To read the first work of a much adored writer can be either a revelation or more likely a deception, sometimes even a big one because not many succeed in producing outstanding literature already in the very first try. Writing like any other occupation needs practice. And experience of life usually isn’t a disadvantage, either. Quite a lot of the great men and women of literature that we know today saw their first novels (poems, short stories,…) rejected by publishers, often by more than just one, as show their biographies. In the Victorian age this wasn’t any different from today. Charlotte Brontë, for instance, never saw her first novel in print. The Professor was first published under her pen name Currer Bell in 1857, i.e. only two years after her premature death, and to this date it’s less widely read than her masterpieces Jane Eyre and Villette or even Shirley.Read more » (external link to Lagraziana's Kalliopeion)
I recently read a couple first novels by authors who would later achieve greatness. I like seeing the seeds of what is to come even though those novels are usually weaker.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's my experience too that first novels are rarely the masterpieces of an author. On the other hand, I dare say that the same is true for the late works of prolific writers... For instance, I loved the early novels of Paulo Coelho, but his latest ones have been a bit disappointing...
Delete