8 replies to this topic

[Jriv71]

I know my subject is a little vague, and I could probably do a little research on this, but I'm feeling a bit lazy this morning. So I'll do it this way: What does everyone think of Raymond Benson? I know Fleming like the back of my hand, and I just re-read all of the Gardners. I've acquired all of the Benson books, and I'll start chronologically on Monday.

But are we all reading them just because the covers say, "James Bond"? Or is there some actual merit to his work? Because after spending the last three months going through Gardner, I've realized that the odds of me ever re-reading more than a few of his (4 or 5 that I really like) are very slim.

I'd love to hear some general opinions on Benson's work. (No spoilers please.) Thanks, people.

[Jim]

Originally posted by Jriv71


But are we all reading them just because the covers say, "James Bond"?  

Target audience.

My answer to this is "yep". Would not and could not have persisted with them if they didn't have those words on the cover.

The ideas for stories are fine. It's the execution of the ideas...

In four words only

Stories straightforward, storytelling dire

[B007GLE]

Benson has his ups and downs. I think his first one is the strongest, some very good fights scenes such as one in an airplane, but they got progressive weaker leading to "Never Dream of Dying" which I found to be one of the worst bond books of all. He rebounded with a fun tale in "The Man with the Red Tattoo" and went out on a decent note.

I would not pick up any of the books if Bond were not in them. But if you don't want to just keep re-reading Fleming or wait tow to three years for the next movie, I think the "continuation novels" are a nice way to spend some time with this great character.

[Jriv71]

More like, captive audience. I've an hour-long train ride each day. What the Hell else am I going to do?

Thanks for the thoughts.

[Jriv71]

Originally posted by B007GLE
Benson has his ups and downs. I think his first one is the strongest, some very good fights scenes such as one in an airplane, but they got progressive weaker leading to "Never Dream of Dying" which I found to be one of the worst bond books of all. He rebounded with a fun tale in "The Man with the Red Tattoo" and went out on a decent note.  

I would not pick up any of the books if Bond were not in them. But if you don't want to just keep re-reading Fleming or wait tow to three years for the next movie, I think the "continuation novels" are a nice way to spend some time with this great character.

What i figured. Maybe it's just me, but I don't care how good the 'fight scenes' are. I want to be told a good story. When I'm done with Benson, I'll probably start picking up more LeCarre. A brilliant story-teller, regardless of how long-winded he can be.

Man, if he weren't two hundred and six years old, I wish he'd write Bond continuations. Never happen, I know, not really his type of character either, but, damn can he spin a spy yarn...

[Jim]

Don't let us prejudice your own thoughts.

If you want a (sometimes pretty) good story, then fine - some of the stories are decent (save Never Dream of Dying, which is abject - sorry, make your own mind up there)

On the whole, far more straightforward and less convoluted than Gardner. Amazingly enough, "a bit like the films". How very curious.

If you want to be told a (sometimes pretty) good story, then look elsewhere.

[Jriv71]

Originally posted by Jim
"a bit like the films"

That's exactly the type of thing I was curious about. Thanks for that. Just something to pay attention to when I start. A bit of a warning, maybe, but then again, it was the films in the first place that got me reading Bond. (Primarily, films like MR and TMWTGG, which I thought were great fun when I was a kid.)

I have to be honest. At this point, as long as he's not a carbon copy of Gardner, I should be able to sit through the collected works of Raymond Benson. I have a 4-year-old who writes better dialogue than Gardner at the end.

[zencat]

I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the Benson books. I found them to be much better than Gardner's work, and there is not a bad book in the batch. In fact, I think HIGH TIME TO KILL and NEVER DREAM OF DYING are two of the best non-Fleming titles. Enjoy.

[Loomis]

Originally posted by Jriv71

What does everyone think of Raymond Benson?  ... I'd love to hear some general opinions on Benson's work.

I'll put down a few off-the-top-of-my-head thoughts, while deliberately avoiding reading other members' replies for the moment.

If you go to your grave having never read Benson, have you missed something wonderful? No. As a craftsman of prose, he is vastly inferior to Fleming, Amis and Gardner. As a writer with an expert knowledge of Bond, he was chosen to continue the literary series having never penned a novel. Essentially, his is the story of poacher-turned-gamekeeper.

Not that I hold that against him. The fact is that his books, while not always bad, are never particularly stunning. And when he's bad, he's very, very bad indeed.

On the plus side, he's more than capable of stringing together a good yarn (I greatly enjoyed "Zero Minus Ten", "Never Dream of Dying" and "The Man With the Red Tattoo"), and his love of Bondage (oo-er!) always shines through. I've read only one Gardner, but it seems to me that there are more echoes of Fleming's Bond and Bond universe in Benson (and I'm not just talking about the fanboyish references to Fleming's works). And he's often quite superb at bringing locations to life - he certainly understands the importance of the exotic in the fantasy world of 007. He'd make a great travel writer.

Originally posted by Jriv71

But are we all reading them just because the covers say, "James Bond"?  

Yes. I wouldn't recommend Benson to anyone who wasn't already a hardcore Bond fan (in which case he or she probably wouldn't need my recommendation).