As mentioned earlier, it still takes a human element to notice contextual errors, even when the homophone is spelled correctly. This is one thing I’ve always excelled at, even before I became an English Lit teacher.
Besides, I speak from experience when I say, it only takes one fan to spot plagiarism, too (remember me?).
I´d even say: ideally, it´s what you want an author to do. Just running the spell checker and shrugging off the consequences is not what an author should be content with.
Well, are they unavoidable in a serious publication which used to be vetted by a whole editing department?
I can remember books which had no typos, no errors. But if publishing houses these days shrug off the necessity of quality work it will have an effect on the audience. They will stop to care.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s John Watson, or was it James as his wife (who may or may not be dead) once called him, regailing us how Sherlock Holmes knew the ancient art of Baritsu, would say there’s at least 100 years worth of successful literature that says otherwise.
Doesn’t bother me tbh. Never has. For example, I pick locks as a hobby, read dozens of books on the subject and own several collections of lock picking tools, so I know when, in any form of fiction, a criminal/spy goes to pick a lock, it always will be done wrong. This does not take away from my enjoyment of whatever it is.
This is Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) doing it properly in Elementary. Note the torque wrench in his left hand, it’s a vital piece of equipment, yet is almost always excluded when someone picks locks in books, films, tv series or games.
This stuff used to really annoy me, especially in the films. It did begin to impact my enjoyment, believe it or not. The scene with Bond checking out the DBS’s defibrillator in Casino Royale, for example, has the door open in one frame and closed in the immediate frame after. How the hell did they miss that? If I see something I can’t unsee it, and an irritant is there. Such as Corrine’s magically disappearing headphones in Moonraker. But if I enjoy the performances and the overall package a product presents I’m more forgiving.
Finished the book just before the Thanksgiving holiday, and overall I liked it! The pacing was very good, and it told a great story without ruining Casino Royale. I did not notice any typos in my US Kindle edition, but one error drove the historian in me absolutely nuts. It was FDR, not Woodrow Wilson, that signed the Neutrality Acts into law. Wilson was long dead by that point. Still, minor point, and I enjoyed this book way more than Trigger Mortis and considerably more than any of the other continuation novels.
People at mi6community.com seem to want Horowitz to come back for a third book. I agree.
I wouldn’t be surprised if his contract is for 3 books. I’d be interested in him setting Bond in the modern day. Perhaps to face Blofeld. He did sneak in Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes: The House of Silk.
Enjoyable Horowitz interview: “Fleming’s style is very much more different to capture,” Horowitz says. “I think people have forgotten to an extent how very good his books are, how well-written they are, how stylish and original. At the time they were revolutionary.”
Horrowitz is brilliant in that interview, shares his love for Bond in all it’s forms and gives great insight into his thought process behind the characters. He comes across as proud of Madame Sixteen (as he should be) and reverential of Fleming without going to the usual IFP talking point of hating on the films.
Think we’ll hear anything from Anthony Horowitz or IFP about another Bond novel this year? The reviews of Horowitz’s books are a sign that people want more from him.