Annie Dorey
asked:
Whoever wrote the summary (above) should correctly use "farther" pertaining to physical distance, as in "The journey takes them further and further from Three Pines, to the very mouth of the great St. Lawrence river." Those two "furthers" ought to be "farther." A common but annoying mistake, right? Thanks
To answer questions about
The Long Way Home,
please sign up.
George
The Oxford English Dictionary declares in its etymology section for farther: "In standard English the form farther is usually preferred where the word is intended to be the comparative of far, while further is used where the notion of far is altogether absent; there is a large intermediate class of instances in which the choice between the two forms is arbitrary."
The case you cite is greatly but not quite wholly distance; there's some sense of pulling away from Three Pines as a mental anchor for the investigators.
But that is overly subtle, so as an editor I hope I would have noticed and changed it.
The case you cite is greatly but not quite wholly distance; there's some sense of pulling away from Three Pines as a mental anchor for the investigators.
But that is overly subtle, so as an editor I hope I would have noticed and changed it.
Maureen Evans
Most people in the Uk would use Further but acknowledge is right because of common usage
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more
