Re:Terry Pratchett's unfinished novels destroyed by steamroller
by probably_wrong on Wednesday August 30, 2017 @11:06AM
(#15132718)
I like to compare Kafka to James Joyce.
With Kafka, we got great novels out of the postumous publication. The publication of Joyce's letters to Nora Barnacle, however, paint him as someone who "[fastens] intently on peculiarities of sexual behaviour, some of which might be technically called perverse"[1]. No one has really benefited from their publication, except perhaps gossip columns.
I think I would stick to the author's desires. As great as Kafka's work is, I don't think we are "entitled" to them. But I can understand the opposing point too.
[1] Richard Ellmann, Selected Letters of James Joyce, Introduction, Faber & Faber, London, 1975
With Kafka, we got great novels out of the postumous publication. The publication of Joyce's letters to Nora Barnacle, however, paint him as someone who "[fastens] intently on peculiarities of sexual behaviour, some of which might be technically called perverse"[1]. No one has really benefited from their publication, except perhaps gossip columns.
I think I would stick to the author's desires. As great as Kafka's work is, I don't think we are "entitled" to them. But I can understand the opposing point too.
[1] Richard Ellmann, Selected Letters of James Joyce, Introduction, Faber & Faber, London, 1975