Certain authorities, notably the US government, is ...

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Hi,I have a problem with the following paragraph from Saturday by Ian McEwan.As Henry understands it, Theo's world-view accomodates a hunch that somehow everything is connected, interestingly connected, and that certain authorities, notably the US government, with privileged access to extra-terrestrial intelligence, is excluding the rest of the world from such wondrous knowledge as contemporary science, dull and strait-laced, cannot begin to comprehend.I would have expected "are excluding" because the subject of the subordinate is "certain authorities". Can the presence of the parenthetical "notably the US government" justify the singular person? Is it an issue of grammar or of style? (I love McEwan's style)Thank you!

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

'Is' just seems plain wrong to me.

Clive

Ferdis · Answer

grin I had to read it multiple times, but now I think I get it.

The main clause is: and that certain authorities cannot begin to comprehend.

Where 'that' refers to to the previous statement that everything is connected. The 'and' is a coordinating conjunction, not the last item of a list.

Now add parenthetical elements: and that certain authorities, [notably the US government, [with privileged access to extra-terrestrial intelligence], is excluding the rest of the world from such wondrous knowledge as contemporary science,] cannot begin to comprehend.

Finally, add the parenthetical fact that those authorities are dull and strait-laced: and that certain authorities, [notably the US government, [with privileged access to extra-terrestrial intelligence], is excluding the rest of the world from such wondrous knowledge as contemporary science,] [dull and strait-faced,] cannot begin to comprehend.

So 'is' agrees with 'US government'. Still, a terrible sentence.

Tanit · Answer

Hi,

Thank you both.

Ferdis, let me disagree. "Cannot begin to comprehend" to me goes with "as contemporary science", as well as "dull and strait-laced", which refers to contemporary science, not to authorities.

"such wondrous knowledge as contemporary science [, dull and strait-faced, ] cannot begin to comprehend."

If I understand the sentence correctly, by getting rid of all the parenthetical expressions and subordinates not relevant to my question, the sentence can be reduced as follows:

(...) Theo's world-view accomodates a hunch (...) that certain authorities (...) is excluding the rest of the world from (+ noun phrase above).

Am I missing something?

By the way, I think McEwan doesn't write "terrible sentences".

Just beautifully written prose.

Ferdis · Answer

Yes, you're probably right. A mistake seems more likely; the editor was probably equally confused about this sentence. <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/> Ian must have had 'US government' in mind when he wrote the verb.

Certain authorities, notably the US government, is ...

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