To correct, or not to correct?

[chesilbeach]

I'm currently reading a library copy of Case Histories by Kate Atkinson, and I've just got to page 176, and someone has queried the following sentence:

 

The agency were delighted when they discovered she was in Cambridge, where they no longer had a mystery shopper.

 

by underlining were and writing "was?" in the margin.

 

I don't think I've ever written on a book of my own, let alone a library book, even if I've been horrified by the grammar or spelling errors in it, and this led me to wonder whether anyone else does this? At most, I've marked the page with a post-it note or a paperclip, to bring it up with someone I'm going to discuss the book with, but I've never written on the page itself.

 

The notation doesn't bother me, and it's not particularly intrusive, but I do wonder about why anyone would be inclined to write on a book that didn't belong to them?

[~Andrea~]

No I would never correct bad grammar or spelling in a book, whether my own or someone else's. To do it to a library book is very annoying.

[Dimitra]

Personally, I wouldn't do it, 'cause you know, it's someone else's property and I don't think it would be right. Besides, it's no fun if the author doesn't see it

[BookJumper]

I do wonder about why anyone would be inclined to write on a book that didn't belong to them?

I've never come across corrections in margins in my library books, however most of them are heavily underlined, annotated, page-corner-turned, and full of makeshift bookmarks. I understand that these are study books but surely if I can find alternative ways of keeping track of quotes and passages in books, so can other people?

 

My inner librarian gets annoyed to no end re: this, which is why (though it's hardly within my power to remove the underlining and annotation, especially when - horror! - it is done in pen or coloured pencil) I make a point of always folding the corners back out again and removing any extraneous pieces of paper from the volume before returning it.

 

I must be the only person in the world whose library books return in a better condition than they were taken out in...

[chesilbeach]

BookJumper, I can sort of understand the page corners being turned and the left in bookmarks, it was just that anyone would actually write on the text of a borrowed book that amazed me! And, I don't even think their "correction" is right! I think the author was right in the use of were, which made it even worse for me to see the writing (in blue ink) on the page!

[Suzanna Addison]

Were is definitely right as 'were' is used in when talking about multiple people in conjunction with words like 'they', which is also in the sentence - for example: "They WERE ..." or as the sentence already has it: "The agency were..."

 

Was refers to a singular like: "I was disappointed with that!" NOT "I were disappointed!" (unless you're using country dialect in which case bad grammer is acceptable but only in dialogue!)

 

So the book had it right - not sure what the person was thinking of?!

Also I would probably correct in one of my OWN books but NEVER from a library book.

[Kell]

The only time it would be "was" is if the text was mentioning the agency as a singular entity, i.e. "The agency was about to go under." The book had it right.

 

And no, I couldn't in all good conscience write in a book. I've spotted loads of errors in books as I'm reading them (one of the worst was The Godfather by Mario Puzo - my copy was RIDDLED with errors!), but I couldn't bring myself to actually mark them up, I sell al ot of my books on and swap out others and I wouldn't want to receive a copy that had been written in, and I definitely wouldn't write in a book that didn't belong to me - that's even worse!

[Talisman]

Personally, I wouldn't do it, 'cause you know, it's someone else's property and I don't think it would be right. Besides, it's no fun if the author doesn't see it

 

Errors such as this are nothing to do with the author, but their editor and proof reader. I would not correct stuff like this either, as like others have said, the book doesn't belong to you.

[Dimitra]

Errors such as this are nothing to do with the author, but their editor and proof reader. I would not correct stuff like this either, as like others have said, the book doesn't belong to you.

 

Basically, I was joking . I said it because I remember one exam in religion where my teacher had made a quite serious mistake and I corrected it before hand it to her! You might think I'm a bit mean, but I almost misunderstood the exercise by that mistake!

[Talisman]

Not at all - no offence taken !

[Kreader]

The only time it would be "was" is if the text was mentioning the agency as a singular entity, i.e. "The agency was about to go under." The book had it right.

 

And no, I couldn't in all good conscience write in a book. I've spotted loads of errors in books as I'm reading them (one of the worst was The Godfather by Mario Puzo - my copy was RIDDLED with errors!), but I couldn't bring myself to actually mark them up, I sell al ot of my books on and swap out others and I wouldn't want to receive a copy that had been written in, and I definitely wouldn't write in a book that didn't belong to me - that's even worse!

 

This is correct as far as I know. I don't dare deface books in anyway especially a borrowed/library book. I have been suprised when I've come across corrections written in. I might get a little annoyed if the grammar is not prefect in a text and I can see it wasn't dialogue or a type of writing style but I sometimes make mistakes with my grammar too. Hey I'm human;) There's also the fact some American spellings are different to British spellings.

[Echo]

I would never write in a book, especially not a library book. That's almost like vandalism!

[Ruth]

I would never write in a book that didn't belong to me! In fact, I don't think I've ever written in any of own books. I don't see much point in correcting something like that. If I know something is wrong, I know it's wrong; I don't need to deface the book to make my point.

[beef]

I dont write on my own books (I underline things in PENCIL and mark the page with a tiny post-it thing I can write on). But I would never dream of writing on a book, never mind someone ease's.