Lost Over The Atlantic

They say England and America are two countries divided by the same language. This amusing piece in The Telegraph delves into how writers have attempted to bridge the divide, and the consequences thereof:

"Ever since Henry James, in The Portrait of a Lady, thought it advisable to explain old Touchett's line, 'I guess I will wait and see' with the comment 'He had, in speaking, the American tone', American and English novelists have been trying to 'do' characters from the opposite side of the Atlantic. It shouldn't, on the surface, be as hard as all that - but the results are rarely a pretty sight."

One writer, however, who's got it right according to the article: Philip Roth.