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Wilbur Smith following Shakespeare by using co-authors

PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:04 pm
by Matbow
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24579196

So this explanation is a little bit more palatable to me than what was reported in his previous interview ("I will depend on the co-author to come up with a story line to carry that character forward.").

Re: Wilbur Smith following Shakespeare by using co-authors

PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 4:24 pm
by jeffw
Hi Mat; perhaps; though not possible for a "stranger" to recreate insight enough to follow WS. Only my opinion, but I can't see it working. WS is now a commodity, the personal touch will fade away. Let's come back to this one in twelve months time. :shock:

Re: Wilbur Smith following Shakespeare by using co-authors

PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 6:19 pm
by tedd
Hi Jeff - so now it's "twelve months time" how are we rating things? We don't seem to be any the wiser - we don't yet know if he is doing any writing himself or whether it's being done by ghosts. I suppose he doesn't really have to tell us the truth of it!!

Re: Wilbur Smith following Shakespeare by using co-authors

PostPosted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 2:57 pm
by jeffw
Hi Ted. Jaw dropping! Keep hoping for a return to the WS of old, reckon it's time to accept that this will never happen. Gone from great man to brand name; being wheeled out by his pr people for that 'one more roll of the dice'. Struggle to find anything likable about Desert God. His surgeon was right: as a writer he will never again cut the mustard. Now he claims to be writing a book every six months for his £15,000,000! At the ripe old age of 81, this 'aint gonna happen. Time will tell. Wouldn't be so bad if he admitted to using ghost writers. Feel sorry for the man, should rather be writing his memoirs and close off his career with a modicum of respectability.
You take care, God bless.
Jeff

Re: Wilbur Smith following Shakespeare by using co-authors

PostPosted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:08 pm
by tedd
This all seemed to happen in a hurry. His writing (style and content) was changing and it appears as if he was getting tired of it and wanted out. His work seemed rushed and not thought through. He changed publishers which I think is very significant, and announced that he was going to use ghosts. It can't be because he needs the money. He always seems to have been a 'two-style' writer to me. His first books Lion/Thunder were detailed, complex and enthralling - and then he comes up with a different relaxed, casual style like Eye of Tiger (also enjoyable but not like the earlies). We shall see! Having said that, I enjoyed Desert God, but it was more the style of the Tiger than the Lion - ghosts or not.