Some of the writers who have had most influence on me have vexing near-homonyms, who, I can imagine, are the favourites of some Corin or Calum, or, more literarily, Céline or Colette, somewhere. O'Brien, Edna, sits on the shelves where I would hope for O'Brien, Flann. Sebald with an a has his Sebold with an o.

I hadn't been in a bookshop for about a month when I decided, half an hour in hand, to look for something by Thomas Bernhard in Waterstone's. Anyone who reads The Bookseller will know already that there was no Bernhard. There was, however, plenty of Louis. De. Bernières.

Out of the six of them, only Edna, Sebold and De Bernières are still alive.

posted at: 23:01 | path: /maunderings | permanent link to this entry

The German for banal is banal. I was expecting banell.

posted at: 22:53 | path: /D | permanent link to this entry