LIFESTYLE Speed Reads: The Fastest Novels Ever Written
5 min
Ask any writer – funny things happen to the human mind when it faces the blank page (or, let’s be realistic, screen). Blind panic is common. A sudden urge to organise the sock drawer or make an eighteenth cup of coffee is also a common occurrence. Time inches by with all the urgency of an inebriated sloth, as the cursor blinks sarcastically into the abyss. It is the extremely rare and, frankly, infuriating mind that gets straight to work and doesn’t let up until a prolific number of words have been written. For these odd individuals, time evaporates – in an enviable state of flow, the usual rules and regs of minutes and hours go out the window. In an effort to inspire, we’re taking a look at twelve books written at warp-speed – in flashes of genius (or madness) – that have stood the test of time. Has the moment come to begin that magnum opus?
A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
A Clockwork Orange
British writer Anthony Burgess, author of 33 novels, is today most often known for just one of them: 1962’s darkly dystopian A Clockwork Orange. Written in 1962, and Burgess claimed he wrote it in just three weeks, motivated only by money. The novel was hugely influential, as was Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation (though Burgess himself disliked it so much he referred to it dismissively as ‘Clockwork Marmalade’.)
The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas
Irish novelist John Boyne has stated that he became so engrossed in this gripping story of a boy living through the Holocaust that he wrote the entire thing in two and a half days, barely stopping to eat or sleep throughout the ordeal. Comfortingly, he also confessed that his other novels took months of planning and effort to write, but that this particular tale flowed so effortlessly from the pen that it simply could not be slowed.
A Study In Scarlet
The novel that introduced the famed detective work of Sherlock Holmes to the masses took Sir Aurthur Conan Doyle three weeks to write in 1886. This story was also notable for being the first Sherlock Holmes story to be adapted to the silver screen.
On the Road, Jack Kerouac
On The Road
The so-called “beatnik bible” that inspired an entire generation was penned in only three weeks. Granted, Jack Kerouac spent seven years travelling across America and taking detailed notes the entire time, but the actual fruits of his labor took less than a month to put on paper… one 120 foot long piece of teletype paper. Not exactly known for his humility, Kerouac’s barely punctuated, partially coherent “Belief and Technique for Modern Prose,” included the note “You’re a Genius all the time.” Note taken.
The Tortoise and the Hare
Oh, the irony. In 1954, Elizabeth Jenkins wrote this tale in three weeks, after being romantically entwined with a man who refused to leave his wife. She revealed in an interview in 2005, “I have never looked at it since; it marked an era to which I had no desire to return.”
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Muriel Spark took only one month to write this novel about a fictionalized version of her teacher, Christiana Kay. She said the story was inspired by a 1960 class assignment: “We were given to write about how we spent our summer holidays, but I wrote about how [my teacher] spent her summer holidays instead. It seemed more fascinating.”
The Gambler, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Gambler
Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky wrote this tale in 26 days while also writing Crime and Punishment. He was heavily in debt and addicted to gambling – the semi-autobiographical novella was a good way to help him pay off his debts. He later ended up marrying the young stenographer to whom he dictated the story.
As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner
As I Lay Dying
William Faulkner wrote his fifth novel As I Lay Dying over the course of six weeks while he worked the night shift at a power plant. Faulkner would start writing at midnight and finish at 4 a.m., the words tumbling neatly into place. So confident was he in his writing technique that he claimed he never changed one word from his first draft, despite the fact that the 59 chapters are narrated by 15 different characters.
King Solomon’s Mines
Rider Haggard wrote King Solomon’ Mines in just 6 weeks after his brother bet him he could not write a book as good as Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Haggard no doubt won the bet, as his novel became an instant bestseller and inspired many others to pen books in the new ‘lost world’ genre. Despite the speed at which it was written, King Solomon’s Mines conveys a compelling reality; Haggard had lived and travelled in Africa for many years, and as a result had ample source material.
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Stevenson had long had the idea of writing a story based on the idea of a split personality, but had been unable to find the right setting. Legend has it that Stevenson, desperately ill with tuberculosis and drugged into delirium, fell into a fitful sleep in which the story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde came to him. On waking he sat at his desk, and in 3 feverish days wrote out the first draft. His wife, Fanny, on reading the completed manuscript thought it was drivel and threw it into the fire, causing poor Stevenson to spend another feverish 3 days re-writing the manuscript once again. Thankfully this version was kept from the flames and went on to be a great success, finally allowing Stevenson to pay off his debts.
The Remains Of The Day, Kazuo Ishiguro
The Remains Of The Day
Kazuo Ishiguro wrote his deeply moving account of an English Butler ‘Remains of the Day’ in just under 4 weeks. The novel would go on to win the Booker Prize in 1989, be made into a film that was nominated for eight Academy Awards, and become one of the most highly regarded post-war novels of all time. He made a plan, with the help of his wife Lorna, that for a four-week period he would ruthlessly clear the diary and go on a ‘crash’ nothing but writing, from 9am to 10.30pm, Monday through Saturday. This was how The Remains of the Day was written. After keeping it up for four weeks, Ishiguro had more or less the entire novel down. A bit more time would be required to polish it, but the story had all come during the Crash.
A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens was a prolific writer used to keeping to tight deadlines; his books were published weekly in serial form in Victorian magazines. But Dickens excelled himself with A Christmas Carol, completing the work in about 6 weeks. Dickens started writing the story in October and worked intensely, occasionally taking breaks at night for a stroll through the streets of London, before finishing it at the end of November. The book was an immediate festive success and has since spawned numerous stage plays, movies and musicals.
Time Enough at Last
Do these tales of acclaimed and speed-written works inspire you to take up the pen (or realistically, the keyboard)? Or do they leave you dreadfully intimidated? Whether you’re ready to get cracking on that novel (as writer or reader), what better sidekick than a TAG Heuer watch to make sure you’re always perfectly up to speed…
