Every author hopes to write a masterpiece - a lasting piece that readers will love and go down in literary history. However, not every book an author writes meets these standards. Sometimes, people are so disappointed, embarrassed, or angry about certain works that the authors who made them wish they had never been published.
The following article discusses four books that made the authors feel bad about their writing. These works are literary cautionary tales because they were badly written, had unexpected effects, or showed how people's views changed. Come with us as we look into the stories behind these doomed works of art and why their creators would rather see them burned.
Arthur Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes" may be his most well-known work. However, Doyle had a deep-seated grudge against the figure he loved. According to historian Lucy Worsley, Doyle thought "Sherlock Holmes" stole the spotlight from his serious history books.
Even though "Sherlock Holmes" made Doyle famous worldwide, it became a burden and a cash cow that Doyle killed by throwing over a Swiss cliff. However, Doyle brought "Sherlock Holmes" back to life 10 years later for financial reasons. Doyle's history books are mostly unread, but his "cheap" detective is still a big hit worldwide.
Known for his rigorous writing, Franz Kafka penned "The Metamorphosis" and other psychological pieces. He previously declared that his work was "nothing more than my own materialization of horror" and "shouldn't be printed at all."
Kafka begged his buddy Max Brod to destroy his works even after his death because he was so dissatisfied with them. Even though Kafka did not want them released, Brod did so with "The Trial" and "The Castle," making sure that his works would live on even if the author himself felt bad about it.
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Even though "Hercule Poirot" by Agatha Christie is one of the most famous detectives in literature, Christie herself came to hate him. Matthew Prichard, Christie's grandson, said that she wanted to "exorcise" Poirot from her public image because she thought he was a "detestable, bombastic, tiresome, egocentric little creep."
Even though she had wanted to kill Poirot off decades ago, the character's popularity and her publishers' demand kept him alive. The 1970s were the last time Christie could kill off her main agent, though she still felt bad about it.
"Little Women" is a well-known and loved classic, but the author did not enjoy working on it. In her journal, Louisa May Alcott wrote that she "never liked girls or knew many except my sisters" and called the show "moral pap for the young." Alcott also does not want Jo to get married, which she does out of spite rather than because she wants to tell a good story. She felt bad about this choice, even though the book has been a huge hit and impacted many people.
The authors' regrets show how complicated the relationship is between creators and the things they make. Their works have become famous for a long time, but the human costs and unintended effects show that success in writing is not always bad.
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