Minor works by major writers

[kelby_lake]

Do you think there is anything to be gained by studying minor works of great writers?

[Der Wegwerfer]

sure, it can help you see the development of the writer.

[OrphanPip]

Some of us disagree over what constitutes a minor work though. I'm likely going to base my MA thesis on Defoe's Roxana, it's the least studied of Defoe's novels, but I think it is also his best work. (With the caveat that my thesis isn't really about Defoe per se, but about the role of performance and the theatre in early prose)

[kelby_lake]

Some of us disagree over what constitutes a minor work though. I'm likely going to base my MA thesis on Defoe's Roxana, it's the least studied of Defoe's novels, but I think it is also his best work. (With the caveat that my thesis isn't really about Defoe per se, but about the role of performance and the theatre in early prose)

I sympathise. I'm studying Pericles as part of my dissertation and that holds a very uneasy place in the canon due to the collaboration.

I think there's a difference between obscurer or less-studied novels and minor novels or juvenilia.

[SFG75]

I would argue that value is in the eye of the beholder. Minor works can help you obtain more of a well-rounded understanding of the author and influences on their thinking that lead them to pick up the pen in the first place. Some of Nabokov's work comes to mind in this instance. I also believe that you can find out some rich history as well. While I love The Grapes of Wrath and Winter of our discontent, John Steinbeck also wrote a minor work called The Moon is Down. The short book was intended as a piece of propaganda and Steinbeck had been in communication with Roosevelt about creating such a work for the war effort. The book was translated into many different languages and possessing it under Nazi occupied areas earned one the death penalty. The writing is very powerful and you can't forget the ending where a local mayor collaborator tells the Nazis that while they could force him to do their bidding, that the people would not obey. The Nazis understood the power of the book and knew the underlying message was powerfully intense.

[Pierre Menard]

If it's a good book, it's a good book regardless of whether it's minor or major. So it's from an author I like then I'll be interested in reading it.

For example, Borges is my favourite writer and I'm currently reading one of his short story collections from later on in life. Is it as good as Ficciones or The Aleph or Dreamtigers? Nope. Does it still make me tingle in the right places? Yep. So it's definitely worth reading because it still brings me joy.

[kelby_lake]

I would argue that value is in the eye of the beholder.

To an extent, yes, but there are some novels/plays/poems that are good but still regarded as minor in the canon, either because the story is deemed to have been rushed or done for financial as opposed to artistic reasons, or it is not typical of the author's style.

[kelby_lake]

Talking of minor works, I'm reading Two on A Tower by Thomas Hardy, which I love :D