Language pedantics

My last blog post generated such an animated discussion that I thought I might try to think of something equally contentious to write about tonight. This has proven tricky since (a) I didn't realise I would stir so much passion with the last post, and (b) I'm not really sure I want to start another mini-war! However, I then started watching the last episode of On Thin Ice (yes, we're about six weeks behind, but thanks to the beauty of Sky Plus we're battling on), and the narrator said something so annoying that I realised I'd found my topic.

The thing that the narrator said was "they're really got a mountain to climb now, as they traverse the vast Antarctic plateau" - eh? Mountain or plateau? Can't be both! I am known for being a terrible grammatical pedant and a stickler for spelling (something which Isabel will learn to her cost as she proceeds through Years 1 and 2) - it's something I inherited from both of my parents, and also something for which I'm grateful.

I love to read well-written books, and hate reading things like Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code since the language grated on me throughout. I could say the same of the current book I'm struggling through (OK, the book which I've been ignoring for about three weeks, and blaming this on the summer holidays) - Gregory David Roberts' Shantaram. It's so overly flowery that it's really distracting me from what could be quite an interesting story. One example: "She walked into Leopold's at the usual time, and when she stopped a table near me to talk to friends, I tried once more to find the words for the foliant blaze of her green eyes". The what? Foliant blaze?! This is making it really hard for me to finish the bloody book, and I've only got to page 124 out of 933. And I'm reading it for a book group, so I can't give up. In fact, I never give up on a book - I still have a bookmark in the middle of Vanity Fair and have done since I was 15. I'll finish it one day. I hope I can kickstart my reading of Shantaram so the same thing doesn't happen....