I’ve just finished reading the very serious and very compelling mystery story THE THIRTEENTH JUROR by John T. Lescroart. I borrowed this old battered book from the local library. 14 years old and the yellowed pages are falling out. I find pencil marks making minor typo corrections all through the pages. I break out laughing in the middle of intense scenes as this unknown reader carefully circles comma, apostrophes, crosses out names and writes in the correct name. Who is this person who is correcting this book. Who are you, this ghost in the book. I never notice typos when I am reading. My mind must slide over mistakes. There is someone out there with a pencil who is trying to make the world safe for the rest of the readers.
2 comments:
Hi Kathy--I laughed reading your post. Plus, I know that you carefully edit/proof your zen center newsletter so that it is readable according to a standard convention. The thing is, you would notice punctuation "mistakes" if most published books, articles, newspapers, etc, that you read were not as carefully proofed and edited as they are. I don't know the JUROR book you mention, but my guess is that the punctuation was not to that pencil-marking reader's liking. There is some flexibility within our punctuation system to use punctuation to create our intended meaning. I think punctuation is just like Zen--there is a form that allows freedom, but you cannot experience that freedom without the form... Everyone doing/following the same form in Zen (as in writing) lets the individual express his/her uniqueness.
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Hi Kathy,
so funny. a trail left for every reader. John L. will be at this conference I am going to - you should come too!\\Susan
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