Does this mean that literary giants such as Samuel Beckett, Marcel Proust and James Joyce, all of whom enjoyed more than a passing acquaintance with sentences of unusual length, should be condemned as setting a bad example?

Surely the purpose of literature, whether great or not, is to be read and to encourage the reader to explore the world being described, regardless of “fused sentences” or inappropriate semi-colons.

JK Rowling has done more to promote reading among the young and old than almost any other author, and I am positive that not one of them who has been gripped by her writing could care less whether she fuses her sentences, splices her commas or uses semi-colons correctly or not.

G Bawden

52 Redbreast Road

Moordown

Bournemouth

Dorset