Current:Home > ContactCritics slam posthumous Gabriel García Márquez book published by sons against his wishes -MarketStream
Critics slam posthumous Gabriel García Márquez book published by sons against his wishes
View
Date:2025-04-16 04:12:20
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! (4642)
Related
- Messi injury update: Ankle 'better every day' but Inter Miami star yet to play Leagues Cup
- Euphoria Star Angus Cloud’s Cause of Death Revealed
- 'Love Is Blind' Season 5: Cast, premiere date, trailer, how to watch new episodes
- Proposed North Carolina budget would exempt legislators from public records disclosures
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- India expels diplomat from Canada as relations plummet over Sikh leader's assassination
- Poker player Rob Mercer admits lying about having terminal cancer in bid to get donations
- 'The Continental from the World of John Wick' review: 1970s prequel is a killer misfire
- Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
- Officer said girl, 11, being solicited by adult could be charged with child porn, video shows
Ranking
- Shilo Sanders' bankruptcy case reaches 'impasse' over NIL information for CU star
- Supreme Court to decide whether Alabama can postpone drawing new congressional districts
- Bodies of 2 migrants, including 3-year-old boy, found in Rio Grande
- Zayn Malik Shares What Makes Daughter Khai Beautiful With Rare Photos on 3rd Birthday
- Connie Chiume, Black Panther Actress, Dead at 72: Lupita Nyong'o and More Pay Tribute
- Horoscopes Today, September 21, 2023
- Southern Charm's Taylor Comes Clean About Accusing Paige DeSorbo of Cheating on Craig Conover
- Baby, one more time! Britney Spears' 'Crossroads' movie returns to theaters in October
Recommendation
Romantasy reigns on spicy BookTok: Recommendations from the internet’s favorite genre
Lisa Marie Presley's Estate Sued Over $3.8 Million Loan
Brazil’s firefighters battle wildfires raging during rare late-winter heat wave
Sophie Turner Says She Found Out Joe Jonas Filed for Divorce From Media
USA women's basketball live updates at Olympics: Start time vs Nigeria, how to watch
Man rescued dangling from California's highest bridge 700 feet above river
Ray Epps, man at center of right-wing Jan. 6 conspiracy, pleads guilty
`Mama can still play': Julie Ertz leaves USWNT on her terms, leaves lasting impact on game