Poor editing/research

[haertig]

Aaarrrggg! I thought everybody knew this:

"It's from an old TV show, probably even before your parents time, about a small group of castaways on a tropical island. Their boat was the Guppy." Karen said, laughing.

No!!! It was the S.S. Minnow!! James S. Peet has ruined the book! Now I'm going to have to go edit the azw3 file and replace "Guppy" with "Minnow" everywhere, so I can live in peace again. It was my favorite TV show as a kid...

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by haertig

No!!! It was the S.S. Minnow!! James S. Peet has ruined the book! Now I'm going to have to go edit the azw3 file and replace "Guppy" with "Minnow" everywhere, so I can live in peace again. It was my favorite TV show as a kid...

Unless they named the show, just assume that this is a different TV show about castaways...

[astrangerhere]

Someone might have been hypersensitive about copyright infringement. Depending on the age/nationality of the author, they may know little about the subject except for the possibility of being sued.

[Dr. Drib]

Stephen King did something just as egregious with the Payday candy bar controversy.

[Catlady]

Is it possible that the character is the type who makes dumb mistakes, and this was deliberate?

[haertig]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Is it possible that the character is the type who makes dumb mistakes, and this was deliberate?

I don't think it was deliberate, but we'll see as the story goes on if any clues as to why show up. I'm only one chapter past the initial reference, and the author has already repeated the "mistake" once or twice.

The author has mentioned a couple of other old TV show and old movie quotes verbatim, without changing any wording. Of course, all these "old" entertainment shows are ones I remember watching first run before syndication, and when they were new releases in the movie theaters. Things like "Make it so", "Run, Forrest, run", etc. All these other quotes are more recent than those castaways on a three hour tour however.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by haertig

Things like "Make it so", "Run, Forrest, run", etc. All these other quotes are more recent than those castaways on a three hour tour however.

Huh. I associate "Make it so" with the British navy in the age of sail and fiction which antedates by quite a bit the last voyage of the Minnow.

[fjtorres]

It's a parallel universe. And Gilligan was a ditzy blonde, 60's style...

If the rest of the story is good, go with the flow.

[pwalker8]

Different people have different things that bug them. Given that I can sing the theme song from memory, then yea, that would bother me. Of course, a few typos don't bother me much and there are some posters here that will totally trash a book for one typo or spelling error.

[DiapDealer]

No way that's a mistake.

EDIT: Am I missing something? The two books by Peet I see clearly mention that portals are being opened to parallel universes. I would expect many such subtle difference from the "real" world being purposely noted.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by issybird

I associate "Make it so" with the British navy in the age of sail

I did not know that. I think of it in terms of the Star Trek: The Next Generation TV show. But now that you mention it, I'll bet they stole the line from older times in the British Navy. That makes sense. Thanks - I learn something new every day!

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

No way that's a mistake.

EDIT: Am I missing something? The two books by Peet I see clearly mention that portals are being opened to parallel universes. I would expect many such subtle difference from the "real" world being purposely noted.

Usually, if such things are on purpose, the author makes it clear that it was on purpose, if only to avoid the reactions that started this thread. Of course, I haven't read the book so it could be that he does make it clear, or the book is so full of minor differences that it should be clear. Let's face it, the name of the boat on Gilligan's Island is a piece of TV trivia that you aren't going to know off the top of your head unless you are a Gilligan's Island fan.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Usually, if such things are on purpose, the author makes it clear that it was on purpose.

I'm fairly certain the author felt they were being abundantly clear. If populating parallel Earths were the theme of a book I started, I would only be surprised if there weren't many such discrepancies mentioned. The subject matter alone implies they will be present. All of them might not jump out at every reader, due to their personal histories and proclivities, but I'm sure this is one of many such instances peppered throughout.

[j.p.s]

This whole thread reminds me of the HHGTTG tv series (I haven't read the book yet) where the philosophers are demanding clearly defined boundaries of uncertainty.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Usually, if such things are on purpose, the author makes it clear that it was on purpose, if only to avoid the reactions that started this thread. Of course, I haven't read the book so it could be that he does make it clear, or the book is so full of minor differences that it should be clear. Let's face it, the name of the boat on Gilligan's Island is a piece of TV trivia that you aren't going to know off the top of your head unless you are a Gilligan's Island fan.

Did not know it was SF when I originally responded with the suggestion that it was a deliberate mistake by the character, not the author. But now with the book being described as SF/alternate universe, it has to be deliberate, as DiapDealer noted.

It doesn't need to be made clear that it's on purpose, especially with that SF context, because if a reader doesn't get the botched reference, no harm done; if the reader does get it, it's an extra chuckle. Guppy for Minnow is kind of amusing.

Anyway, I think Gilligan's Island is a well-known bit of pop culture that most people are familiar with; after its initial run it's been in syndication forever.