Terry Pratchett who died in 2015 aged 66 from Alzheimer left instructions on what to do with his unfinished works.
After selling over 85 million books in 37 countries over 41 years he did not want anyone else completing these books.
He left word the hard disc with the unfinished works on should be run over and crushed by a steamroller.
This is the result with a little help from a stone crusher.
His friend and assistant who found fulfilling his request harder than first thought, and after several attempts found someone to run over it.
The steamroller was at the Great Dorset Steam fair and was the 6½ Ton Lord Jericho. It failed to crush the hard disc and it was put into a stone crusher.
Now the real question.
Should they have crushed his unfinished work or should it have been completed and published for everyone?
It's fantastic they followed his request. But, they could have finished the novels and made a lot of money to help in the fight against Alzheimer.
Sir Terry was a perfectionist in his work and each book was polished until each word shone, reading the Shepherds Crown you could see how unfinished, to his standards it was. This isn't a criticism of the story but a fact of his illnesses effect.
For anyone else to finish his books would be wrong and it was right to follow his wishes, although to publish his unfinished work as it stood would have been a fascinating insight into the way he wrote.
Finisher or not they would be interesting.
They would have been and a great insight into his writing methods for other writers to learn from.
That is another great thought.
This is heartbreaking. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
I have mixed emotions about this. Forgive me, I wrote my own post about it, with a link to yours, of course!
I think you being an author, shows in your post, compared to mine :).
I do think Terry's editor could have helped make sure the unfinished work was close to his original work.
i never read any of his stuff, but as an author myself, i'd never want anyone to release my UNFINISHED works to the public after my death.
notes and letters to others? sure.
finished, but unpublished stories and novels? sure.
unfinished stories and unfinished novels? absolutely not.
they were his creations and they were his to do with as he pleased.
I do not think everyone's unfinished work should be completed. In this case because the author gave so much to the charity, he could have given much more, using these novels and he would never know how they turned out.
because he gave so much to charity, he could have given more? i mean...i get where you're coming from, but that seems really selfish on the part of someone who's not a family member.
and you're right, he'd never know how they turned out, but that's HIS work and nobody else's. i'd be super fucking pissed if someone finished my work after i explicitly told them not to. what if someone in your family went against your expressed wishes after you died? that'd be a pretty shitty thing to do to someone's memory.
I agree it would be. I think following his wishes was the correct way to go. I am just trying to stir discussion with other points of view. It was something he would have thought of, I am sure. He obviously organised his final days a long time before they came. He also talked of taking his own life and therefore thought of the end a lot and what would happen after.
I guess I just don't like destroying things.
As an Author and your wife...
If I die with anything unfinished and there's a call for such projects to be released to the public, whether that be for charity or to keep my family in a manner to which I'd like them to become accustomed...
DO IT!
With FULL permission. Publish EVERYTHING if it will help someone after I'm gone.
Let's face it, with my track record, there's going to be one or two (hundred) unfinished projects and if someone can benefit from them Please, have at it with a glad heart.
nice post. poor Hard disk..lol have a nice day. :)
From what I know he had at least 10 unfinished writings and i really think they should have completed them and make a lot of money that could have been used not only for Alzheimer put many charities for helping poor people around the world!
Well too late now!
Possibly
It's really sad to hear that they've destroyed this hard disc containing so much unfinished writings. It could have really been completed and published to make some good money to help fight against the sickness that killed him.
Now the question is...is this the real hard disc!? Hmmm
70 years from now we (our kids) might find out. Just out of copyright.
this interesting post, you are indeed in choosing a good post and quality. I will always follow you with all the stories and posts.
Thanks
I have, on several occasions been reading a series of books by an author who either died, or just quit writing.
Some of these were picked up either by "loved ones" or, more often, by the dissatisfied publishers and "completed".
Not once has the result been satisfying to me as a fan of the original. I have heard others make this argument about"worthy causes", but it all boils down to paying a hack to finish a work of art. Should we now have "artists" complete the unfinished works of all histories great thinkers, painters, writers or engineers? Should the sketches and scribblings of the great painters of the past be "completed" and then marketed? How soon before we have works in our museums and galleries painted by Rembrandt, featuring Larry Smith? I have nothing against Larry, or any other artist trying to make a name for themselves, but don't mess with the best. A great example of this is the recent fantasy series "The Wheel Of Time" by Robert Jordan (and Brandon Sanderson). An epic story with millions of fans who waited desperately for each new book in the chain. And then Robert Jordan died. With the story mostly, but not completely, finished. So his widow and publisher decided to hire a second rate hack to complete one of the greatest stories ever told. And it flopped. The story could not be finished in anything like a satisfying manner, because so much of the story existed only within the mind of Robert Jordan. In spite of copious notes and pre-plot scripting left behind by the author, who knew he was dying.
If it could not work in a situation where all parties were in agreement and cooperating, how could it possibly work here, where the author has left no such detailed mapping of the future of the story, AND has expressed his desire for his writing career to die with him?
And, please, don't tell me how you have decided that the unfinished works of Terry Pratchet are going to change the outcomes of Alzheimer's research. The man sold eighty-five million books in his lifetime. I'm sure his heirs/ estate could afford to give just as much as the sale of the unfinished books would make. It is just another form of disingenuous marketing.
I say leave well enough alone. Honor the man for his achievements in life, but do not diminish him by marketing his corpse.
Just my thoughts.
Be well.
Many thanks for your thoughts on the matter.