Post by wheelspinner on Jun 2, 2009 6:29:40 GMT -5
Been thinking a bit lately about writers' last wishes.
As we know, there have been a few noted examples of writers whose last wishes regarding their works were ignored. Kafka and Nabokov are among the famous writers who have requested that some or all of their work be disposed of after their departure; in both cases their executors ignored their instruction.
By coincidence I have recently been reading two authors who died before their work could be published.
The first is Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. Larsson died of a heart attack shortly after delivering his manuscripts to a publisher. The novels have duly appeared and been wildly succesful, world-wide. It remains to be seen what Larsson's publisher will do with the incomplete manuscripts that Larsson also left.
I have just finished reading Roberto Bolano's 2666. Bolano struggled to finish this 900 page magnum opus as he approached death. The author's intent was to publish it as five separate novels. The publisher ignored this wish, citing Bolano's notorious lack of pragmatism, and published it as one gigantic novel.
I'm not so sure that this was a bad call. Bolano's novel absolutely sprawls. His story is structured in five parts, which somehow connect up European literary critics, serial killing in Mexico, sports reporting and the Eastern front in WW2. It spans about 50 years and ranges through England, Germany, Mexico, the US, Russia, Rumania and other places. It's a lot to keep track of.
Another problem is that the first part is so atypical of the rest. It's a short novel about a bunch of literary critics who share an obsession over a minor German novelist, as well as forming a menage a trois. To be honest, I thought it was boring crap. Had Bolano had his way, this would have been the reader's introduction to a 5-part series; I doubt that many readers would have been back for more.
The fourth part is incredibly challenging to the reader. It is a 280-page litany of sexual murders in Mexico; seemingly someone is killed every other page. Reading this in isolation, I suspect I might have given up on the series at that point too.
My point is that having the whole book in your hand drives you on through the difficult pieces to Bolano's conclusion. And he does indeed come up with a conclusion that somehow links all of his elements together, even his boring fart literary critics.
I do think that 2666 is a book that is best read as a single work, and I think Bolano's lierary executors did him a favour by ignoring his wishes.
As we know, there have been a few noted examples of writers whose last wishes regarding their works were ignored. Kafka and Nabokov are among the famous writers who have requested that some or all of their work be disposed of after their departure; in both cases their executors ignored their instruction.
By coincidence I have recently been reading two authors who died before their work could be published.
The first is Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. Larsson died of a heart attack shortly after delivering his manuscripts to a publisher. The novels have duly appeared and been wildly succesful, world-wide. It remains to be seen what Larsson's publisher will do with the incomplete manuscripts that Larsson also left.
I have just finished reading Roberto Bolano's 2666. Bolano struggled to finish this 900 page magnum opus as he approached death. The author's intent was to publish it as five separate novels. The publisher ignored this wish, citing Bolano's notorious lack of pragmatism, and published it as one gigantic novel.
I'm not so sure that this was a bad call. Bolano's novel absolutely sprawls. His story is structured in five parts, which somehow connect up European literary critics, serial killing in Mexico, sports reporting and the Eastern front in WW2. It spans about 50 years and ranges through England, Germany, Mexico, the US, Russia, Rumania and other places. It's a lot to keep track of.
Another problem is that the first part is so atypical of the rest. It's a short novel about a bunch of literary critics who share an obsession over a minor German novelist, as well as forming a menage a trois. To be honest, I thought it was boring crap. Had Bolano had his way, this would have been the reader's introduction to a 5-part series; I doubt that many readers would have been back for more.
The fourth part is incredibly challenging to the reader. It is a 280-page litany of sexual murders in Mexico; seemingly someone is killed every other page. Reading this in isolation, I suspect I might have given up on the series at that point too.
My point is that having the whole book in your hand drives you on through the difficult pieces to Bolano's conclusion. And he does indeed come up with a conclusion that somehow links all of his elements together, even his boring fart literary critics.
I do think that 2666 is a book that is best read as a single work, and I think Bolano's lierary executors did him a favour by ignoring his wishes.