Current:Home > ScamsCritics slam posthumous Gabriel García Márquez book published by sons against his wishes -PureWealth Academy
Critics slam posthumous Gabriel García Márquez book published by sons against his wishes
View
Date:2025-04-18 20:09:11
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! (73651)
Related
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- Lahaina's children and their families grapple with an unknown future
- Hong Kong closes schools as torrential rain floods streets, subway station
- Officers shoot and kill ‘agitated’ man in coastal Oregon city, police say
- 9/11 hearings at Guantanamo Bay in upheaval after surprise order by US defense chief
- 2 Kentucky men exonerated in 1990s killing awarded more than $20 million
- Massachusetts investigates teen’s death as company pulls spicy One Chip Challenge from store shelves
- Rain pouring onto Hong Kong and southern China floods city streets and subway stations
- Chief beer officer for Yard House: A side gig that comes with a daily swig.
- USA TODAY Sports' Week 1 NFL picks: Will Aaron Rodgers, Jets soar past Bills?
Ranking
- Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor
- Author traces 'surprising history' of words that label women and their lives
- Top storylines entering US Open men's semifinals: Can breakout star Ben Shelton surprise?
- Hurricane Lee becomes rare storm to intensify from Cat 1 to Cat 5 in 24 hours
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- Bodycam footage shows federal drug prosecutor offering cops business card in DUI hit-and-run arrest
- Heat hits New England, leading to school closures, early dismissals
- UK police call in bomb squad to check ‘suspicious vehicle’ near Channel Tunnel
Recommendation
Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
Rain pouring onto Hong Kong and southern China floods city streets and subway stations
Fire restrictions across much of western Nevada are lifted after 6 weeks as weather cools
Why Mark-Paul Gosselaar Regrets This Problematic Saved by the Bell Scene
'Most Whopper
Prison guard on duty when convicted murderer escaped fired amid manhunt
Why is the current housing market so expensive? Blame the boomers, one economist says.
After summit joined by China, US and Russia, Indonesia’s leader warns of protracted conflicts