Current:Home > FinanceCritics slam posthumous Gabriel García Márquez book published by sons against his wishes -WealthMindset Learning
Critics slam posthumous Gabriel García Márquez book published by sons against his wishes
View
Date:2025-04-18 11:07:27
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! (19)
Related
- New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
- U.S. companies announced over 90,000 job cuts in March — the highest number since January 2023
- Pilot says brakes seemed less effective than usual before a United Airlines jet slid off a taxiway
- Man's body believed to have gone over Niagara Falls identified more than 30 years later
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- Conan O’Brien will be a guest on ‘The Tonight Show,’ 14 years after his acrimonious exit
- New York can take legal action against county’s ban on female transgender athletes, judge says
- Down to the wire. California US House election could end in improbable tie vote for second place
- What to watch: O Jolie night
- Judge denies Trump bid to dismiss classified documents prosecution
Ranking
- USA women's basketball live updates at Olympics: Start time vs Nigeria, how to watch
- Judge orders Border Patrol to quickly relocate migrant children from open-air sites in California
- Judge denies Trump's motion to dismiss documents case
- Small businesses apply for federal loans after Baltimore bridge collapse
- Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
- Officer acquitted in 2020 death of Manuel Ellis resigns from new deputy job days after hiring
- 'Great news': California snowpack above average for 2nd year in a row
- No Labels abandons plans for unity ticket in 2024 presidential race
Recommendation
What polling shows about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ new running mate
The US has more 'million-dollar cities' than ever, Zillow says. Here's what that means.
Knicks forward Julius Randle to have season-ending shoulder surgery
Bachelor Nation's Daisy Kent Reveals Why She Turned Down the Opportunity to Be the Bachelorette
American news website Axios laying off dozens of employees
California Democrats agree on plan to reduce budget deficit by $17.3 billion
Suki Waterhouse Shares First Photo of Her and Robert Pattinson's Baby
House explosion in New Hampshire leaves 1 dead and 1 injured