Sunday, December 12, 2010

Alphabetical Africa Errata: an Updated List

My previous post on Walter Abish's Alphabetical Africa contained an introduction to the book and its unique constraint, a few remarks on what I thought of it, a table of all the errata I'd either seen elsewhere or found myself, and a list of possible corrections for them.

Now Johnathan Arnold, in a comment on that post has vastly expanded the list to the point where I am putting it up here in a separate post.

A reminder of Alphabetical Africa's constraint: The first half of the book consists of 26 chapters, labeled A through Z. The first chapter contains only words beginning with A; the second contains words beginning with A and B; the third words beginning with A, B and C; and so on up until Z, in which any word may appear. The second half of the book, also 26 chapters long, reverses the process. The chapters are labeled Z through A; Z uses any words; Y uses any words save those beginning with Z; X uses any words save those beginning with Y or Z, and so on back through the final chapter, A, which again uses only words beginning with A. (Again, there's more, including a few example passages, in the earlier post.)

That's the idea, anyway. But it turns out there are at least 40 50 and counting (!) departures from that schema. Here is a complete list of all the ones I know of, from all the various sources I've seen:

Chapter/PageErrorPhrase
A1, p. 2
premature I
Alex and Allen alone, arrive in Abidjan...
D1, p. 9
premature H
...because Chester cannot hear Dogon birds chirp:
D1, p. 9premature O
biu, biu, biu, or Dogon dogs bark:
D1, p. 9premature O
bow, bow, bow, or antelopes:
G1, p. 15premature IAre Germans convincing in Africa?
H1, p. 18premature O...a bridge or an airport...
H1, p. 18premature O...a book, or a husky German...
H1, p. 18premature O...doors. One hundred and fifty...
H1, p. 19premature L...he chatters a lot...
I1, p. 21premature UI used to draw Alva.
J1, p. 26premature L...as long as he could.
K1, p. 27premature N...he could design a new colony...
L1, p. 30premature O...finds a lot of lakes...
L1, p. 31premature S...being a compulsive liar she lies about him
M1, p. 32premature THe appeared to have been a middle-aged man.
M1, p. 32
premature T
He had gone to a hotel.
N1, p. 34premature OI am afraid of loving her...
N1, p. 35premature S...everything, even all sounds, heavy, dark...
N1, p. 35premature OEach moment is a kind of impermanent...
N1, p. 35premature O...my favorite map of another African country...
O1, p. 38premature P...I promise her.
P1, p. 39premature T [arguable]...part-time only...
P1, p. 40premature S"...not invented anything I've seen or done."
Q1, p. 42premature TI am convinced that people...
R1, p. 46premature T [arguable]After a bit of rough-and-tumble...
V1, p. 58premature W...from the eastern and western edges...
W1, p. 59premature Y...had we been here a hundred years ago...
V2, p. 87belated WThe children are at school when the mailman arrives...
V2, p. 88belated W...preferably at a time when her children...
U2, p. 91belated W...one rapid sweep with a pen...
U2, p. 92belated W...laughing men with unpronounceable names...
T2, p. 93belated WWhen Boyd discovered this...
T2, p. 94belated W...they meet men who are transplanting Africa.
T2, p. 95belated W...have come to terms with African emotions.
T2, p. 97belated WHe walks as far as the gates of the consulate.
S2, p. 99belated T...Miti Safu Safu is a line of trees....
P2, p. 112belated Q"An hour later drums mysteriously become quiet..."
N2, p. 117
belated O...both ends of caravan...
K2, p. 123belated LLike everything else...
k2, p. 123belated L...it conceals all hope for life by...
J2, p. 126belated L...as I dig a large hole...
J2, p. 127belated LAlex and Allen left for Africa...
F2, p. 138belated I...boosted an innovative design...
E2, p. 140belated H...Alva, her deletions are...
E2, p. 140belated H...accepts her corrections.
E2, p. 140belated F...book buyers for Emperor...
C2, p. 146belated IAfter considering all alternatives, I capture a couple crocodiles.
C2, p. 147belated IAfter I cross a...
C2, p. 147belated D...bag containing Alva's description.
B2, p. 148belated C...afraid ants can't be beaten.

Phew! That's a lot. I must admit that somewhere between 20 and 40 errors my feelings about them slip from "everyone makes mistakes" to "that's sloppy work". Assuming that they're not deliberate (and I don't think they are, based on both internet rumor about Abish's reaction to one being pointed out, and my judgment of how they seem (although obviously I could be wrong about this)), then I have to say that this mars the book in a substantial way.

In the earlier post I came up with patches for the eighteen or so I'd seen then... but another 24 takes the wind out of my sails. If anyone has patches for these, feel free to leave 'em in comments. And please do leave any further errors you see -- I will add them to the above chart once I see them.

Update (07/10/2011): Three more added from comments. Update (02/07/2012): And five more, plus a correction. Thanks! Keep 'em coming, everyone!

4 comments:

. said...

L1, P.31 Premature S "Being a compulsive liar SHE lies about him"

P1, P.40 Premature S "I've not invented anything I've SEEN or done."

P2, p.112 Late Q "An hour later drums mysteriously become QUIET."

Found the book to be hugely disappointing.

Stephen said...

Thanks for the additions. I've incorporated them into the table.

Rise said...

5 more:

A1, p. 2 premature I "arrive IN Abidjan"

D1, p. 9 premature H "Chester cannot HEAR Dogon birds chirp"

D1, p. 9 premature O "biu, biu, biu, OR Dogon dogs bark"

D1, p. 9 premature O "bow, bow, bow, OR antelopes"

M1, p. 32 premature T "He appeared TO have been a middle-aged man."

correction in the existing table:

N2, p. 117 belated O "... both ends of caravan ..."

Stephen said...

Incorporated into table. Thanks, Rise!