me to come across factual errors, but if it's a throwaway detail like you've mentioned, assigning Titan to the wrong planet in a list of "filler," it doesn't much bother me (I mean, really: I had to think for a minute to figure out what your concern with the statement is). I am, however, the person who once raked an author over the coals for putting Kansas City on the confluence of the Missouri and the Mississippi - but the rest of the book was just as bad...
If the factual errors are essential to the plot, it bothers the heck out of me. As a geologist in the petroleum industry, it really bugs me to see plots involving oil companies pretending to drill in one spot but really drilling somewhere else (always a protected spot) or drilling a well without anyone knowing it's there; and I can give you the names of three books with that plot off the top of my head. Never mind that (in this country, at least) it's impossible to do that... I'll usually finish these books, however.
If deliberate factual errors are the whole point of a book - think Michael Crichton's State of Fear - I'll put it down and not come back.
-30-
rex |
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| jenniferkateab |
Posted: Mar 07 '09, 3:44 am (Updated: Mar 07 '09, 4:01 am) |
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Reviews written: 390 Member since: Oct 22, 2007
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RE: How picky are you?
Those kinds of errors annoy me too, and may cause me to abandon the book. I read a novel about a Jewish protagonist where there were lots of misrepresentations about the Jewish religion, incorrect prayers for example, and other blunders that the author should have fact-checked before publishing. That really drives me nuts ~ when the author is trying to be authentic about a particular language, culture or religion, and misses on something very basic.
Makes me want to be an editor, sometimes... |
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| pestyside |
Posted: Mar 10 '09, 11:48 am |
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Reviews written: 1868 Member since: Jul 19, 2005
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RE: How picky are you?
Not long ago I read a kid's book that kept referring to the number of river habitats included in the book. It was all about river habitats. The cover, the promotional material, the teacher use instructions, etc. but after reading through the book I realized the count was off by two. I even contacted the editor to ask what was left out? However, being an editor is not a job for this writer -- some authors really don't accept criticism. I probably won't read that author again.
picky patsy |
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