13 replies to this topic

[David Schofield]

A lot of CNners like what Higson has done with young Bond: a lot don't.

For me (other than potential shifts in the Fleming timeline - I am a compulsive here, sorry - from which they both suffer), the trouble with Higson is his need to write an adventure story which then leads to the problem - would a 13 year old boy, particularly one as quiet and well brought-up as his Bond seems, really break into a castle to discover what was going on there? I would suggest not. And this is Higson's problem: his need to create a Famous Five mystery adventure which in themselves were never credible. Their appeal lay in there being different from the lives of th 13 year old reading reading them.

But all Bond is fantasy, I hear you say. True to an extent, but Fleming's secret was making things not too unbelievable and achieveable by an extraodinary man, James Bond. Do we really believe that, having summoned the courage to break in the castle, Bond could then escape from it (even with Silverfin inside him)?

Pearson's young Bond arriving at Eton is an altogether more worldly boy. He has observed his parents failed marriage, his mother adultery and the Vickers engineers trial by the Bolscheviks at first hand, as well as his parents deaths. And yet, Pearson makes Bond's life at Eton what we expected it to be: rebelling against the need to conform, yes, but also in Bond's relationship with the wealth Brinton's. Here is Bond as the upper-middle class snob (the image of Fleming himself), enjoying the privalege of status in trips to Paris, casinos and good-living, and driving to the South of France. And he gets himself into trouble with one of the boys maids...

Pearson gives us a Bond who we can quite easily see metamorphasising into the Bond of CR. He is a snob and aloof, living in a world of luxury. Higson gives us "Bond as ordinary 13 year old", having an adventure in Scotland, never the home of luxurious living.

Could Higson have presented Young Bond without the adventure story background? Could he have got away with a biographical account of Bond life as a real 30s schoolboy at Eton? Most likely not. However, do we prefer to believe Fleming's Bond was an arrogant snob mixing with his own kind at Eton where his idea of adventure was being indulged by somebodies wealthy old man in Paris, or the kind of lad who thought breaking into castles with the Artful Dodger in tow was "jolly good fun" and just the thing to keep one occupied in the holidays?

You decide.

[marktmurphy]

Pearson's Young Bond at Eton is the subject of a paragraph or two. I'm not sure how you've extrapolated all that from him. Don't forget that Higson has barely started yet- it's a bit early to judge.
And Scotland isn't luxurious therefore he isn't James Bond? Yeah, right.

[David Schofield]

Pearson's Young Bond at Eton is the subject of a paragraph or two. I'm not sure how you've extrapolated all that from him. Don't forget that Higson has barely started yet- it's a bit early to judge.
And Scotland isn't luxurious therefore he isn't James Bond? Yeah, right.

Sure, Pearson's descripton of Bond's life at Eton doesn't take a full book (or series). Then again, it doesn't necessarily take quantity to get the atmosphere and detail correct.

As far as Scotland is concerned, I prefer the image of Junior Bond pretending to be older than his age to drive a car or visit a casino than wandering across the Scottish heather with a napsack of sandwiches and in the company of a couple of chums.

[doublenoughtspy]

I agree with David, Pearsons "young Bond" if you will, strikes me as much more true to the character Fleming created.

While Higson's Silverfin is better than I expected - it does smack of someone trying to shoehorn a boy's adventure story into the Bond universe more than anything else.

[DLibrasnow]

And this is Higson's problem: his need to create a Famous Five mystery adventure which in themselves were never credible.

Hey I grew up loving those Enid Blyton stories.

[zencat]

The Peason book is awesome!

[Righty007]

Higgy is better because he is an official continuation novelist.

[zencat]

Higgy is better because he is an official continuation novelist.

Pearson was "official." James Bond The Authorized Biography of 007 is an official, Glidrose commissioned and copyrighted continuation novel. Yes, it was a one-shot, but so was Colonel Sun.

[Righty007]

Higgy is better because he is an official continuation novelist.

Pearson was "official." James Bond The Authorized Biography of 007 is an official, Glidrose commissioned and copyrighted continuation novel. Yes, it was a one-shot, but so was Colonel Sun.

Then why does the IFP Web site only include Amis, Gardner, and Benson under Continuation Novels?

[zencat]

Beats me. Or maybe because it deals (and conflicts) with some of the same material the Young Bond series, they're pushing it under the carpet (along with The Adventures of James Bond 003 1/2 which also might cause confusion).

One thing that is very strange about the Peason book is the author shares copyright with Glidrose. This is not the case with any of the other continuation authors. Could this book have been done on spec and maybe that's another reason we don't see it listed with the others? Or could it have been originally bought by Eon as potential future film material?

I feel like there's an untold story here.

[IndyB007]

Then why does the IFP Web site only include Amis, Gardner, and Benson under Continuation Novels?

Why does the IFP Web site not list Higgy as a continuation author... Guess that means they agree with me and he isn't one...

[Righty007]

Then why does the IFP Web site only include Amis, Gardner, and Benson under Continuation Novels?

Why does the IFP Web site not list Higgy as a continuation author... Guess that means they agree with me and he isn't one...

They haven't updated their site...

[IndyB007]

lol

i see....

[David Schofield]

I agree with David, Pearsons "young Bond" if you will, strikes me as much more true to the character Fleming created.

While Higson's Silverfin is better than I expected - it does smack of someone trying to shoehorn a boy's adventure story into the Bond universe more than anything else.

Absolutely. I would have prefered more a "Tom Brown's Schooldays" approach to Silverfin. I could even have put up with battles between Bond and Roland Marquis.