Mr_niceguy0 OP t1_ix8pi1j wrote on November 21, 2022 at 4:40 PM

Reply to comment by arcoiris2 in What is a great book with shitty sequels? by Mr_niceguy0

Yeah, some writers i think just make new books to ride off the fame of the last book to make extra cash, I don’t know if that’s why they made go set a watchman but I feel like that’s the reason for most of these disappointing sequels, that or the author got lucky and his first book blew up despite them not being the best author

ersatzbaronness t1_ix8rf6j wrote on November 21, 2022 at 4:53 PM

Go Set a Watchman was published 55 years after To Kill a Mockingbird." It certainly wasn't a fame riding situation. It's release is actually quite controversial.

jefrye t1_ix9ys4n wrote on November 21, 2022 at 9:39 PM

>It certainly wasn't a fame riding situation.

Well arguably it was, but by her publisher/agent/family. It seems like Lee was taken advantage of so that other people could make money.

A lot of people I think realize this, hence it being a controversial release as you pointed out, but a lot of other people just came away with "Atticus is a racist" and that's it.

I do think the manuscript is an interesting insight into her creative process, but it should have been published as such and not as "the never-before-seen prequel to To Kill a Mockingbird!" It also should not have been published until after her death. The audience should have been primarily other writers and academics—not everyone who read TKAM in high school and has little or no understanding of what the manuscript is (and, more importantly, is not).

Mr_niceguy0 OP t1_ix8rl1u wrote on November 21, 2022 at 4:54 PM

Good point

JigglypuffSquirtle t1_ix9qr49 wrote on November 21, 2022 at 8:45 PM

Sorry to be that person, but it was actually written by a woman! Harper Lee. She died about a year after it came out, the rumours I heard were that they took advantage of the fact she was dying. I never heard the rumours about someone else ghost writing it until today.

SubstantialScale9858 t1_ixa09va wrote on November 21, 2022 at 9:50 PM

If the author is good at their job, they'd know when to pull the plug on their story. Story's have a beginning, middle, and end. Some books make take 5 or more books, some may only need to tell their story in one book, but every book has an end. Some writers just don't know when that is, or don't care, which disappoints everyone in the end.