Current:Home > InvestCritics slam posthumous Gabriel García Márquez book published by sons against his wishes -InfiniteWealth
Critics slam posthumous Gabriel García Márquez book published by sons against his wishes
View
Date:2025-04-27 00:07:01
Gabriel García Márquez has a posthumous book coming out 10 years after his death. But he wouldn't have ́aMáwanted it that way.
García Márquez's final book "Until August" is set for release on March 12, but the author explicitly told his sons he didn't want the work published.
"He told me directly that the novel had to be destroyed," the author's younger son Gonzalo García Barcha told The New York Times. His eldest son, Rodrigo García, said his dad "lost the ability to judge the book."
In the New York Times piece, the brothers say they helped publish "Until August" because it lifts the veil on a new side to their father, who centered the book around a female protagonist for the first time. However, García told the outlet that he and his brother "were worried of course to be seen as simply greedy."
"Until August" follows a happily married woman Ana Magdalena Bach, who travels every August by a ferry to an island where her mom is buried to find another love for just one night.
Check out: USA TODAY's weekly Best-selling Booklist
García Márquez, one of the most popular Spanish-language writers ever, died in 2014 in Mexico City at the age of 87. His book "100 Years of Solitude" sold over 50 million copies, which is a mammoth feat in the literary world.
Author Gabriel García Márquez diesat 87
Oprah Winfrey chose his books twice for her original book club, "100 Years of Solitude" in 2004 and "Love in the Time of Cholera" in 2007, a rare occurrence for the media mogul.
It seems that his new work won't receive the same fate. Critics are slamming "Until August," which spans just 144 pages, in early reviews.
Harsh reviews for Gabriel García Márquez's new book: 'a faded souvenir'
"Until August" has yielded harsh reactions from several publications.
In a review of the book for British outlet i News, author Max Lui wrote, "The story ends so abruptly that it is obvious that it is unfinished" and called out the author's family and publishers for disrespecting his wishes.
"Usually, in a review of an underwhelming posthumous publication or minor work by a major author, it is worth saying that, despite its flaws, it will delight devoted fans. I do not believe that is true of 'Until August.' Márquez knew this and was right not to want it to see the light of day," Liu wrote.
Lucy Hughes-Hallett called the Latin American author's last novel was "not good writing" and "like a faded souvenir" for The Guardian.
"So should it have been published? There are small errors of continuity. The structure is ungainly. More importantly, the prose is often dismayingly banal, its syntax imprecise," she wrote.
While writer David Mills in a review for The Times agreed with similar critiques, he seemed to enjoy the book.
"Yet, for all these faults, 'Until August' is recognizably a Garcia Marquez novel: inventively enjoyable and working to its surprising, pleasing ending. I read it straight through in one sitting, then got up the next day and did it again," Mills wrote.
veryGood! (997)
Related
- Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
- Israel intensifies Gaza strikes and battles to repel Hamas, with over 1,100 dead in fighting so far
- Terence Davies, celebrated British director of 'Distant Voices, Still Lives,' dies at 77
- California governor vetoes magic mushroom and caste discrimination bills
- The Grammy nominee you need to hear: Esperanza Spalding
- Indian rescue copters are flying into region where flood washed out bridges and killed at least 52
- Google just announced the new Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro smartphones. Our phone experts reveal if they're worth it
- Eminem and Hailie Jade Are the Ultimate Father-Daughter Team at NFL Game
- Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
- What was the Yom Kippur War? Why Saturday surprise attack on Israel is reminiscent of 1973
Ranking
- Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
- EU Commission suspends ‘all payments immediately’ to the Palestinians following the Hamas attack
- American Airlines pilot union calls for stopping flights to Israel, citing declaration of war
- Substitute teachers are in short supply, but many schools still don't pay them a living wage
- Intellectuals vs. The Internet
- Michael B. Jordan, Steve Harvey hug it out at NBA game a year after Lori Harvey breakup
- Simone Biles becomes the most decorated gymnast in history
- German far-right leader says gains in state election show her party has ‘arrived’
Recommendation
North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
Jobs report shows payrolls grew by 336K jobs in September while unemployment held at 3.8%
Students building bridges across the American divide
Gates Foundation funding $40 million effort to help develop mRNA vaccines in Africa in coming years
A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
What survivors of trauma have taught this eminent psychiatrist about hope
Kiptum sets world marathon record in Chicago in 2:00:35, breaking Kipchoge’s mark
An Alabama city says a Mississippi city is dumping homeless people; Mississippi city denies misdeeds