Posted by Rebecca on 01/17/00 from ant25271-1.gw.connect.com.au:
In Reply to: Re: Sequels posted by Anne LeVeque on January 13, 2000 at 21:26:21:
Any sequel is doomed to disappointment. Presumably intended to ease our yearnings for more, ever more AR, it would certainly fail to touch us in any way. Only AR himself could touch us, and he knew when to stop.
'Wide Sargasso Sea' is a good model for future possibilities for writing from - not like - AR. While it's technically a prequel in that it takes as its protagonist a fictional character and her life before her creation by another author, it stands as an independent work of art. Like 'Rosencrantz and Guildernster are Dead' (in which Tom Stoppard used minor characters from Hamlet as protagonists) Jean Rhys never attempted to emulate Thingo Bronte (sorry, temporarily forgot which sister). In style and intention, "Wide Sargasso Sea' is a different, new piece of writing. MUCH more interesting than some half-baked imitative prequel or sequel, and entirely squirm-free reading. (Just don't watch the ghastly film.)