An unachieved novel : The Pale King from David Foster Wallace

Week 1 : Mathilde Fourgeot

In what way could we publish an unfinished work without the authorisation or the agreement from the author? That’s the inevitable question, when an author leaves this world, whereas he was in creation. He leaves behind him an unachieved text, some notes and a story or reflexion without end. How does the published book reflect the reality of what the author wanted to write or create? There are a few questions after the publishing of “The Pale King”, an unfinished novel from David Foster Wallace, an American novelist.

As we can read in the article from The New York Times, Sam Anderson explains us that David Foster Wallace isn’t an exception. On the contrary, there are a lot of famous unachieved novels or works in our literary world. Several authors like Franz Kafka or Walter Benjamin didn’t finished those last works. But we all know how important and precious were and still are these works today.

“The Pale King” questions us about the authorial presence and the physical absence of Wallace. This book seems to be rather a reconstruction of notes and impressions left from the author than a real novel. In the end, this reconstruction gives the Wallace’s fans and the others a last immersion in his thoughts. (204)