8 replies to this topic

[addyb]

I've said before that Gardner's my favourite post-Fleming author. I've never really liked Benson, but I'm not going to go into long drawn out details about why. (That's best left for another thread, I think.)

What I'm curious about, is the age of Gardner's Bond, because I've seen a lot of inconsistencies in his novels. I can't decide if his Bond is roughly the same age as in Flemings, or a much older version. And here are my statements:

1) License Renewed - He is described as having "minute flecks of grey in his hair." [sic]

2) For Special Services - Bond sleeps with Ceder Leiter.

3) Icebreaker - That novel gives me the overall feeling of Bond being about the same age as Fleming's creation.

5) The Man from Barbarossa - Bond mentions that the "'60's were a bit before my time."

Fleming's Bond faced mandatory retirement at age 45, and Gardner on his webpage quotes that he asked Glidrose to allow him to "put Bond to bed where Fleming left him, and update him into the '80's, having not aged.." If that is the case, how does Bond have greying hair, and make love to Felix's daughter?

Does anyone else notice these? Or am I just being silly?

Adam

[Jim]

I've said before that Gardner's my favourite post-Fleming author. I've never really liked Benson, but I'm not going to go into long drawn out details about why. (That's best left for another thread, I think.)

What I'm curious about, is the age of Gardner's Bond, because I've seen a lot of inconsistencies in his novels. I can't decide if his Bond is roughly the same age as in Flemings, or a much older version. And here are my statements:

1) License Renewed - He is described as having "minute flecks of grey in his hair." [sic]

2) For Special Services - Bond sleeps with Ceder Leiter.

3) Icebreaker - That novel gives me the overall feeling of Bond being about the same age as Fleming's creation.

5) The Man from Barbarossa - Bond mentions that the "'60's were a bit before my time."

Fleming's Bond faced mandatory retirement at age 45, and Gardner on his webpage quotes that he asked Glidrose to allow him to "put Bond to bed where Fleming left him, and update him into the '80's, having not aged.." If that is the case, how does Bond have greying hair, and make love to Felix's daughter?

Does anyone else notice these? Or am I just being silly?

Adam

No, you're not being silly.

Perhaps a way to deconstruct is that up to and including Scorpius (which has hangovers re: Tracy Bond in the mock "wedding") this is the aging Fleming Bond; once Captain Boldman is introduced in the next book, it's a completely different and mid-forties character, until the end of the books. I know that there are references to Fleming incidents in the "Boldman series", but it just seems more chronologically plausible this way. Perhaps I'm being silly.

[addyb]

Hmm....I half agree with you and half not, Jim. It IS quite plausible that in License Renewed and For Special Services, we have an aging James Bond. But in Icebreaker and Role of Honour, I get the feeling that it's a younger Bond, say, 37-39 years of age; this is what Fleming described as Bond's "peak mission age."

I DO completely agree with you on Captain Boldman half of Gardner's books. Win, Lose, or Die and Death is Forever are my two Gardner favourites, and the age inconsistensies seem less apparant than in the first half.

It's just always something that's bothered me, because Fleming set the record straight in his novels with the statement that Double-O faced mandatory retirement at age 45.

Cheers,

Adam

Edited by addyb, 22 January 2006 - 11:33 PM.

[Flash1087]

I think the Double-O mandatory retirement rule went out the window as, if I remember LR correctly, there technically ISN'T a Double-O section anymore; Bond just has licence to carry on his missions as though he were still a 00 agent. The bit about M saying "this country needs a blunt instrument"? I think it just means Bond can do the job of a Double-O agent without any of the former restrictions, since he's technically NOT a Double O anymore.

[Jim]

I think the Double-O mandatory retirement rule went out the window as, if I remember LR correctly, there technically ISN'T a Double-O section anymore; Bond just has licence to carry on his missions as though he were still a 00 agent. The bit about M saying "this country needs a blunt instrument"? I think it just means Bond can do the job of a Double-O agent without any of the former restrictions, since he's technically NOT a Double O anymore.

Ah! Forgotten about that.

Still, he does appear to get younger (and then not age at all) as the books progress.

[Double-Oh Agent]

Maybe it's just me, but in Gardner's novels I see Bond as slightly older than in Fleming's time but only by a couple of years. As Gardner said, he basically had 007 jump forward in time 15 years to set him in the present day. Call it creative license. And no, it doesn't really bother me. While some may prefer Bond stay in the 1950s and 1960s, I like him being in the present as long as they are doing continuation novels.

And by the way, Bond never slept with Cedar Leiter. She wanted to sleep with him very much, but he refrained out of respect for his best friend, Felix.

[addyb]

Hmm...I never thought of that, Jim. And it makes complete sense. In License Renewed, yeah, he seems a bit old. By the time Icebreaker and Role of Honour come around, the novels read like a younger man than the previous two. And by the time the second half of the Gardner-series comes around, it's almost like he just threw Fleming out the window and did his own thing. (Not that that's a bad idea, it's just different)

I think the only exeption is "COLD" when M retires. One thing I've always enjoyed about Gardner's Bond novels is the fact that his Bond has a good knowledge of tradecraft, something I've found to be lacking in Fleming's works. It's just the little things, like how he knows when he's followed, how to memorize numbers, and the equipment he uses, like the telephone scramblers and whatnot.

I definately agree with the masses that the Gardner continuation novels are hit-and-miss. Some are excellent, and some are downright horrible.

But hey, Bond is still Bond!

Cheers,

Adam

[spynovelfan]

But hey, Bond is still Bond!

Or Boldman.

[addyb]

Touche'