I am about to finish a great first novel by Pauline Livers. Titled Cementville (Counterpoint Press) and set in rural Kentucky during the Vietnam War, it tells the story of a town that loses seven young National Guard soldiers in one brutal overseas attack. There is much more to it, but that is where the story begins.
I love the writing and the characterization, but I keep coming across sentences using LAY where LIE would be correct. Here are two examples:
from page 72: "…she lays staring at the brown stains in the ceiling, raggedy islands in a dirty sea."
from page 98: "They lay by the water on a soft bed of storm-tossed leaves,…"
Whoops! Both of these sentences are in the present tense, which means that a form of LIE is the correct choice. Here is why: LIE is an intransitive verb describing the act of reclining. It does not take an object. LAY is a transitive verb describing the act of putting or placing something. It does take an object (the thing being put or placed.)
Here is how these two sentences should read:
from page 72: "…she lies staring at the brown stains in the ceiling, raggedy islands in a dirty sea."
from page 98: "They lie by the water on a soft bed of storm-tossed leaves,…"
NOTE: For another example of how to use LIE and LAY correctly, please see my most recent Facebook post on the Grammar Glitch Central page. (December 28, 2014)
Please do not let these minor corrections keep you from seeking out and reading this excellent novel. If you like southern fiction that calls to mind writers like William Faulkner or Ron Rash, you will find Cementville to be a good read.
