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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,758
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

"Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird"

New York Times Opinion piece pretty much says Harper Collins rushed to publish , "Go Set a Watchman"  as a novel for $$$$$$$$$

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/25/opinion/joe-nocera-the-watchman-fraud.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=c...

Keep Your Face To The Sunshine and You Will Not See The Shadow
Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,681
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&quo

[ Edited ]

i found this to be a bit of a rant.  i don't know any publisher that wouldn't have jumped at the chance to publish anything Harper Lee.   my queasiness:  that all this happened after HL's sister and advisor died.  quickly.  and under the tutelage of HL's advisor/agent, Carter.  i think HL  was ill-advised - Carter represented the author. she had certain responsibiities to her.  i do believe  there were pecuniary motives starting there as generally author's representatives get a percentage of sales..

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,213
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&quo

Someone is making money off this, and it isn't Harper Lee. It's a travesty.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,681
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&amp


@insomniac wrote:

Someone is making money off this, and it isn't Harper Lee. It's a travesty.


i am sure she is making money - but she was hardly hurting with royalties from TKAM most likely more than sufficient over the last 50 years.  her work is under fire now at a time when she is deaf and pretty sightless - and not in a position to respond properly.   it seems others had more to gain than she from this -   i believe her sister was correct in holding back publication.   sometimes these works are better studied posthumously imo.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,110
Registered: ‎03-12-2010

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&amp

She may be making money but she doesn't need more money.  GSAW is a first draft, and from what I've read not a good one.  The stain now on her previously flawless reputation as a writer  is not worth any amount of money.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,758
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&amp

I had known about the controversy surrounding the so called new novel and this NYT opinion piece certainly puts things in perspective for me.

Keep Your Face To The Sunshine and You Will Not See The Shadow
Honored Contributor
Posts: 11,153
Registered: ‎05-22-2012

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&quo

I'm not planning on reading this one. The whole way it was released seems sketchy and opportunistic. I loved To Kill a Mockingbird, but the way this was found and then sold seems wrong to me.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,755
Registered: ‎03-15-2014

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&quo

I've seen people conflate the titles and refer to Book #2 as "Go Kill A Watchman."

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,976
Registered: ‎05-30-2010

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&amp

[ Edited ]

Even though Go Set A Watchman was written before To Kill A Mockingbird (and To Kill A Mockingbird was developed from Go Set A Watchman), the events in Go Set A Watchman take place almost 20 years after the events in To Kill A Mockingbird.  I have read the book and in my mind it is a sequel and I think of it as book #2.  It does not diminish To Kill A Mockingbird in any way (for me).  I am speaking of the book's literary value and not who is making money from it. 

Super Contributor
Posts: 256
Registered: ‎03-23-2010

Re: "Go Set a Watchman" was possibly a 1st manuscript for "To Kill a Mockingbird&amp

I thought the book was awful.  Dont waste any money on it...check it out at the library and dont be in a hurry to do it....thats how bad it is.