Inaccuracies in books

ReadyMeals .... or they show a baby who is holding its head up when it's supposed to be a newborn!

No it is annoying. I read a book recently set in the war years and the author mentioned an ambulance siren that could be heard in the distance. It would have been a bell at that time!

I read a book set in the fifties. The heroine thought she was pregnant and went out to buy a pregnancy test! No way, even in the seventies only a doctor could do the test.

Six years ago I found a self-published book on Amazon about life in the East end of London set in the 1940's. The spelling and grammar were terrible, but the story was so fascinating that I contacted the author to point out that this somewhat spoiled a good novel for me. She wrote back, saying that she left school at 13 (she is my age - 66) and in the future she was able to get proof readers and her books improved immeasurably!

Some years ago I was reading a novel by Melvin Bragg which supposedly took place in the early 19th century. There was a reference to having to 'cope with all that flak'. This was a most amazing howler when one considers that 'flak' was a German abbreviation for Flieger Abwehr Kanonen', in other words Anti aircraft artillery!

I get annoyed with films or series on tv when people refer to their own child as ‘the baby’. Is it too much trouble to give it a name?

And of course the meeting between Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth Tudor was an invention of the German poet and playwright Schiller!

I was considerably annoyed by Norah Lofts having a Viking who invaded East Anglia just after the Roman legions were recalled in 410 A. D. coming from Copenhagen, a city that was not founded until 1167! I felt that recourse to any guide book to Denmark would have prevented that particular error.

I can assure you science was taught in Scottish schools long before 1988- My school days were from 1956 to 1968!

We had both biology, botany, physics and chemistry taught as separate subjects and I never heard of a school that didn't. Mine was an all-girls' school too.

On another point Farmor15.... who the hell got 10/- pocket money in 1959.....I was 8 then and my pocket money was 2/- or ten pence in new money. 10/- ?!? we kids would’ve thought our parents had gone barmy!!!

That's right Saggi I got 1shilling pocket money and thought I was lucky.

Exactly Saggi, 10 shillings was a fortune! I used to get 3d and then 6d mid to end of the 60s.

I am just reading 'Cat out of Hell' by Lynne Truss and, if this is how the mind of one our current politicians works, then heaven help us more than I thought already! How does she find the time to write so many books anyway; she's supposed to be representing the needs of her constituency full time! Not only is it one of the most ridiculous stories I've ever had the misfortune to read, I also don't agree with much of her use of punctuation (particularly her regular inclusion of a comma before the word 'and'). This is the same author of 'Eats, shoots and leaves' fame.

Not just novels.....a lot of films portray mistakes about the past too. I don't give it much importance and toss it up as part of the fantasy. My H always jokes that if you want to enjoy an action movie these days, you need to put on your 'nine year old hat' and pretend your watching a cartoon!

How does she find the time to write so many books anyway; she's supposed to be representing the needs of her constituency full time!
Probably because they are not the same person quizqueen

Lynne Truss is a journalist and author
Elizabeth (Liz) Truss is an MP

Jalimal108 Are we not 21c far too critical instead of just sitting back and enjoy what we watch or read without pulling it to pieces.?
I recall watching a film with the actor Richard Burton, cast as a German officer.?It did not get me in a twist listening to his perfect English accent, more befitting to a member of the British stately home gentry, when he was giving out orders to his fellow German comrades.

I have no idea why you are addressing me sarahellenwhitney - there are 65 posts on this thread of which I have posted only three of a critical nature.

Re the Richard Burton film - if he had spoken in German most people wouldn't have understood the film; if he had spoken with a German accent to other Germans one could ask 'Why'?

And thirdly, Richard Burton had a beautiful Welsh voice; I never thought of him as having a perfect English accent

Definitely get annoyed when I discover an inaccuracy, especially when it is one from within my own life time. Another pet hate of mine is when watching a film or TV programme portraying a certain season of the year and you know that the trees, plants would not have been in flower or leaf at that time of year or it is supposed to be the depths of winter and it looks like summer

Jalima I loved the trilogy of In the Land of the Long White Cloud, even though I too find many mistakes in books. I was a typesetter (& therefore also a proofreader) for many years, so finding errors is almost an occupational hazard!

Slightly off topic but relative to future generations believing what they see and hear, a certain tv ad does not seem to know that meerkats are not Russian.

I will try it again notgoneyet - I hadn't realised there is a third book.

Peardrop
the ones near us have a Bristol accent.

The Mary Poppins "Feed the birds, tuppence a bag" always amuses me. The little old bird woman must have been very wealthy, as the equivalent price now would be something like £70!

I think 2d old money is only about the equivalent of £1 today

calculated using the date 1901

ReadyMeals. with reference to 'the wrong animal sounds' I remember Percy Edwards, the late lamented animal impersonator, telling an amusing story. The film he was working on involved a large number of buffalo being driven over a cliff, and Percy was asked to provide suitable sounds. The film-makers weren't satisfied with their everyday grunts, and asked him to demonstrate some others. Eventually they selected one, which was actually the sound that the male animals made when mating.
Therefore, in the film, the buffalo all fell to their deaths bellowing, "I love you".

Ha, ha, I always remember my Dad complaining about Richard Burton - the Welsh accented Roman etc! He couldn't bare him because he never changed his accent at all! (I suspect my mother found him quite appealing mind .... ) and I think he had a lovely voice when he was just being himself