I've read a different account, as well. There's apparently some suspicion that her lawyer of a few months (after the death of her sister, who was her lawyer for years) talked her into releasing it, knowing Lee is not always in control of all her faculties. But really, who knows besides the people involved? I wish her well, and hope the book is a lost gem and readers/reviewers are kind.
A "new" Harper Lee novel coming this year
- Thread starter Bev Vincent
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From The Washington Post article:
"...raised ongoing questions about Lee’s competency, which make it difficult to determine how involved she is with the release of this upcoming novel. During its defense of Mills’s book, Penguin Press released a 2011 fax in which Lee’s late sister, Alice, wrote before her death, “Poor Nelle Harper can’t see and can’t hear and will sign anything put before her by anyone in whom she has confidence.”
Read the whole article here: Harper Lee to publish sequel to “To Kill a Mockingbird” - The Washington Post
"...raised ongoing questions about Lee’s competency, which make it difficult to determine how involved she is with the release of this upcoming novel. During its defense of Mills’s book, Penguin Press released a 2011 fax in which Lee’s late sister, Alice, wrote before her death, “Poor Nelle Harper can’t see and can’t hear and will sign anything put before her by anyone in whom she has confidence.”
Read the whole article here: Harper Lee to publish sequel to “To Kill a Mockingbird” - The Washington Post
That's the article I read, Danie. I truly hope it's a misguided worry.
While I am a bit wary, I am very excited and I will be looking forward to it.
The book would get released eventually, after her death--that always happens. The Sampas family STILL release 'new' Kerouac books allatime. Some were great, like Jack's legendary collaboration with Burroughs And The Hippos Were Boiled In Their Tanks. But lately they've been scraping the bottom of the barrel, releasing stuff I KNOW Jack would hate to have seen published. Windblown World for instance--a bunch of his personal journal stuff that really has no business on my shelf. *blush*
Much as I want to read the new Harper Lee (and I will--I have to), I can't help thinking about King's Lisey's Story, and what sometimes happens to a writer's unpublished work when they no longer have control.
Much as I want to read the new Harper Lee (and I will--I have to), I can't help thinking about King's Lisey's Story, and what sometimes happens to a writer's unpublished work when they no longer have control.
Yeah, this happened to some of Bradbury's early work--dime detective stories to which he sold all rights. Forty years later a man bought all rights to those old and now defunct publications, effectively owning those long-lost stories of Ray's, and told Ray he was going to release them whether Ray wrote an introduction or not. Ray wrote, as I was told, a harshly critical introduction which was toned down considerably on publication. His fans were thrilled because finally we got to check off all those stories on the bibliography which were previously impossible to find, and some of those early stories gave glimpses of the writer he became. A Memory of Murder is a rare and interesting curio for Bradbury collectors.
Good one by George R. R. Martin! Ray Bradbury joked that his novel From the Dust Returned only took him 55 years to complete, and, although not as great in some ways as the sum of its parts, it is a very good book well worth reading.
I have mixed feeling about sequels to classic books. They are almost always going to disappoint. The bar is just set too high. It might even be a reason that authors like J.D. Salinger and Lee stopped publishing. They couldn't live up to their reputation. Almost everything they wrote would be judged against their iconic book and found lacking. I had the same feeling about Dr. Sleep. Interesting to learn the fate of the characters from the Shining but a disappointing book. Even worse a sequel can color the original story in a way that makes it less enjoyable. It's impossible to unread the sequel so that you can't go back with a clean slate.
I haven't read To Kill a Mockingbird. Seen the movie, but I haven't read the book. It's on my TBR list. I might very well read Go Set a Watchman first and then read its prequel since that is the way Harper wrote them.
The internet is going to have a field day when it is released. I've already pre-ordered it for my Kindle. Hopefully, it's good.
The internet is going to have a field day when it is released. I've already pre-ordered it for my Kindle. Hopefully, it's good.
Maybe I'm the exception that makes the rule.
I enjoyed Dr. Sleep a lot. I also enjoyed Scarlet and absolutely lived Rhett's People.
The more I read about this bookk and about Harper Lee...the more I think I will not read it.
It seems to me she is being taken advantage of, and if that is correct, by purchasing the book, I would be supporting the person doing the taking advantage of.
It seems to me she is being taken advantage of, and if that is correct, by purchasing the book, I would be supporting the person doing the taking advantage of.
I'm wondering too. Although since this has been so in the news, I am hoping there are people watching this closely. And all the money to be put to what she wants and not what others want it for.
That's part of the problem. People that knew her say they haven't been allowed to see her. And the quote about wanting to publish was given through someone. No reporters actually saw her.
And since she has always wanted to stay private...there is no way to set my (and many other's) mind at rest.
And since she has always wanted to stay private...there is no way to set my (and many other's) mind at rest.
...I finally purchased a copy of Mockingbird....having never read it...once I have digested it, then I will make my decision on whether to buy the prequel/sequel...more may be known at that time-as to whether there is elder abuse and profiteering going on...I pray not, but if I want to read it-I shall, and laugh as the bastards go to jail...
Some people are overly harsh judges of their own work. I have always suspected that Lee might be one of those. Certainly the anecdote of her flinging the early manuscript of what would become To Kill a Mockingbird suggests that.
Of course, it mightn't be all that and a bag of chips, but I am greatly looking forward to it.
Just saw on the news that Lee has posted something on facebook that she is happy the book is garnering so much interest (or something to that effect).
A little more information from today's Washington Post.
To Shill a Mockingbird: How the discovery of a manuscript became Harper Lee’s 'new' novel - The Washington Post
To Shill a Mockingbird: How the discovery of a manuscript became Harper Lee’s 'new' novel - The Washington Post