Saturday, December 16, 2006

PURELY PEDANTIC

I may be wrong but with some reviews I get the impression that they are written from the publisher's notes and blurbs, and rushed out at the last minute.

Wash This Blood Clean from My Hand by Fred Vargas was reviewed in todays Daily Telegraph [Saturday 16th December] and I quote:

"is a bit of a departure in that it is set in Canada"

The book starts and ends with Adamsberg in France, only about half of the story is set in Quebec.

"Adamsberg has to deal with that old chestnut of being accused of the murders"

Adamsberg is a suspect in only one murder that occurs in Quebec. Most of the book concerns a series of murders in France, which Adamsberg suspects were perpetrated by the same man.

Pedantic the definition: "overly concerned with minute details or formalisms, esp. in teaching." That's me.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

From one pedant to another, Mr Crimescraps: I agree with you. Sometimes it's just so obvious given the information imparted about a book/novel. Other clues are the frequency of the reviews and the number of people credited with providing them. Too frequent + too few = much less than a review.

Having read the Vargas (I'll be posting my thoughts nearer the publication date), those comments are actually slightly misleading in summarising the plot.

By the way, I can't help but notice that you've missed a couple of apostrophes there and the middle "t" in chestnut. But I did say from one pedant to another, didn't I Norm? ;-)

12:59 PM  
Blogger Uriah Robinson said...

Thanks Rhian.
I got a bit hot under the collar about the misleading review, and forgot my p's and q's. Or should that be ps and qs? Or ps' and qs'?

Norm [Failed pedant]

1:25 PM  
Blogger Karen (Euro Crime) said...

Just started it, still in France at a 1/4 way through...

1:54 PM  
Blogger Uriah Robinson said...

"it is set in Canada"

Thanks Karen, I am pleased my memory was not at fault.

7:19 AM  

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