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A review by saritaroth
Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch
3.0
In this particular book, the protagonist, Peter Grant, is attempting to solve a murder in which case the murder weapon is a shard of pottery. His investigation takes him underground where he meets a group of people called the Quiet People. One thing I liked about this book is that it pretty much ends how it begins in a cyclical fashion. Peter and his friends encounter a graffiti-painting ghost under a bridge. At the end of the book, one of Peter's friends, Abigail, feels compelled to finish the graffiti that the ghost was painting and gets in trouble for it. I liked the fact that this book had a cyclical feel to it. I like stories that come back to the same place from which they started. It gives the book a sort of perfect symmetry that is rarely seen in literature.
I had major issues with this book. It could be the fact that I was an English major in college, but the book was riddled with incorrect grammar. A couple times the narrator even mentions the grammar as if he is using correct grammar; he is not, however. For example, he says "including me and Abigail", the correct use of the pronoun "me." He then says, "Or, as Nightingale insists it should be, Abigail and I." Well, Nightingale would be wrong. In that case, it should be "me and Abigail." The book goes on to be full of the incorrect use of "me" versus "I." Throughout the book, the narrator uses the phrase "me and [whoever he's with at the time]" as the subject of the book when "me" should only be used as a direct object. Then, at the end of the book, right after using the pronoun incorrectly AGAIN, he says, "Who says I don't know my grammar?" I do, Grant, I do.
I know it's probably the English major in me, but this annoyed me to no end and almost made me want to quit reading the book. Even my fourteen-year-old daughter knows the correct grammar. Then, of course, the last sentence left me wanting to read the next book. I guess I'll give it a go, but if the next book is as horrid grammatically as this book, I just don't know. . . .
I had major issues with this book. It could be the fact that I was an English major in college, but the book was riddled with incorrect grammar. A couple times the narrator even mentions the grammar as if he is using correct grammar; he is not, however. For example, he says "including me and Abigail", the correct use of the pronoun "me." He then says, "Or, as Nightingale insists it should be, Abigail and I." Well, Nightingale would be wrong. In that case, it should be "me and Abigail." The book goes on to be full of the incorrect use of "me" versus "I." Throughout the book, the narrator uses the phrase "me and [whoever he's with at the time]" as the subject of the book when "me" should only be used as a direct object. Then, at the end of the book, right after using the pronoun incorrectly AGAIN, he says, "Who says I don't know my grammar?" I do, Grant, I do.
I know it's probably the English major in me, but this annoyed me to no end and almost made me want to quit reading the book. Even my fourteen-year-old daughter knows the correct grammar. Then, of course, the last sentence left me wanting to read the next book. I guess I'll give it a go, but if the next book is as horrid grammatically as this book, I just don't know. . . .