Jump to content


This is a read only archive of the old forums
The new CBn forums are located at https://quarterdeck.commanderbond.net/

 
Photo

Sebastian Faulks' 'Engleby' Released In US


3 replies to this topic

#1 Qwerty

Qwerty

    Commander RNVR

  • Commanding Officers
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 85605 posts
  • Location:New York / Pennsylvania

Posted 05 September 2007 - 06:47 PM

Now on the CBn main page...



Positive reviews point to success for 'Devil May Care' next year


#2 Loomis

Loomis

    Commander CMG

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 21862 posts

Posted 15 October 2007 - 06:22 PM

I'm currently reading ENGLEBY, having read my first Faulks, A FOOL'S ALPHABET, some weeks ago. Faulks writes like a virtuoso musician plays: the smooth, rich flow is so expressive, so masterfully-done and so pleasurable just to experience that the subject matter becomes irrelevant; in other words, Faulks could be filling page after page with the most boring topic and characters imaginable, yet it would still be riveting purely because of how extraordinarily good his penmanship is.

As ENGLEBY makes clear, he's also a master of a gripping, thriller-ish narrative (he doesn't need to be - as I say, his writing is so terrific on his own that it literally doesn't matter what he's writing about, but, yes, he can also do Gripping Thriller™-type stuff, which is, of course, a bonus), as well as an accomplished dealer in deliciously dark wit.

I had a similarly ultra-positive reaction to A FOOL'S ALPHABET, which is a very different novel, and one, I might add, that contains a number of strikingly Flemingian passages and some wonderful travelogue stuff (the book was written in the early 1990s, when the idea of Faulks + the literary Bond could scarcely have been a gleam in anyone's eye).

If you want to know whether Faulks has what it takes to write a decent Bond novel, the evidence is already available at the world's bookshops. And it's staring us in the face: DEVIL MAY CARE will be one of the all-time highs of the 007 canon, putting even most of Fleming's work to shame, and unquestionably (sorry, Forster, Haggis and co.) the Bond event of 2008.

#3 zencat

zencat

    Commander GCMG

  • Commanding Officers
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 25814 posts
  • Location:Studio City, CA

Posted 15 October 2007 - 06:31 PM

...DEVIL MAY CARE will be one of the all-time highs of the 007 canon, putting even most of Fleming's work to shame, and unquestionably (sorry, Forster, Haggis and co.) the Bond event of 2008.

You mean Young Bond 5. :D

I've no doubt DMC will be superb, but I am surprised at how much praise we are already lavishing on this book. Unlike the gauntlet we threw up for Higson and Craig, Faulks has not only been given a pass, but already the Fleming crown. I just wonder if we are building up expectations a little too high. At this stage, how can we expect anything less than a masterpiece.

#4 Loomis

Loomis

    Commander CMG

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 21862 posts

Posted 15 October 2007 - 06:47 PM

Unlike the gauntlet we threw up for Higson and Craig, Faulks has not only been given a pass, but already the Fleming crown.


Well, you're right about that, and, yeah, I guess it's a little strange. I can't speak much for Higson's Bond work, since I've only read SILVERFIN (but do intend to "get round to" the others at some point), but you mention Craig: those of us who'd seen his pre-CASINO ROYALE work knew what a terrific actor he was and, even more importantly, how much incredible screen presence he had, so we knew not to listen to the CraignotBond mob - we already knew that Craig was capable of delivering.... and he did.

Now, I haven't read much by Faulks, but I am starting to get familiar with his work, and I'm becoming a fan of his even without bringing Bond into my thinking. I think he's one of the best novelists in the world, an absolute master, and it's like if Spielberg or Tarantino or (pick a director you think incredibly high of) were announced as the director of BOND 23: sure, on the one hand it's ridiculously premature to judge something till it's finished (and even then a book or film needs to have been out there for a few years before it can be properly digested and seen "in context", stand the test of time, and so on), but on the other hand we know that Spielberg or Tarantino, when he's on form (nobody mention HOOK or FOUR ROOMS :D ), is capable of kicking serious [censored]. So it's not too silly to have very high hopes for something if the artist in question has an extremely good track record. For me, Faulks' reputation precedes him. And why not?

And I know this sounds like nothing more than a Bond fan looking at something with the benefit of hindsight, but I was stunned by just how Flemingian parts of A FOOL'S ALPHABET were (to me, at least), and I seriously doubt that this was a deliberate move on Faulks' part. In other words, not only is he a superb writer, but he also just happens to be naturally Flemingian in places!

Heck, he's also a Bond fan, or at least I gather he is. What more could you want? :P

I just wonder if we are building up expectations a little too high. At this stage, how can we expect anything less than a masterpiece.


True. Gotta keep it in perspective, I suppose. I tell you, though, I think the omens are good. And you've said it yourself: you've no doubt DMC will be superb. Sure, it may be a dud. But where are the signs to indicate that? And there's strong grounds to hope for something very good indeed.