Language & Grammar discussion

Hi all,

I have just finished reading H is for Hawk and I did enjoy the book. But there are a few sentences that appear to be sentence fragments without a subject and/or verb. I have listed a few of these below and I wondered what people's thoughts were on why they have been used. Are these just intentional/conscious errors?

For example (page numbers reference the google play copy):

Page 144: Perhaps it is.
Page 185: Much to much.
Page 197: What she’s for.
Page 292: Forgetting. Remembering. (Just one word).


I may have missed something very obvious as my grammar is not one of my really strong points, but if I have please say.

Many Thanks,
Chris.

Hi, Chris. These are intentional. Helen Macdonald, who is also a poet, is only doing what many writers do these days--employing artful fragments. I use them myself. Not that I can say they're all artful. But you get the idea.

How did you like the book? I 3-starred it, I believe.

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the quick response.

I found that Helen Mcdonald came across as somewhat needy at times (e.g. near the start she makes a mistake with Mabel her hawk and then writes shes failed). Also towards the end I felt less engaged worth the story as opposed to when I first started reading. Overall I thought it was okay though and is not usually the type of book I read, so still worth the purchase.

We agree, pretty much. OK, but not equal to the F-is-for-Fanfare....

I just spent a few moments looking for an f-is-for-fanfare book, but realised it was joke! :) I guess I need a strong coffee

Yeah. I like jokes. It balances my daze...

Chris, Jami Gold runs an excellent, frequently updated, blog for authors on writing and being an author: http://jamigold.com/blog/.

Her most recent post (6/23/16) is titled: When Can We Ignore Grammar Rules. In it she hosts a discussion by Julie Glover. Use of fragments is a topic therein.

Thanks Jon :)