From the Guardian:
[Sebastian] Faulks, who is becoming used to slipping into the skin of classic authors, after publishing a bestselling James Bond novel in 2008, was approached by the Wodehouse estate to take on the first ever authorised Wodehouse follow-up. Jeeves and the Wedding Bells, described as "a homage to PG Wodehouse" by the author's estate, will be published on 6 November by Hutchinson, also home to Wodehouse's later novels.
I'm perfectly fine with unauthorized fan fiction (like this and this), but for some reason the idea of an AUTHORIZED Wodehouse sequel is making me twitch.
Can you explain my brain to me? Please?
(Relatedly? My ringtone is currently the Jeeves and Wooster theme song.)
Because official sequels are transparent money grabs by estates and publishers who know that they are easy bestsellers? (See Emma Thompson and the Peter Rabbit sequel. Celebrity + sequel to classic literature = $$$$$$. Write your own dang character, Emma!)
The original genius that made Bertie and Jeeves great shouldn't be adulterated by an estate looking to further milk the franchise (hello, mixed metaphor). If Faulks can write a work of comedic perfection, then by all means he should do so. On his own merits.
Posted by: dangermom | 07 March 2013 at 01:22 PM
I cannot explain it, but I suspect it is the same reason I shudder whenever I spy one of those Jill Paton Walsh things that purport to carry on the Whimsey stories.
Posted by: Heather | 07 March 2013 at 01:28 PM
I agree. This isn't a blanket rule, sometimes authorised sequels are cool, but Sebastian Faulks + Jeeves and Wooster... nrgh.
Posted by: Bookgazing | 08 March 2013 at 10:43 AM
Because sometimes the writers hired for these projects don't know and/or don't even like the source material. Case in point:
http://www.amazon.com/Rhett-Butlers-People-Donald-McCaig/dp/B001FOR5Z8/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1362759440&sr=1-1&keywords=rhett+butler%27s+people
Posted by: Auntie M. | 08 March 2013 at 11:18 AM