1. Vladimir Nabokov - The Original of LauraNabokov didn't want to publish and even to finish this book, and even asked for it to be destroyed. Was he unhappy with it? Did he feel that it wasn't all it could have been? Was he afraid that his readers would be disapointed by it? No matter what his true reasons were, one of his final wishes wasn't fulfilled, and we can today read this last Nabokov novel. Many have been enthusiastic about it, others have considered it to be not at as good as the others.
2. Franz Kafka - The Castle
Or you cand add The Trial and Amerika as well, for Kafka never completed any of these novels. In fact, if it wasn't for Max Brod, we wouldn't have today most of Kafka's writings, for his wish was that after his death almost all of those to be destroyed. One could only ask himself how much of what he created Kafka destroyed before dying. And still, even unfinished, they are amazing and iconic novels.
3. Gustave Flaubert - Bouvard and Pecuchet
Funny? Of course. The kind of story that you start reading with a puzzled look and don't seem to be able to put down? It is a Flaubert novel after all. You can simply say that it is the story of two middle-aged, rather naive clerks who come about a fortune and decide to radically alter their lives and leave Paris, in pursuit of another destiny. Or two destinies. So they try to dedicate their time to new and exciting intellectual (and not only) pursuits, and amusingly fail each time. Maybe not as famous as his other books, but surely worth your time.
4. Charles Dickens - The Mistery of Edwin Drood
This rather bizzare novel was to be the very last of one of the most popular and succesful writers of all times, and Charles Dickens seemed to approach this final story in another manner that his readers were accustomed to. He managed to write about half of it before his untimely death, but the book left more questions than answers, and it is still the most fascinating enigma in the dickensian universe. What was the mistery of Edwin Drood is still up for grabs, and many theories have been offered so far. No wonder that this unfinished novel inspired nowadays a strange and captivating thriller, Drood, written by Dan Simmons, which tries to recreate the last years in the life of the writer. With unusual twists, murders and altogether a Dickens much more different than we could imagine.
5. Geoffrey Chaucer - The Canterbury Tales
Magnum Opus, a masterpiece, a difficult and amazing piece of work, a long and twisted story in a beautiful style which hides many secrets and codes. Much has been said and written about Chaucer's work, but unfortunatelly he never managed to even get close to the projected 24 tales (not including the prologues). Still it is considered to be a literary triumph, but how would it have been had it been completed?
6. Ernest Hemingway - The Garden of Eden
Even if he started writing it in about 1946, the book remained unfinished at the time of Hemingway's suicide, and for a long time was considered by some a lost work, while others hoped that someday would be published. Which it was more that two decades after the writer's death, a massive novel which wasn't to the liking of many readers.
7. Albert Camus - The First Man
The last book with a tragic story, for the manuscript (only fragments and notes) was actually find at the very site were Camus lost his life in a car accident. It was due to the efforts and dedication of his daughter, Catherine Camus, that we can enjoy this final novel of the French writer, and one can only wonder how much of Camus himself we find in the main character.
Photo: wikipedia.org
