Buzz
You’ve just finished a captivating book and are eager to dive into a discussion about it. But since you’re a bookworm, you likely don’t have many close friends around, so the Internet becomes your go-to. However, your hopes for a meaningful conversation are quickly dashed as most online comments focus on how dreadful the book was and all of its mistakes. Unbeknownst to you, those remarks might actually come from the authors themselves...
10. Tolkien and the Elves
J.R.R. Tolkien was a true master of language. Beyond being one of the greatest English-language writers, he was an academic fluent in Anglo-Saxon and its translation. And let's not overlook the many languages he created for his legendary Middle-earth. One of his greatest regrets in The Lord of the Rings was the portrayal of elves. It wasn’t the characters themselves that troubled him, but rather the audience’s misguided understanding of them.
In a letter, he confessed that labeling his characters as 'elves' was a mistake, as it led people to wrongly picture them as fragile, pointy-eared fairies. His elves were intended to be formidable, towering beings of great stature. They were to be portrayed as they appeared in Celtic mythology, carried through to Edmund Spenser. In a lighthearted twist, he holds Shakespeare responsible for this linguistic blunder. Shakespeare reshaped the concept of elves into the creatures we think of today, though Tolkien held Shakespeare in the highest regard.
9. Agatha Christie Wanted to Kill Her Cash Cow
Agatha Christie created the iconic Hercule Poirot, the quirky Belgian detective known for his brilliant crime-solving skills. While Poirot became her most beloved character, Christie soon realized that she couldn’t stand him and felt she had done him a disservice.
When Poirot first gained popularity, and before Christie sought his demise, she realized she had made several missteps: giving him a limp, aging him unnecessarily, and, most notably, making him Belgian. As the character evolved into a “detestable, bombastic, tiresome, ego-centric little creep,” she resolved to kill him off. In 1945, she wrote his death scene but locked it away in a safe when she saw how much money she could still make from Poirot. The lure of the cash proved too strong, so she continued writing about a character she despised. Ultimately, Poirot’s Curtain was released while Christie was on her deathbed.
8. Dickens and Fagin in Oliver Twist
In Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens created the character of Fagin, a deeply problematic Jewish stereotype designed to serve as an evil contrast to Oliver's innocence. Fagin is portrayed as a corrupt and malicious figure, with his Jewish identity being crucial to his villainous role.
However, Dickens was a product of his time and constructed the character based on the prevailing societal views of Jews during Victorian Britain. Anti-Semitism was widespread, and Dickens unwittingly echoed that unfortunate mindset.
As one might expect, Jews were outraged at being depicted as inherently evil, prompting a campaign to get Dickens to acknowledge his error. Dickens initially claimed that he wasn’t personally anti-Semitic, but that “it unfortunately was true of the time to which the story refers, that that class of criminal almost invariably was a Jew.”
In 1869, however, after forming a friendship with a Jewish couple, Dickens revised Oliver Twist. He recognized the “great wrong” he had done to the Jewish community and sought to make amends by removing all references to “the Jew” from the last 15 chapters, along with eliminating Fagin's classic Jewish stereotypes.
7. Stephen King Goes to the Movies
Stephen King's works are often adapted for the big screen, and he has no hesitation sharing his thoughts on how these adaptations measure up to his original material. Sometimes, King's opinions are rather harsh and don’t align with critical opinion. A prime example of this is his disdain for Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining. More often, however, King is generous, highlighting the positive elements of his work's adaptations. But on one occasion, he went further than simply praising a faithful adaptation.
In 2007, Frank Darabont, director of The Shawshank Redemption, adapted King's short story The Mist for film. The plot follows a group of people trapped in a store by a mysterious mist, which conceals something sinister. The film is mostly faithful to the source material... until the ending. In the movie, the main character kills everyone in his group to spare them from a grim fate. Moments later, the military arrives to rescue what remains of the group, a shocking departure from the short story’s conclusion.
King was not silent about the change. He loved it. He was so impressed that he said, “I wish I had thought of it... If I had, that’s the ending I would’ve used in my story.” That’s quite a compliment, as it’s rare for an author to admit that someone else’s interpretation of their work is superior to the original.
6. Sci-Fi Author Disavows Book That Made Him Famous as Propaganda
Stanislaw Lem, a Polish writer active during the Cold War, is widely known in the West for his 1961 novel Solaris, which was famously adapted into a film by Andrei Tarkovsky. However, it was his debut work, The Astronauts, that initially brought him fame. (In 2011, Google even celebrated the 60th anniversary of the novel’s release with one of their famous ‘Doodles’.)
The Astronauts is a science fiction novel about the 2003 discovery of a Venusian spaceship responsible for the 1908 Tunguska event. Despite its early success, Lem later disowned the book, referring to it as communist propaganda trash.
Lem's distaste for his own work comes from its overly optimistic and simplistic depiction of communism. Set in the early 2000s, the story envisions a world where communism has triumphed globally. In this utopia, young scientists and explorers, liberated from the shackles of capitalism, are free to achieve monumental scientific and engineering feats. After discovering an alien spaceship from Venus, the protagonists set out on a mission to the planet, all thanks to the supposed glories of communism.
5. George R.R. Martin Confesses He Got A Lot Wrong
Bringing the world of Game of Thrones to life through the series and various video games made George R.R. Martin realize that he had no real understanding of how to scale structures properly. The Wall, a towering 210 meters (700 ft) tall, serves as a barrier for the Night’s Watch, guarding against eerie skeletons in the night. For perspective, the Seattle Space Needle stands at only about 180 meters (600 ft). Upon seeing the Wall illustrated, Martin reportedly exclaimed, “I wrote it too big!”
Martin also expresses regret over how he first wrote Tyrion. When Tyrion is first introduced, he’s performing acrobatic stunts in the Winterfell courtyard. Originally, Martin intended for Tyrion to be an aspiring acrobat. For those unfamiliar with the books, or those who need a refresher, here’s how we first meet him:
He pushed himself off the ledge into empty air. Jon gasped, then watched with awe as Tyrion Lannister spun around in a tight ball, landed lightly on his hands, then vaulted backward onto his legs.
As Martin revealed to Adria’s News, this cringeworthy scene was a result of having “very few references” for people with dwarfism.
One of the most significant changes, however, is a direct result of the TV series. Though Martin is not a postmodern writer, he faces one of the most ironic postmodern dilemmas any writer can: The TV series will finish the story before the books do. Despite his efforts to avoid letting the show shape his books, Martin has admitted that the series got one character absolutely right—and better than he ever did. That character is Osha, the wildling who looks after Bran and Rickon. In the books, she’s a shallow, disposable character serving the plot, but on the show, she’s portrayed as a layered, autonomous woman. Martin has confessed that the show’s depiction of Osha influenced him to develop and expand her character in the books. In other words, the show nailed it, and he didn’t.
But things could have been worse. Martin’s regrets would be far greater if the original version of the story had been kept—the one where Jon and Arya fall in love and are tormented by their incestuous passion.
4. Gogol’s Intense Resentment
Nikolai Gogol, a renowned Ukrainian-Russian writer of the 19th century, developed an intense loathing for his most significant literary achievement. Initially starting his career as a short story author and playwright, he later embarked on his greatest work, the satirical masterpiece Dead Souls. The novel tells the story of Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, a middle-class man traveling through a provincial town in search of the titular dead souls. Tragically, only the first part of the novel remains, and it ends abruptly in the middle of a sentence.
The reason the second part of the novel is lost is rooted in Gogol’s personal religious mysticism. In his later years, Gogol became influenced by a peculiar Orthodox priest who convinced him that the second half of his work was heretical. Under the priest’s guidance, Gogol destroyed the second part of his life’s labor. Subsequently, he undertook a fast to cleanse his soul of the sins he believed he had committed through his writing—a fast that ultimately led to his death.
3. J.K. Rowling’s Tendency to Retcon
Harry Potter is undoubtedly the most cherished children's book series of all time. Almost every millennial has either read the books or at least seen the movies, and many people of a certain age can engage in lengthy conversations about their favorite parts of the wizarding world. However, J.K. Rowling can’t seem to let the story be, as she frequently goes on record to alter or provide additional clarifications about various elements of the Harry Potter universe. The most controversial aspect of this has nothing to do with Dumbledore’s sexuality.
J.K. Rowling has admitted to a major mistake in the series: Ron and Hermione should never have ended up together. Despite her continuous revisions and additions to the story, this is by far the most significant ‘error’ she acknowledges. Fans are left puzzled, as they adore the couple and disagree with Rowling’s preference for Harry and Hermione to have been romantically involved instead.
2. Octavia Butler Isn’t A Star Trek Enthusiast
Octavia Butler, a renowned science-fiction author, is celebrated as one of the greatest writers to ever contribute to the genre. She made history as the first science-fiction author to receive a MacArthur Fellowship (often referred to as a ‘genius grant’) and was a multiple-time winner of the prestigious Hugo and Nebula Awards. As a Black woman navigating a predominantly white, male-dominated field, her work explored tough, often bleak, and complex themes that reflected human experiences more than fictional worlds. However, one of her works stands out as an exception.
Survivor, the third book in Butler’s Patternist series, holds the distinction of being the only book she authored that went out of print. Remarkably, it became unavailable just four years after it was published, largely due to Butler’s own strong dislike for the book. Her main criticism was that it felt cliche-ridden, and she regretted following the conventional narrative of humans traveling to another planet, exploiting its inhabitants, and having relationships with them. She even referred to it as her Star Trek novel, likely because she found the show to be cliche and derivative.
1. Harold Bloom’s Self-Conscious Anxiety
Harold Bloom is one of the most prominent literary critics of modern times. Having authored countless books and served as a professor of literature at Yale University since 1955, he is a key figure in the field. His influence stretches beyond his teaching, with his sharp critiques of poor writing being particularly well-known. Bloom's critical approach is so unforgiving that even his own fictional works haven't escaped his biting judgment.
Beyond his academic achievements, Harold Bloom has written a single novel in his career, titled The Flight to Lucifer, which serves as a sequel to David Lindsey's 1920 fantasy/sci-fi novel A Voyage to Arcturus. However, Bloom himself has expressed disdain for the work, calling it a complete failure. He harshly criticizes the novel, which he believes has no redeeming qualities, and regrets ever writing it. Despite positive reviews and its contribution to his reputation in literature and criticism, the novel continues to embarrass him, and he wishes it were out of print.
+ Palahniuk Goes To The Movies
Chuck Palahniuk, the beloved author, is currently working on releasing a monthly miniseries that serves as a continuation of his cult classic novel Fight Club. You might be more familiar with the film adaptation directed by David Fincher. Don’t feel guilty if the movie left a greater impact on you than the book—it had the same effect on Palahniuk himself.
Palahniuk has openly stated that he considers the movie version of his book to be superior, particularly praising the film’s ending. While the novel concludes with a much darker tone, the movie offers a more romantic and ironically optimistic resolution.
In an interview, Palahniuk revealed that Fincher, the director, managed to simplify the plot and make connections that the author himself had missed. One notable example Palahniuk highlights is the line spoken by Tyler Durden, 'Father’s setting up franchise with other families,' which he views as a piece of meta-dialogue reflecting the novel's commercialization as a brand.
