Rather sad. At about this time last year, one of my very favourite authors died. George MacDonald Fraser. He it was who wrote the twelve wonderful novels about the Victorian cad Flashman, each of which I have read and re-read many times over, and will do so again many times. He was in his mid-eighties, so it wasn’t by any means a surprise, but it was a loss none the less. And of course it meant that there would be no more Flashman books. There are attempts sometimes to assign plots and characters created by a dead author to another writer, who is supposed to carry the baton, but it doesn’t always work. These efforts are published under the name of the late author followed by an apostrophe S, and the name of the person who actually wrote them is in small letters at the bottom of the cover. Next time you’re in a book shop just go look for “Robert Ludlum’s” this and “Alistair MacLean’s” that. I never buy those. They are not the same as the real thing.
So I am glad that no one has so far attempted to continue writing the Flashman papers, and even though that means there will be no more, that is how it is supposed to be. And there are still some novels by Fraser that I haven’t read yet, on other subjects. Since every book you haven’t read is a new book, that means I have many treats in store.
And then, a couple of weeks ago, we lost another of my favourite writers – Donald E. Westlake. I have mentioned him many times in my Thursday Thirteen book lists as one of the writers I enjoy above all others. He died on New Year’s Eve, and again I felt the sadness – selfishly, perhaps – that there would be no more books from him. However, I can still look forward to reading many of his works for the first time. He wrote over one hundred novels under his own name and about half a dozen pseudonyms, and I have hardly scratched the surface. No need for other writers to try to write on his behalf. No need to go without. I thank Donald Westlake for his phenomenal industry and energy over his long career and I look forward to many, many hours of enjoyment reading what his mind dreamed up.
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Oh I feel sad too when a writer I like dies. I was sad to hear Westlake had passed away. I didn't even know Frazer had passed away last year! I am still sad...no more new books by William Burroughs or John D McDonald...
Hey are you doing Thursday Thirteen? I thought it was belly-up but there is still some energy. I linked the new site here:
http://gnosticminx.blogspot.com/2009/01/make-it-rain-13-songs-about-money.html
Posted by: Candy Minx | January 14, 2009 at 09:28 PM