Narnia/later variations

[Amy Z]

Amanda wrote:

And after 
an
> author or artist dies, who's left to safeguard *their* vision of 
their
> work? I'm all for the estate of Victor Hugo, trying to stifle that 
Les
> Mis II book! You go, guys!

This reminds me of something I meant to post last week.  Fanfic 
writers in particular will be happy to hear that _The Wind Done Gone_ 
(_Gone with the Wind_ from an African-American POV, which had gotten 
quashed in court by the Mitchell estate) lives again.  Sorry I didn't 
post this when I first saw the article, as I no longer have the link, 
but I'm sure you can find it easily.

That was just spinning off your thread, Amanda, not disagreeing with 
you.  I do agree strongly that knockoffs are A Bad Thing.  Though I 
can't judge without reading it and the original, _The Wind Done Gone_ 
sounds like a serious use of past literature, not an attempt to make a 
buck off someone else's effort and success.  Looking at a story from a 
new POV or with some other twist is a fine literary tradition, rich 
with possibility (Updike's _Roger's Version_, on _The Scarlet Letter_, 
comes to mind as a recent example), and I wouldn't want to see it 
quashed.

Amy Z