Do you deface books?
Some time ago, a little old lady (I’m assuming it
was a little old lady, because little old ladies sometimes do strange things.
It could have been a little old man but I don’t think little old men get their
knickers in a knot like little old ladies do. Anyway...)
Let’s start again...
Some time ago a little old lady, taking books out
of our local library, started a campaign whereby she (she, he...see above)
crossed out the word God whenever and wherever she found it.
‘Oh, my God,’ he yelled.
See what I mean? Whenever the word God was
written, out came her pen.
And, no, ‘twas not I.
I suspect library staff traced her through her
loan history, for shortly thereafter the crossings-out stopped. I believe she
may be sharing a cell - in leg-irons - with a mass murderer or two.
So, is it ever okay to annotate or mark a book
with your private opinions, etc? I have to confess, I have done it and I bet
you have too. Ever seen an awful grammatical error and not been tempted? Garn!
Confess!
I scribbled furiously in Helen Long’s book Safe Houses are Dangerous, published in
1985 by William Kimber & Co. Writing about Dunkirk she blatantly states: ‘Although
evacuating some 336,000 troops, the British did abandon and allow to fall into
enemy hands, several thousand French troops. British troops....’. According to
more accurate recording, 198,000 BEF and 140,000 French troops were evacuated.
40,000 French were ordered by their own command to stand fast and protect the
beaches of Dunkirk. My scribbling was fast and furious. My own book, so it was
probably okay.
I also have a penchant for crossing out “less
people” and adding “fewer”. (I hear the plod-plod of police boots.)
Now, we come to a more delicate matter. When you
buy and read my book, Rusty and
Slasher’s Guide to Crime, you are at liberty to deface the book to your
heart’s content. I say this because you may very likely have another pet name
for the male appendage (see how Victorian I can be?) Rusty and Slasher call it
Mr. Jolly. If that offends you, you are welcome to draw a line through it, Mr
Jolly, and replace it with the name of your choice.
But if you have borrowed the book from your local
library, please refrain.
Yours on the run,
Jenny Harrison
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