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Looking Back: The Man From Barbarossa


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#1 Athena007

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Posted 24 July 2005 - 02:40 AM

From CBn's Main Page...

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Looking Back: The Man From Barbarossa
John Gardner's tenth James Bond 007 novel



#2 zencat

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Posted 24 July 2005 - 02:49 AM

One of the more interesting "looking back" articles because this book really seems to polarize fans and brings out passions on both sides. Nice to see the majority of reviews are positive (even though I'm not in that batch).

#3 ES Blofeld

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Posted 24 July 2005 - 02:51 AM

Sounds like a good read, maybe I should go grab a copy of it after I'm done reading Thunderball.

#4 Skin 17

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Posted 28 July 2005 - 03:58 PM

I thought it was more of a political thriller than Bond. All in all it was an average book. But Gardner really picks it up with Death is Forever. The Man From Barbarossa is the only Gardner book that I don't really like.

#5 Qwerty

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Posted 31 July 2005 - 09:08 PM

My least favourite by far; but I do recommend Bond fans to read it to see what they make of it.

#6 dinovelvet

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Posted 19 September 2005 - 01:05 AM

Just finished reading this one; boy, it was a tough slog. Started quite promisingly with the kidnap of the war criminal(s) and the introduction of the Scales of Justice. I thought they were going to turn out to be a SPECTRE-like organization that Bond would have to smash, but, obviously not. Pretty dry and dull for most of the middle, it perks up a bit towards the end when Bond goes undercover as a cameraman, but very tough reading overall. This was only the third Gardner book I read, after Licence Renewed and For Special Services, so I'm glad to have gotten this one out of the way! Looking forward to Icebreaker next, anyway.

#7 Qwerty

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Posted 19 September 2005 - 01:14 AM

I encourage you to reread this one after at least reading all the others by Gardner once to see if your opinion changes. Hope you enjoy Icebreaker, it's a fan favorite.

#8 Trempo

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Posted 19 September 2005 - 11:53 AM

With this book I started to read the English Bond books. Because in Germany they only published the Gardner books up to Brokenclaw. It was interesting and sometimes difficult to understand. But it helped me to freshen up my English. Have it reread twice since then. Though it is different from the other books, it is still a James Bond book.

#9 zencat

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Posted 02 August 2010 - 11:54 PM

Having re-read and reevaluated Scorpius, I'm thinking of taking another JG book I've always had trouble with, TMFB. Maybe my current open mind will allow me to see it in a new light.

#10 OmarB

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Posted 03 August 2010 - 01:28 AM

As the huge Gardner fan I gotta admit that this one is my least favorite of the series. It was less Bond adventure and more painful recounting of war crimes while Bond spent time visiting lavish dashas. One thing came out of it, I learned what a dasha is, and Gardner really like to describe newly constructed wooden structures.

I've only read this book once and I usually reread the Gardners. But I'm in the middle of my full om Bond reread so I'll get to it, I've recently finished DMC so LR is next and this one will pop up in it's time.

#11 dlb007

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Posted 04 August 2010 - 12:50 AM

I too am a fan of the Gardner entries, and while I'll admit The Man from Barbarosa is far from my favorite, it was an injection of badly needed originality and I applaud Gardner for doing it. Brokenclaw, while written during a tough personal time in Gardner's life, was rather poor - no doubt because of Gardner's health at the time, and IFP's demands that he churn out novel after novel. The Man from Barbarosa mixed things up, trying something different instead of repeating the same tired, stale formula. Of course, once it was over I wanted the old formula back, and in this way, Gardner was incredibly successful at wetting our appetites for Death is Forever.

Edited by dlb007, 04 August 2010 - 12:50 AM.


#12 zencat

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Posted 08 August 2010 - 05:14 PM

Over 100 pages in and I'm happy to report I'm really enjoying TMFB. I guess I just didn't appreciate what a different type of book this was back in the day. Hey, it was 91, I needed BOND. But this is a very fine book, very much of an espionage book, with lots of characters, history, and spycraft. But what I'm really noticing this time is the writing is very strong. JG really seems to be into this one and goes out of his way to create atmosphere and draw characters. Certainly his most unique Bond book, and it's hitting the spot for me this time.

#13 zencat

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Posted 12 August 2010 - 04:54 PM

Done.

Well, it took almost 20 years and three readings, but you can now count me as a big fan of The Man From Barbarossa. I think it's a damn successful espionage novel, and one of the best "experimental" James Bond novels. It just takes a very careful and patient read and an appreciation of what Gardner is trying to do. I can now understand how Gardner and Peter Jansen-Smith thought it was one of the best books of the series. And I can understand how Bond fans, like myself at the time, just couldn't embrace the change (as I said above, without a film we needed formula Bond). I also think back in the day I didn't like a Bond book to be SO tied into current affairs. But now the book offers up nostalgia for those wild days when the Soviet Union was collapsing and the U.S. was counting down to war with Iraq (for the first time). I consider this book a triumphant and something really special in the Bond canon.

(Also fun to think there is a grave somewhere in Russia marked "Captain James Bond, Died January 9, 1991.")