Archive Entries for December 2022
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Saturday December 31, 2022
Books in December
Having discovered that a number of well-known authors (some surprisingly) have tried their hands at extending the James Bond canon, I decided to read them. William Boyd was the first one I found, after reading The Romantic, and this led on to the others via a review column. I already knew knew Anthony Horowitz had written Trigger Mortis ("the" sequel to Goldfinger), using some of the text or chapters that Fleming had already written. At the time of publication, I took the opportunity to read it as well as Goldfinger; I did not know however that since then he had written a second Bond novel.
As a Guardian reviewer, Sarah Ditum, points out - modern day authors have an issue with recreating Bond - a "cold war relic". Fleming himself is acknowledged to be a sadist, a racist and a misogynist - maybe of his time - and
the parts of his style that are easy to pastiche are also intolerably obnoxious. Thus the author's task is simple and borderline impossible: do Bond exactly the same, and make it different.
Most of these authors tone him down and the contemporary reviewers of the individual books give better opinions than I can on how well each of them does this and how much is left of the "real" Bond.
I'm listing the books in the order in which I read them. With each one I thought I liked it the best, but looking back at them, I think they are pretty equal in my estimation. In each case the narrators chosen for the books are heavyweight actors with very distinctive voices, and known for their portrayals of suave English gentlemen.
- Solo William Boyd [read by Dominic West]
Boyd is an excellent story teller and the overall structure and pace are very much in keeping with the original Bond novels. As in many of his novels, (notably the first), Boyd draws on his knowledge and experience of Africa to provide the backdrop to this adventure. It's set in 1969, chronologically 6 years after the last Bond book, and we find 007 celebrating his 45th birthday - alone. The subsequent mission sees him sent to single-handedly stop a civil war in a small West African nation but seemingly without any tangible means to set about it. We are all set for a classic Bond outing - albeit with a rather convoluted plot.
- Forever and a Day Anthony Horowitz [Read by Matthew Goode]
I was in two minds about this before I read it, as I wasn't too keen on Trigger Mortis; I wanted to like it but... didn't much - despite my gushing devotion to Horowitz. However, as acknowledged by Horowitz, quite a few sections of that book were written by Fleming himself, with Horowitz filling in the blanks. I feel that this book is far better in that the author is less contrained by anyone else's style - not only in terms of the writing but also in the general character of Bond. Some noted that Horowitz was still "labouring in Bond's shadow", but I think that because it's a prequel so we can observe Bond's character less than fully formed - in a Good way! - and I applaud the portrayal of his relatively emancipated female lead.
Initially not knowing this was a prequel, I was quite taken aback buy the opening of the book (certainly obeyed the rules of fiction and got my attention): "007 floats in the waters of Marseille, killed by an unknown hand.... M laid down his pipe and said tetchily: 'We have no choice. We're just going to bring forward this other chap you've been preparing. But you didn't tell me his name.'..."
<INSERT CLASSIC LINE HERE>.
It's time for James Bond to earn his licence to kill. - Devil May Care Sebastian Faulks [read by Jeremy Northam]
This book was published in 2008 to celebrate the Centenary of Ian Fleming's birth. It's apparently written in Fleming's style and set in 1967, keeping the same time frame, and seeing Bond return to action after a sabbatical following the death of his wife.
The arch enemy is Dr Julius Gorner, a megalomaniac chemist, (my favourite kind!), complete with the physical deformity apparently almost de rigeur in the Bond movies. However, the female side-kick is once again not just a pretty face, proving herself suspiciously useful in a fight, and ultimately a fully independent character in her own right. [It has to be said that the unreconstructed Bond character is manipulated from the outset into accepting her as a partner, believing her to be a conventional damsel in distress]. Faulks said: My female lead has a little more depth than Fleming's women, but not at the expense of glamour.
- Colonel Sun Kingsley Amis [read by Simon Vance]
Kingsley Amis published this work in 1968 under the pseudonym "Robert Markham" - which is presumably why I was never previously aware of its existence. Colonel Sun is the first James Bond continuation novel published after Ian Fleming's death in 1964. The story begins with M's being kidnapped, and Bond's being sent to track him down and rescue him - and I trust it's not too much of a spoiler to say his mission is successful!
Colonel Sun is the villain of the piece, and is an interesting choice - being "ostensibly the most repellent racial caricature of all", and yet "arguably as much a critique of Fleming's two-dimensional villains as a continuation of the pattern" - as is the choice of baddie nation being China over the traditional USSR. Similarly the female lead "both conforms to the Fleming formula for Bond girls and deviates from it". I recommend reading this 2018 review by John Dugdale as it covers this in more detail plus a number of points I found most interesting.
Apparently elements from this story have been used for some of the films, including adapting the torture scene for Spectre (2015). Much of Blofeld's dialogue in the torture scene was written by Amis for Sun, resulting in an acknowledgement to Amis' estate in the end title credits.
Amis wrote two other Bond related works, of which I was also ignorant: the literary study, The James Bond Dossier and the humorous The Book of Bond.
There are in fact several other illustrious novelists who have turned their hands to Bond stories - but I think I have had my fill for now...!
Posted on December 31, 2022 at 12:15 PM. Category: Books of the Month.
Thursday December 29, 2022
Christmas Jigsaws
Today I completed my cat jigsaw, which was a Christmas present from Rob. It's very pretty, and an absolutely exquisitely made item - each piece made of thick wood in a unique shape - some of the shapes are identifiable as other objects - an anchor, squirrel etc. This made it quite difficult but then also a bit easier as well.... (work that out).
Alongside this, we started our new Mike Wilks jigsaw: "A".
Posted on December 29, 2022 at 6:16 PM. Category: Staying at Home.
Sunday December 25, 2022
Christmas
Posted on December 25, 2022 at 6:41 PM. Category: Red Letter Days.
