Current:Home > MarketsCritics slam posthumous Gabriel García Márquez book published by sons against his wishes -Mastery Money Tools
Critics slam posthumous Gabriel García Márquez book published by sons against his wishes
View
Date:2025-04-14 03:30:16
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! (78892)
Related
- NFL Week 15 picks straight up and against spread: Bills, Lions put No. 1 seed hopes on line
- A second UK police force is looking into allegations of sexual offenses committed by Russell Brand
- Why America has grown to love judging the plumpest bears during Fat Bear Week
- S-W-I-F-T? Taylor Swift mania takes over Chiefs vs. Jets game amid Travis Kelce dating rumors
- Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
- In the Ambitious Bid to Reinvent South Baltimore, Justice Concerns Remain
- Car drives through fence at airport, briefly disrupting operations, officials say
- MLB playoffs 2023: One question for all 12 teams in baseball's postseason
- Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
- Fires on Indonesia’s Sumatra island cause smoky haze, prompting calls for people to work from home
Ranking
- Former Syrian official arrested in California who oversaw prison charged with torture
- Spain’s women’s team players Putellas, Rodríguez and Paredes appear before a judge in Rubiales probe
- 'A bunch of hicks': Police chief suspended after controversial raid on Kansas newspaper
- Microsoft CEO says unfair practices by Google led to its dominance as a search engine
- Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
- Ex-MLB pitcher Trevor Bauer, woman who accused him of assault in 2021 settle legal dispute
- A man suspected of fatally shooting 3 people is shot and killed by police officers in Philadelphia
- McCarthy says I'll survive after Gaetz says effort is underway to oust him as speaker
Recommendation
Romantasy reigns on spicy BookTok: Recommendations from the internet’s favorite genre
All We Want for Christmas Is to Go to Mariah Carey's New Tour: All the Concert Details
Typhoon Koinu strengthens as it moves toward Taiwan
Top European diplomats meet in Kyiv to support Ukraine as signs of strain show among allies
Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal
'Reclaimed: The Forgotten League' takes a look into the history of the Negro Leagues
New Van Gogh show in Paris focuses on artist’s extraordinarily productive and tragic final months
$1.04 billion Powerball jackpot tempts players to brave long odds