Glenn Reed Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 So I was reading a fairly lightweight piece of detective fiction last night, part of a series where I have read most of the books. We have seen the protagonist (retired Boston cop living on Martha's Vineyard) go from bachelor to married (second time around, I don't know what he did with the ring from the first one) and the couple having kids. The boy is now ten and the girl eight years old. The kids are part of each story, at least peripherally. Decent character development and even a couple of books co-written with another author where the story plays out through two sets of eyes. Anyway, I finish the book and turn the page and find that the author died not long after completing this particular manuscript, so there will be no continuation of the storyline. It just felt weird, having a picture in my head of how the family was developing, especially the growth of the kids, and now they have basically just stopped. I have had series I was reading where the author passed away, but I usually found out about it separate from reading the last work, not as part of that reading. I don't know, it just feels strange and I didn't know if anyone else here had had any similar experiences. Link to comment
12R12RT Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 The one that got me (from a purely selfish point of view) was Steig Larsson. I would have loved to have seen the characters of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist grow. Perhaps not with the volume seen with Lee Child's "Reacher" series, but I think he had more than three novels in him. I have not seen the American version of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo", but have all three Swedish films. They are excellent. An untimely passing. Tom Link to comment
Joe Frickin' Friday Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 I don't know, it just feels strange and I didn't know if anyone else here had had any similar experiences. Douglas Adams died quite suddenly before finishing The Salmon of Doubt. It was published after his death along with several other essays. I read it, and was just starting to get into the story when it ended. Nothing more. It was like someone took my book away; I wanted to finish reading it, even though the rest of the story didn't exist. Link to comment
Albert Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Been a while since I went back and visited them but John D. McDonald's "Travis McGee" series is one of my all time favorites. Not that he died suddenly but I always wished those stories could go on. On a musical note, having seen Janice Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison with the Doors live (not all at the same time) they are acts that are frozen in time for me. Regardless of one's taste I think any time someone in entertainment, the arts or politics passes away prematurely it's natural to wonder what might have been. Link to comment
Glenn Reed Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 Been a while since I went back and visited them but John D. McDonald's "Travis McGee" series is one of my all time favorites. Not that he died suddenly but I always wished those stories could go on. I used to read those as well, and we even went so far as to name our first dog Travis. Some storylines have been continued by others, Lawrence Sanders' McNally series, Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe come to mind, but something seems a little off. Link to comment
RonStewart Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 The Horatio Hornblower novels were not written in chronological order. So when CS Forester died, his character was not frozen in time. Still, reading his last, unfinished story was unsettling. From wikipedia: Hornblower and the Crisis is a 1967 historical novel by C. S. Forester. It forms part of the Horatio Hornblower series, and as a result of C.S. Forester's death in 1966, it was left unfinished. There is a one-page summary of the last several chapters of the book found on the final page, taken from notes left behind from the author. It was the eleventh and last book of the series to be published, but it is fourth in chronological sequence. Link to comment
Quinn Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 For me, it's made worse if the author dies and someone else decides to carry on the character in his place. They just never seem to recapture the feel and style of the original. L. Sprague DeCamp did a pretty good job continuing Conan, but others since have sucked at it. Also read continuances of A.E. VanVogt's Slan and Null-A that should never have been written. And some idiot thought he was writing a sequel of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Land that Time Forgot series. Maybe it's just too hard to capture the values and pace of 1930s pulp science fiction and fantasy when your modern environment is so different. ----- Link to comment
Selden Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Reportedly, Larsson left behind a mostly complete manuscript for a 4th Salander book, but its publication status is tied up with various legal issues. Salander is one of the great female characters of the past 50 years, and I was so captivated by Noomi Rapace's performances in the Swedish TV versions that I've been putting off watching the American adaptation — how can anyone else measure up? I was also mildly annoyed that the American film decided she needed a bigger bike, although at least they avoided the temptation to put her on a damned Harley. Frank Herbert (Dune) is another author whose heirs decided to profit from his reputation, and produced sequels that were utter dreck. Link to comment
12R12RT Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 ...and I was so captivated by Noomi Rapace's performances in the Swedish TV versions that I've been putting off watching the American adaptation — how can anyone else measure up?... She was excellent! I even enjoyed watching in the original Swedish with English subtitles. So far I have not seen the American film; I am anticipating that it will be typical insofar as it will focus on the film/CGI making and not the story. I think Salander would find herself at home on one of these: Tom Link to comment
g_frey Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Read Jordans "Wheel of Time" series. When he died there was a groan heard around the world. Some people went from big fans to hating him for not finishing his series??? I have heard that it started as a Duo, then a Trio, and is now over 11 books long with so many substories and characters that some think that it can't be completed without at least 3 more books???? Link to comment
Selden Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 ...and I was so captivated by Noomi Rapace's performances in the Swedish TV versions that I've been putting off watching the American adaptation — how can anyone else measure up?... She was excellent! I even enjoyed watching in the original Swedish with English subtitles. So far I have not seen the American film; I am anticipating that it will be typical insofar as it will focus on the film/CGI making and not the story. I think Salander would find herself at home on one of these: Tom I gave up on the dubbed soundtrack after about 5 minutes; it was like listening to a bad Hong Kong martial arts film. It's been a while since I read the three The Girl... books, but I thought she had a dual purpose bike, a 175cc 2-stroke, although I don't know if I'm remembering what I read in the book or saw in the movie. Each book had a "set piece," of which my favorite was when she kicked the crap out of the two outlaw bikers and then stole one of their choppers. Since Mara Rooney had never ridden a motorcycle (and was terrified of the thought) before filming, I wonder how they'll handle that; there's a lot of difference between a 350 pound CB350 and a 700 pound Harley. Link to comment
Selden Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Read Jordans "Wheel of Time" series. When he died there was a groan heard around the world. Some people went from big fans to hating him for not finishing his series??? I have heard that it started as a Duo, then a Trio, and is now over 11 books long with so many substories and characters that some think that it can't be completed without at least 3 more books???? Jordan is dead? George R.R. Martin is 2 years younger than me (although based on his picture, I think I'm in better shape) so let's hope he manages to pull together all the threads of the Song of Ice and Fire series before he dies. In all honesty, A Dance with Dragons read like someone else had already taken over the project. Link to comment
12R12RT Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 I think that she's riding a late model Yamaha 250 motard. Seems somewhat out of character and beyond her means; I think the Kawasaki 100cc two-smoke cafe is more in keeping with the book. Maybe a bit small. Tom Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.