This month we're wondering whether you can have too much of a good thing?
Was Doctor Zhivago enough as a stand alone novel?
Do the various spins off from Gone with the Wind by other authors match up to the original?
Was the 9 year wait worth it for the last in Jean Auel's The Earth's Children series?
Let us have your views on singles and sequels.
46 comments:
The Bexley Village Reading Group read Gone with the Wind as their summer classic a couple of years ago. Although some of us enjoyed Rhett Butler's People, which tells the story from Rhett's point of view and Scarlett , which continues the story from where Gone with the Wind ends, I think we all agreed they were not a patch on the original in terms of language and storytelling and maybe sometimes a great novel is best left alone! Has any one else read these and do you agree?
Dear Val and everyone else
Although I've read GWTW, I haven't read the 'sequels' and not sure I want to. I did read Susan Hill's sequel to Rebecca (Mrs De Winter), and altough I really love her books, this did spoil Rebecca for me and it was ages before could bring myself to read it again. Mrs De Winter was brilliantly written, but I wish I hadn't been tempted.
I've never been quite sure whether I want to read a 'sequel' [or prequel] by another author. I've been tempted by some of them but not made the leap yet. Does anyone have one they would recommend? Or are they really only successful if the original author writes them?
Jill
Hi Janice - I've read Mrs DeWinter by Susan Hill and also Rebecca's Tale by Sally Beauman. Although neither were a patch on the original I did enjoy them as I loved the original and found the new perspective on the story interesting.
Hi Jill - the sequels I've most enjoyed and which I feel lived up to the spirit of the original were the books by William Horwood which carried on the saga of Wind in the Willows. I loved the original and found the sequels had a charm of their own and were well worth reading.
Thank you Val - they sound interesting and, of course, Wind in the Willows is an old favourite. I seem to remember that, although Wind in the Willows is a children's book, the William Horwood ones were aimed at adults. Is that right?
Jill
Hi Jill
Yes the Horwood sequels were aimed more at adults although more the length of them than content. The original is arguably rather adult in content in places and at the very least can be enjoyed by both adults and children hence its enduring appeal somehow. I just love it!
Dear Jill - the only prequel I've read is Jean Rhys' The Wild Sargasso Sea, which tells the story of Bertha Rochester - brilliantly written and very disturbing. I had it in mind as I've just seen the new Jane Eyre film and thought it was maybe time I re-read it (copies are in stock).
Thank you Val and Janice - I'm delighted to hear about The Wild Sargasso Sea, as that is one that I have been tempted by. I'll definitely read that one.
What about novels where someone else has taken over after the author died? Do they work? Does anyone have any good or bad examples?
Jill
I've not read any of the sequels written by other authors although Rebecca's tale and Mrs DeWinter certainly sound worth trying. Both Sebastian Faulks and Jeffrey Deaver have recently added to the James Bond collection, although how like the originals they are I have no idea, has anyone tried them?
Lisa
Hi Lisa the Bexley Village Reading group read Faulk's novel Devil May Care along with some of the orginal Bond novels. It was a great read and true to the spirit of the original. He was a great Bond fan himself and it showed in his sequel.
What about some of the great detectives? Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Inspector Morse etc?
Didn’t they build their huge reputations by being part of a long, long, long series of books?
We wouldn’t know them if they’d only appeared once, surely?
Dear Jill
Talking of authors who carry on with a character. I really enjoyed how Jill Paton Walsh carried on the Lord Peter Wimsey stories. She used various papers and articles already written by Dorothy L Sayers and with the first 2 books (Thrones, Dominations and Presumption of death)you can hardly tell where one author starts and the other finishes. Jill Paton Walsh carries on the stories with The Attenbury Emeralds - or should I 'starts' as we find out how this case started Peter Wimsey off on his detectin' career. Great fun...
Not quite a prequel,but Jan Needle's 'Wild Wood' was an interesting alternative version, from the Spartist (try Google if you don't remember him!) angle.
Dear Janice
Well - thank you - another one that has tempted me and so now I shall confidently try the Jill Paton Walsh Peter Wimsey stories.
Meanwhile, Will, I stumbled across a detective story a year or two back [the cover caught my eye and appealed] which I really enjoyed but viewed as a one-off. Recently I discovered that there are now three more. I was delighted to resume my acquaintance with Inspector Singh of Singapore, whose books are written by Shamini Flint. Each story reads as a standalone and some of his investigations are in other countries. Something of a maverick, he manages to keep his job through his success in solving murders.
Jill
Detective stories do seem to lend themselves very well to series and it is nice to read about familiar characters, over the years they become like friends (how sad does that sound?) and even if the crimes they are solving are sometimes quite grisly it's nice to see the characters develop and become "fleshed out" as it were. One of my particular favourite's is Phil Rickman's Merrily Watkins series, Merrily is a deliverance minister in the small Herefordshire village of Ledwardine and her cases are very rarely what they seem. I look forward to each new title and while some have been better than others it is a great series with a really good cast of characters, with each book I dread any of them being killed off.
Lisa
Dear Lisa
They sound interesting. Are they set in the past? And do they look into the life of Merrily Watkins as well as the mysteries she solves?
Jill
Here's another thought - what about one off novels which you wish had had a sequel?
In this year's Bexley Book of the Year shortlist there was a book called The Crimson Rooms by Katherine MCMahon. Quite a few people who read it said that they wished the story could be continued. Are there any books you'd like to have been able to follow into a new story?
Jill
Sequels?...I was always saddened that we didn’t actually find out FOR CERTAIN what happened to captain Nemo in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. A classic, cracking yarn, that leaves you desperate to find out what happens to the central character…
Hi Jill, the novel that immediately springs to mind is The hand that first held mine by Maggie O'Farrell. It is two stories, one set in the 60's and one set in the present and both stories eventually come together. I don't want to give too much away as I wouldn't want to spoil such a fantastic book for anyone but for anyone who has read it, do you agree? Wouldn't it be nice to know how the story continues?
Which leads to another question. How long are you prepared to wait for a sequel? Fans of Jean Auel had to wait twelve years for the fifth volume in the Earth's Children series and another nine for the sixth. Truely epic novels - did any of our readers follow this series?
Jill
You are right some sequels do seem to take forever to be published and you start to wonder if the author has got fed up with the series or died, as I did in the case of Jean Auel. She must have started the Earth's children series at least 25 years ago, I'm sure I remember reading The Mammoth Hunters when I was a teenager and I don't think it was particularly new then. I really enjoyed the first three books in the series but then I felt they went off a bit after that and what with waiting so long as well I almost felt as though I had to start at the beginning again to get it in my head who was who and what had happened so far.
I wondered if that might be the case. With such a long gap you'd need a really good memory - or have to have been so enthralled by the books that you'd either never forget the story or read it again and again. It must be disappointing if you then feel that the later ones are not as good but another possiblity is that your reading tastes have changed over the intervening years.
Jill
Do some series go on too long do you think? Is that the fault of the author or the publisher? After all, a popular series is very profitable for both but does the content lack a certain something after a while? James Patterson for example has two very popular series, the Alex Cross novels, two of which have been made into films, and the Ladies murder club which I think is now up to eleven in the series. Having been a fan of both but especially Alex Cross, I've been quite disappointed in the later offerings. It would be interesting to find out, if one can, if this is because James Patterson can't quite bear to give Alex Cross and Lindsay Boxer up or the publisher keeps pushing for more because they know they'll sell.
Yes, when it is a long series written close together I think some can start to weaken and it's not so likely to be a change in reading tastes.
Certainly publishers would commission sequels for as long as the sales were good and sales indicate public demand, which might lead an author to continue.
Some authors will resist this though, even if they are still in demand. P.D. James was recently asked if she would write another Adam Dalgliesh story and she said that she has a fear of dying with a work unfinished and as those stories take her three years to write and she is 90....
Jill
Yes you are right Jill my reading tastes have changed so it may have something to do with that but I think it's more to do with the fact that in The plains of passage Jean Auel takes about five pages to describe the flora and fauna and at least two pages at a time on each bedroom scene. Suffice to say I got a little bit bored.
I must admit that I have not read any of the Jean Auel series. Does that mean that she had changed her writing style since the first ones which you had enjoyed? I guess it is just as likely that a writer's style would change over time in the same way that reading tastes change. That is one reason of course why some authors write under more than one name - to be able to use different genres.
M.C Beaton and Marion Chesney for example. Although, in her case, the popularity of Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth has led to her early historical romances being reprinted under her M.C. Beaton identity.
Back to Jean Auel - has anyone else read the Earth Children series? Do you agree or disagree with Lisa?
Jill
I've just thought of a very famous novel that has had loads of sequels and spin offs written by various authors over the years, Dracula by Bram Stoker. The author himself has also been the subject of a few novels. I don't think the original can be matched or beaten for atmosphere and tension but some of the spin offs have been very good. The historian by Elizabeth Kostova for instance, whilst reading that book I was in the process of buying a house and I dreamt one night that Dracula was living in the cellar of the house I was buying! Obviously the book really had an impact on me. Of course these days the vampire has become a figure of romance and hugely popular thanks to people like Stephenie Meyer, personally I prefer a scary vampire.
Similarly Frankenstein and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - all of them landmarks in horror which have fascinated people ever since they were written. All of them adapted into children's versions of the stories too and when you start to think of film and TV adaptions as well.....
A popular author who is now almost forgotten was a prolific writer but hated sequels. Beverley Nichols had his first novel published at the age of 22. In thirteen years he had produced 13 more works - both fiction and non-fiction. One of these was so successful that it demanded a sequel. He began it with a Foreward called 'A plague on sequels!'
The first book [Down the Garden Path] had described his garden so, to avoid an exact sequel, the second focused on his house [A Thatched Roof]. When pushed into another sequel, he wrote about the village [A Village in a Valley].
These proved so popular he must have relented slightly as he later wrote a trilogy based on another house, Merry Hall.
I loved the Merry Hall books and am looking forward to reading the Allways trilogy. Allways was the pseudonym that he used for the village of Glatton where he had his thatched cottage.
Any other examples of non-fiction sequels that you have enjoyed?
Do join in and tell us about what you are reading.
Jill
I've enjoyed some series about life abroad - particularly Gerald Durrell writing about living in Corfu as a child - and there are other examples, such as Peter Mayle and Carol Drinkwater's books about moving to Provence.
Which leads to another thought - some people write more than one autobiography as they progress through their life.
You are right Barbara, some authors do write more than one autobiography and in the case of some of the young stars they'll have to. They all rush to write about themselves when they are in their early twenties (when, surely they haven't got much to say) so if they are lucky enough to A) live long enough and B) have enough people still interested they will have to write another later in life when hopefully they will have much more to write about. Stephen Fry has been very clever about his biographies though, he has written two so far I think but each about different times in his life so he can get away with it plus he is older and has plenty to say.
Well, well - Barbara's promotion of the joys of living abroad must have made Margo remember the good life. I'm glad to see you both joining in. You're right about some biographies being written very early by young celebrities and not having much lifetime to draw on, I imagine that they mostly concentrate on how they came to fame.
In contrast to this, some celebrities whose rise to fame took longer have much more life experience and some will write more than one book about their life - but still sometimes only covering their youth in the first book. I believe Paul O'Grady's first volume of his biography ends when he is eighteen!
Jill
Hasn’t Wayne Rooney got a five volume book deal for his autobiography?...
(I think the first one is called, imaginatively, ‘Wayne Rooney – my story so far’).
Goodness me, Phantom - I'm speechless at the thought....
Jill
I often notice books in the library that are sequels to books I've read, like Emma Tennant's books which follow on from some of Jane Austen's novels, but somehow I never seem tempted enough to pick them up and give them a go.
As for reading series of books, I remember a lot of my childhood reading was series. I liked getting to know the characters better as the series went on, and feeling like you really get absorbed into their world. Also, it was less of a risk than picking up a new book and not knowing whether you'd enjoy it or not. These days I will tend to read books in a series where they are stand alone books, like crime books. I'm a bit wary of series where there is one story stretching over a trilogy or longer because it seems like such a commitment and a really long time to wait to find out what happens! I think this is why I don't read much scifi or fantasy.
Hello, Caroline. Welcome back, lovely to hear from you again.
Hopefully the tips from people at the beginning of this discussion will guide you as to which sequels by other authors are worth trying.
It's an interesting point that you made about children and series. Young children often want the same story over and over again, so series for children probably help them to progress by keeping the familiar characters but introducing new stories - and help keep the adults who read to them from climbing the walls!
Now you're presumably more adventurous in your reading as you read stand alone novels rather than series. Have you got any that you'd like to recommend? Do you ever read a novel twice?
Jill
I heard last night that Anthony Horowitz has just written a new Sherlock Holmes story - having been approved by the Conan Doyle Society. And Frank Cottrell Boyce has written a sequel to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang commissioned by the Ian Fleming estate - as well as many authors writing James Bond stories, even some for younger readers about James Bond's schooldays.
Jill
Yes, it's Charlie Higson, I think, who writes about the young James Bond?...
The Boy with the Golden Gun?...
Thank you, Phantom, it is indeed Charlie Higson who writes about James Bond's schooldays.
Kingsley Amis, John Gardner, Sebastian Faulks and Jeffrey Deaver have all added to the original James Bond stories since Ian Fleming's death.
If you enjoy James Bond stories you might be interested to know that there will be a talk at the Central Library about Ian Fleming's Second World War experiences, which gave him the inspiration for James Bond. It will be on Wednesday 30th November at 7.30pm, tickets £2.50.
Jill
I'd definitely recommend the book I'm reading at the moment, it's a non-fiction title called The Sorcerer's Apprentices. It follows a year at a restaurant which has been voted Best in the World five times by food writers and critics, and focuses on the 36 'stagiares' or apprentices who work 14 hour days, endure tedious and monotonous work and do it for six months for no pay whatsoever! But they endure it to be part of the team at elBulli restaurant, which produces the most intricate, and time consuming food in the world. The book is part restaurant review, part exploration of the characters of the staff and apprentices and I'm finding it fascinating - it does make me feel tired just reading about it though!
What are you reading at the moment?
Dear Caroline
That sounds fascinating. Currently I am reading a book called 'The Pile at the Bottom of the Stairs' by Christina Hopkinson. The women the book is aimed at will need no explanation of the title! It is a novel about marriage, motherhood, children and work and the difficulty of balancing them all. At the moment the lead character is making a list of all the things her husband does [or does not do] which annoy her - a friend has managed to pursuade her to include his plus points too!
Jill
Caroline, it sounds fascinating, does it make you feel hungry reading it? I'm not surprised it makes you feel tired reading it, 14 hour days with no pay! They must be very dedicated and ambitious. I'm reading Sister by Rosamund Lupton at the moment and it's quite a page turner, I'm sure there is going to be a twist at some point as there was with her other book Afterwards.
It's good to see you sharing what you are enjoying reading at the moment because [mention it, who dares?] we will soon be changing the discussion to suggestions of books for Christmas gifts.
Yes, it's that time again - so please be thinking about any new books that you enjoyed reading this year and be ready to tell us about them when the page changes.
Jill
P.D. James has already featured in this discussion and with remarkable timing she has something else to contribute.
I heard her on the radio last night talking about a new book which is being published today.
Because she is a fan of Jane Austen she has experimented with writing a detective story set in the world of Pride and Prejudice called Death comes to Pemberley.
Once again she admitted that she has a horror of someone else finishing a work she has started - or continuing to write about her characters - so she apologises to Jane Austen for doing it to her.
I do hope that Death comes to Pemberley features the Bennett sisters as detectives, that would be such fun to read.
I've just finished Sister by Rosamund Lupton and although it was good it was quite sad so I could do with a cheer up and if the Bennett sisters are in charge of the investigation then Death comes to Pemberley sounds just what I need.
Hi Lisa
I've also just finished reading Sister. I found it gripping but as you say very sad. It'll be interesting to see what the Bostall Library Reading Group make of it next month. I've just started The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Its a non fiction book about a woman whose cells were used for research. Its not the sort of book I'd normally choose but its comes highly recommended so I thought I'd give it a go! Has anyone else read it?
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