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Question: If you could rewrite parts of a certain book, would you!?
Okay, I've been on a William Faulkner binge the last ten hours or so!. Consider this:
In a letter to the Chicago Tribune, Faulkner says the following:
"It is a difficult question!. I can name offhand several books which I should like to have written, if only for the priviledge of rewriting parts of them!. But I dare say there are any number of angels in heaven today who look down upon the world and muse with a little regret on how much neater they would have done the job than the Lord, in the fine heat of his creative fury, did!."
*Excuse the religious undertones, Faulkner was a Christian!.
That said, what book, if any, would you rewrite!? Why!?
If the passage above caught your attention, later in his letter, Faulkner chose Moby-Dick for the "Greek-like simplicity" of it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
I'd like to attempt 'Needful Things' by Stephen King!.
I went through a King phase in my early teens, and that book sticks in my mind as one that had potential but never quite got there!. Particularly the ending, but there were parts all through it that I almost enjoyed!. Almost!.
It's such a great concept -- sell everyone in the town the one thing they've always craved, then slowly reveal that the 'hidden costs' are a little more complicated than the usual taxes and insurance!. Parts of the book really drew me in, but it just didn't quite work!.
In saying this, of course, Stephen King is a fabulous author!. I write a pretty mean assignment outline, but the sheer ego required to imagine that I could improve on any of his books!.!.!. maybe I should rephrase!. Given the opportunity, I'd love to see SOMEONE ELSE rewrite parts of this book!. Not me!. It'd be too depressing to read it at the end and realise how little talent I had!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Surprise coming from me! James Fenimore Cooper!. The Leatherstocking series would be a hell of a story if someone would write it properly!.
Something less of a gimme: I would also like to trim down anything by Ayn Rand, if only to see if there's really anything there!.
Anything by Sir Walter Scott could probably be cut and tightened by a good 200 pages!.
I would also trim the hell out of Baroness d'Orczy's Scarlet Pimpernel series--I love those books, but they could be written so much more cleanly, had she not fallen prey to so much romanticism!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
i dont think i could do this - books like people are made interesting by their flaws, not their perfections!. i read because i want to hear a story as someone else would tell it, not because i want to criticise them for not doing as i would have done!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Actually the book I have just finished, Lee Childs "Nothing to Lose"
Compared to his previous books this was only a 2 star!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I will make a daring attempt!. I will rewrite some parts of The Godfather!. Infact, I will like to remove some parts of it!. I think there is too much of plotting done in that book!. Too, many stories that it already looks like an anthology!. Now that is no problem! The greater thing is that I think that book has been made overtlt-adult (XXX)!. I would want to edit the - like (if you have read it) Lucy Mancici's surgery, her "encounter" with Sommy Corleone (all the lurid details), the romance between Michael and his first wife (that part is interesting but not all that important - lets spare that!)!.!.!. and may be some more!.
It may sound funny, but the details of intimacies there are not all that matters in a Mafia novel!.
TW KWww@QuestionHome@Com