Current:Home > ContactCritics slam posthumous Gabriel García Márquez book published by sons against his wishes -DubaiFinance
Critics slam posthumous Gabriel García Márquez book published by sons against his wishes
View
Date:2025-04-25 08:49:12
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! (13)
Related
- Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
- In New York City, ‘Managed Retreat’ Has Become a Grim Reality
- Trump Plan Would Open Huge Area of Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve to Drilling
- Biden’s Appointment of John Kerry as Climate Envoy Sends a ‘Signal to the World,’ Advocates Say
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- 5 teens, including 4 Texas Roadhouse employees, found dead after car lands in Florida retention pond
- Travis Barker Calls Alabama Barker His Twin in Sweet Father-Daughter Photos
- As Solar and Wind Prices Fall, Coal’s Future is Fading Fast, BNEF Says
- Selena Gomez engaged to Benny Blanco after 1 year together: 'Forever begins now'
- 2 Tennessee inmates who escaped jail through ceiling captured
Ranking
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- Video shows shark grabbing a man's hand and pulling him off his boat in Florida Everglades
- Idaho prosecutors to pursue death penalty for Bryan Kohberger in students' murders
- Climate Science Has a Blind Spot When it Comes to Heat Waves in Southern Africa
- Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
- A Drop in Sulfate Emissions During the Coronavirus Lockdown Could Intensify Arctic Heatwaves
- Man charged with murder in stabbings of 3 elderly people in Boston-area home
- Ports Go Electric in Drive to Decarbonize and Cut Pollution
Recommendation
IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
This Tarte Mascara Is Like a Push-Up Bra for Your Lashes: Don't Miss a 2 for the Price of 1 Deal
BMW Tests Electric Cars as Power Grid Stabilizers
Fading Winters, Hotter Summers Make the Northeast America’s Fastest Warming Region
Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
Man charged with murder in stabbings of 3 elderly people in Boston-area home
In Maine, Many Voters Defied the Polls and Split Their Tickets
Vanderpump Rules' Ariana Madix & Raquel Leviss Come Face-to-Face for First Time Since Scandoval