Dan Brown: The Da Vinci Code

[steffee]

Let’s not forget we’ve had members here who have come along liking The Da Vinci Code but have went away realising it was a bad book.

Was that a deliberate grammatical error, Stewart?

Where's the error in that?

 

[Shade]

"...have went" should be "...have gone"

 

[steffee]

Should it? Why?

 

[Mari]

Thanks, Stewart--an excellent all-in-one discussion.

You should just hope she doesn’t reach the point of repeating what I overheard from a similar demographic on the train last year: “I’ve read it four times!”

Now that's scary.

 

[SFG75]

Yes, The Da Vinci Code does sit upon the pile of the worst books in literature; I doubt it sits at the pinnacle.

Exactly, which is why a person can read it and still enjoy the book, while recognizing that *literary greatness* it is not.

 

[Mari]

Posted not as a criticism of anybody, but because someone asked:


Gone or Went?

Gone is the past participle of to go. Used as the verb of a sentence, it must always be preceded by an auxiliary verb such as has, have, had, is, am, are, was, were, be, or one of their contractions.

Went is the past tense of to go. It never takes an auxiliary verb.

Incorrect: They gone to the movies.
(Gone needs an auxiliary verb.)

Correct: They have gone to the movies.

Correct: They are gone to the movies.

Correct: They went to the movies.

Incorrect: You could have went with them.
(Went takes no auxiliary verb.)

Correct: You could have gone with them.


Chosen somewhat randomly from Englishplus.com.

 

[steffee]

Oh, well that clears everything up then.

 

[Stewart]

Was that a deliberate grammatical error, Stewart?

No, it was Australian grammar.

 

[Shade]

a person can read it and still enjoy the book, while recognizing that *literary greatness* it is not.

Surely this is whatever the opposite is of 'damning with faint praise'? To say merely that The Da Vinci Code is 'not literary greatness' is a little like saying 'Harold Shipman was perhaps not the finest family doctor ever' (for those outside the UK, he killed hundreds of his patients).

My construction would be more along the lines of "a person can read it and still enjoy the book, while recognising that it's so badly written by most conventional standards of literature that it ranks as one of the worst books of recent years."

But that, I suppose, raises more questions that it answers, not least: Why would anyone enjoy a book they know is bad?

 

[raffaellabella]

It's official. I'm in love with Stewart.

 

[steffee]

Damn, you mean I have competition...

 

[abecedarian]

crushonstewart will be..crushed

 

[SFG75]

crushonstewart will be..crushed

LOL@abec. To have your own fan club on TBF.

 

[steffee]

LOL@abec. To have your own fan club on TBF.

Oh, you mean you don't?

 

[SFG75]

Oh, you mean you don't?

I'm certain no one would register as crushonsfg75. I'm way too.......disagreeable to merit that.

 

[steffee]

I'm certain no one would register as crushonsfg75. I'm way too.......disagreeable to merit that.

You never are?

 

[pontalba]

You never are?

He only aspires to be...

 

[abecedarian]

LOL@abec. To have your own fan club on TBF.

Well, as any star will tell you, fans are nice, but FRIENDS are better any day..

 

[steffee]

Well, as any star will tell you, fans are nice, but FRIENDS are better any day..

That's very true, abc! Very easy to drive your friends away sometimes, too...

 

[SFG75]

He only aspires to be...

I'd do well as a Buddhist monk until I stubbed my toe. Then I'd turn red, utter a string of profanity, and then proceed to tip the offending statues over. They'd ship me back to the states in no time.