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Good to see his wishes fulfilled. In the end, it was his choice and no-one else's. In comparison, Douglas Adams' remaining incomplete notes were turned into a
by joosters 9y ago
Good to see his wishes fulfilled. In the end, it was his choice and no-one else's.
In comparison, Douglas Adams' remaining incomplete notes were turned into a book after he died (The Salmon Of Doubt). As a fan, it was frustrating to read - you could see his moments of genius, but the gaps in the story and the unrefined parts of the text were a let down. I gladly bought the book, but after finishing it, I'm not sure it was a good choice to publish the unfinished writings.
If an author had a very-nearly complete book, I reckon it might be worthwhile to let someone else do the final tidying up and publish, but if Terry Pratchett's remaining works were lots of partially complete writings, I think it would be a poor reflection on the author to let someone else work on them.
- exit 9y agoi don't follow how it reflects poorly on the author. maybe it reflects poorly on our grasp of the creative processes.
- michaelt 9y agoBrands tend to get a bad reputation if they have some good quality products and some bad quality ones and only small print to tell them apart.
- vidarh 9y agoFor something like Salmon of Doubt there was far more than small print to tell them apart, though. It was not a half finished book as much as a half finished fragment of one preceded by a substantial section that acted as an eulogy to Adams. As such I think it was worthwhile. I agree with you that if a work is published and presented as just another one of their novels it is different.
- lproven 9y agoA fair point. I would have liked to see what his existing writing partners -- Neil Gaiman or Stephen Baxter, for instance -- could have done. But it's not what he wanted.
- WorldMaker 9y agoTerry Pratchett's "Long Earth" collaboration with Stephen Baxter came to its planned conclusion at least. I would assume that whatever PTerry had wished for his writing collaborators to continue on in his stead was already prepared for well in advance.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- codeulike 9y agoI thought the essays in Salmon of Doubt were fascinating though (half of the book was a collection of previously published essays)
- dalbasal 9y agoI liked 'Salmon of Doubt,' personally. It felt a lot like a eulogy to me, and apropriate. There were reminders of how he thought, and why the way he thought was special. There were hints at all the work he left undone. The tragic loss of his premature death. What could have been. It also left some sense of who he was, what he cared about and considered important, who his friends were.
- nathancahill 9y agoSame with Tolkien. His son collected a lot of notes and half-finished writing, and published them as a number of different books, like "The Book of Lost Tales". It has moments where Tolkien's skill shines through, but it's much harder to read. I can't really recommend them. The Silmarillion on the other hand, seems to have mostly been finished when Tolkien passed.
- bankerswon 9y agoWhilst I love his writing, the last couple of books I read of his were, in my opinion, poor and not worth releasing. I can understand why he'd have wanted this. Nasty illness.
- tripzilch 9y agoOn the other hand, if it weren't for the Salmon of Doubt, I wouldn't have realized Adams' genius writings on other (non-fiction) topics besides THHGTTG and Dirk Gently. In fairness, I could have found that out in other ways if I'd have looked, but thanks to Salmon of Doubt I've come to appreciate the man's writings and personality in a much broader way. So I say it was a good thing overall. Even though it was also sad because it was the unfinished writings of a dead author I love.
- tjalfi 9y agoYou might like [0]. It's a lecture he gave about his nonfiction book Last Chance to See. [0] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZG8HBuDjgc https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZG8HBuDjgc