Dept. of Bad Reading
Why Am I Finishing This Book?
It's on my Kindle, so I must have thought it was worth picking up. But ... if you're writing a character who you specifically place in 1728, and have them refer to a) men's top hats, and b) a guillotine, you haven't done the most basic, lazy Google research. Nor has your editor caught your lack of research.
Men's top hats were first introduced in the early 1800s. Dr. Guillotin invented his machine in 1789. Yes, there were earlier versions of the guillotine (the Scottish Maiden and such, and even possible earlier French machines), but the one called the guillotine? Not around until 1789.
I'm annoyed that I'm still reading the thing, especially since I wasn't all that impressed with it before I read those ahistorical blunders. I"m sure it's just because I normally feel as if I should finish books I start. The one book I recall not being able to read past a few pages was some libertarian piece of twaddle by Milton Friedman's son. I threw it across the room. This entry was originally posted at https://kaffyr.dreamwidth.org/761951.html?mode=reply, where there are currently
comments. You can comment there or here, but prefer to read over on DW. You can comment there using open ID if you don't have a DW account.
It's on my Kindle, so I must have thought it was worth picking up. But ... if you're writing a character who you specifically place in 1728, and have them refer to a) men's top hats, and b) a guillotine, you haven't done the most basic, lazy Google research. Nor has your editor caught your lack of research.
Men's top hats were first introduced in the early 1800s. Dr. Guillotin invented his machine in 1789. Yes, there were earlier versions of the guillotine (the Scottish Maiden and such, and even possible earlier French machines), but the one called the guillotine? Not around until 1789.
I'm annoyed that I'm still reading the thing, especially since I wasn't all that impressed with it before I read those ahistorical blunders. I"m sure it's just because I normally feel as if I should finish books I start. The one book I recall not being able to read past a few pages was some libertarian piece of twaddle by Milton Friedman's son. I threw it across the room. This entry was originally posted at https://kaffyr.dreamwidth.org/761951.html?mode=reply, where there are currently
comments. You can comment there or here, but prefer to read over on DW. You can comment there using open ID if you don't have a DW account.