Laughably Poorly Written Book Reviews.

by **Magus** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 7:52 pm

I know that this is going to seem really mean and incredibly cruel of me... but...

I found this when I was skimming Amazon.com (although not for Carrie):

this is one of the best books i have ever read as stephen kings first novel stephen king thought it was a peace of garbage realy he thorugh it in the trash but his wife thought different and sent it to a puplisher. this was my third king novel and one of his best i thought but most of his stuff is really good in this story carrie white strugles in school in part because of her crazy astranged rilligos mother she never really learned about anything inporntent. but if you like kings works and havent read this you really should

Let's see... King's wife did indeed rescue it from the garbage, but didn't send it to the publisher, seeing as how it wasn't even finished. She ecnouraged him to finish it, helped him with the feminine details, and then he sent it to a publisher, for which he got a $500,000 advance (same as Mario Puzo got for The Godfather. (Yeah, I read On Writing AND have a good memory. )

But, that error aside, the grammar is just utterly attrocious! If I leave the previously mentioned mistak in, it should still look like this:

This is one of the best books that I have ever read. It's Stephen King's first novel. Stephen King thought that it was a piece of garbage, really; he thew it in the trash, but his wife thought differently and sent it to a publisher. This was my third King novel, and one of his best, I thought, although most of his stuff is really good. In this story, Carrie White struggles in school, in part because of her crazy, astranged, relligious mother. She never really learned about anything inportant. But if you like King's work and haven't read this, you really should.

I count 44 grammatical changes, 1 gross innacuracy and absolutely no discussion of the plot. On top of all of this, the sentence-structure is overly-simple and the entire passage is poorly written. I give it a 0%, and even then it seems too generous.

Anybody else find any really poorly written reviews, or ones that are just plain stupid overall?

by **Chaeronia** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 10:02 am

There are plenty of badly written reviews on Amazon, but then there are plenty of people who don't fully understand the English language. The internet, on public forums and review sites such as Amazon, is littered with grammatical inaccuracy.

Even your post, Magus, contained a number of errors:

You have spelt 'atrocious' incorrectly; you have made typing errors with the words 'encouraged' and 'mistake'; you have not used the proper grammatical technique with your brackets (for example, when used at the end of a sentence the full stop is placed out of the brackets); 'sentence structure' does not require a hyphen (I think!).

The English language is so full of subtlety and regulation that I find the majority of people make mistakes. Very few have total command over it.

Even so, the example you have given us is quite surprising. It is so overloaded with errors that I question even whether the person's primary language is English.

Chaeronia

by **Magus** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 8:13 pm

'sentence structure' does not require a hyphen

That depends on whether or not you're using it as a single word or two seperate words. In my case, it was meant to be a single word.

Yeah, judging from whoever wrote this, Florida school's are worse off than Illinois ones.

:wink:

But I do see and agree with your points. Obviously not everybody is as fluent in the language as others, and even those who are profficient with it make critial mistakes.

Here's one that I found for Eragon. It seemed worse to me last night, but I'll post it anyway:

this is one of my favorite books includeing the harry potter series and stephen king. when i picked up this book i saw the dragon on the cover and being that i like dragons i did not have to give it a second glance. I read the front flap and knew i had to get it. well any way about the story, its about this kid named eragon to clear it up its not the dragon her name is saphare in the middle i realy got into it. i liked from the start, and i hope you will to i defenlty recomand it. ive read the 2nd one to and i cant wait for the thrid one.

It should be:

This is one of my favorite books, which includes the Harry Potter series and Stephen King's works. When I picked up this book, I saw the dragon on the cover, and since I like dragons I did not have to give it a second glance. I read the front flap and knew that I had to get it. Well, any way, about the story: It's about this kid named Eragon. To clear it up, it's not the dragon. Her name is Saphira. In the middle I really got into it. I liked from the start, and I hope you will too. I definately recommend it. I've read the 2nd one too, and I can't wait for the third one.

51 errors, which include the dragon's name.

by **Chaeronia** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 1:02 am

I stand corrected regarding sentence structure! Hyphens always cause a problem for me; I have little idea as to their proper use.

Bad grammar is everywhere. Just yesterday I was watching a BBC2 television advertisement for one of its upcoming shows and in it I saw the possessive form of the word 'Its' used with an apostrophe - such as you might say 'I found its grammatical ability was left wanting', the BBC would write, 'I found it's grammatical ability was left wanting.' A simple, basic error and yet it managed to escape all editing at one of the world's largest media organisations.

The two examples you have shown us are truly exceptional pieces of grammatical inadequacy, although I can't help but feel a little bit smug and precious in discussing it!

All the best,

Chaeronia

by **MrB** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 2:28 pm

Bit harsh there Magus, the guy just wanted to make his opinions of Stephen Kings' book known to the world, can't really fault him for that, ok he may not be the sharpest tool, in the box, but his heart's in the right place..