NEWS: Woman Loses Manuscript; Finds Half-Century Later in Her Own House

CULTURE: Woman Loses Manuscript; Finds Half-Century Later in Her Own House

So here's a nice little story for the morning:



I am writing this article from scenic Laptop-upon-Bed (because it's still early and cold), overlooking the picturesque sea of comic books, mismatched sneakers, and scattered loose-leaf papers that comprises my life. It's kind of a lifelong bad habit of mine, and while growing up it was never uncommon for my mother to burst through the door like the Kool-Aid Man and exclaim "It must take you fifty years to find anything in this mess!" All this time, I thought she was only hyperbolizing. (Seriously, I'd give any hard-target search in here a couple of hours, tops.) Now I know it was more of a cautionary tale: not what is, so much as shadows of what may be, should my actions remain unchanged.

You could choose to see Ms. Haasse's story as a tragedy, for living in conditions conducive to losing her own whole damn book for fifty-some years; I, however, see it as a triumph over the elements, and pretty much the greatest story I've ever read in my life. It's inspirational, like a kid on the junior high swim team reading about Greg Louganis coming out of retirement with some kind of triple-loop backwards dive technique he never thought he could do again. In addition, she has since written fifty other books and won tons of literary prizes. One has to wonder if her talent might have languished without the guilt of loss to drive her.



I'm about this close forwarding this link to my mother, but somehow I'm thinking she'd pick tragedy.



_DictionaryGirl_ is now convinced beyond all doubt that a tidy room is not a thing of beauty, but a hindrance to bringing out that tiger writing instinct!

"It has absolutely no literary ambitions," Haasse told the Volkskrant newspaper. "I had earlier translated a British thriller as a serial novel, so I knew the genre. 'Come on', I thought, 'I'll give it a try myself'."

i like your spin on it better than the actual story.

That is one kickass old lady.

So there is still hope of finding my old comic books somewhere?

Hella cool.

A similar story, in its way:

(quote from Wikipedia; accurate enough). Fine record

Awesome!

I think it's completely a triumphal conclusion to a story, especially as it's being published; it must be very satisfying to tie up a loose end like that.

I'm glad to hear other writers are as "organized" as I am.

There are SG members that DON'T have comics, clothes, shoes, random crap, etc strewn about their rooms?

I know it's not intentional, but this has to have increased the marketability of this work by a factor of ten.

Hmmm, I'd actually be afraid to find any of the stories I wrote as a kid in my room. My couse-your-own-adventure Megaman book must remain HIDDEN!!!!!

I can see my life veering much in the same direction. . . .

83 lost half-written/half-edited manuscripts found at random intervals years after they were begun.


I really need to be a better housekeeper =/