6 replies to this topic

[White Persian]

When I heard that Raymond Benson was to take over from John Gardner (whose books I found mainly disappointing), I was pleased because I knew from his James Bond Bedside Companion that he really knew his stuff.
I found his first, "Ten Minus Zero" to be pretty good. It had, in Sunny Pei, an especially appealing and well drawn heroine, a good topical plot, though I felt the villain was a little lacklustre. I did chuckle a bit to see Bond, lost in the middle of the Great Australian Desert, just walk to safety (overnight?). Not even James Bond could manage that!
It was the short story "Blast From The Past" that helped me put my finger on what wasn't quite right. During the car chase sequence, I realized that Benson was only describing to me what we could see happening. The difference with Ian Fleming is that he got you inside Bond's skin so you knew what being James Bond FELT like. I've never been skiing, but thanks to Fleming, I feel as if I know what it's like to race down a mountain. I've never been scuba diving, but Live and Let Die let me experience it vicariously. I've never been in a high speed car chase, and Raymond Benson didn't convey the sensation to me at all. He told me what happened, but not what it was really like.
I'm probably being unfair here, because Ian Fleming is one of the great story tellers of the 20th century- not a "great writer", but a great story teller which may well be a lot harder to pull off. I'll give Benson top marks for enthusiasm, but feel a bit disappointed that he hasn't been able to recapture the visceral thrills that I still get when I open one of my increasingly worn Fleming paperbacks.

[Blue Eyes]

That's a good point 7777, Bond does still smoke in the novels! Never noticed that!

[Jacques Nexus]

White Persian (25 May, 2001 01:18 a.m.):
I found his first, "Ten Minus Zero" to be pretty good. It had, in Sunny Pei, an especially appealing and well drawn heroine, a good topical plot, though I felt the villain was a little lacklustre. I did chuckle a bit to see Bond, lost in the middle of the Great Australian Desert, just walk to safety (overnight?). Not even James Bond could manage that!
It was the short story "Blast From The Past" that helped me put my finger on what wasn't quite right. During the car chase sequence, I realized that Benson was only describing to me what we could see happening. The difference with Ian Fleming is that he got you inside Bond's skin so you knew what being James Bond FELT like. I've never been skiing, but thanks to Fleming, I feel as if I know what it's like to race down a mountain. I've never been scuba diving, but Live and Let Die let me experience it vicariously. I've never been in a high speed car chase, and Raymond Benson  didn't convey the sensation to me at all. He told me what happened, but not what it was eally like.
I'm probably being unfair here, because Ian Fleming is one of the great story tellers of the 20th century- not a "great writer", but a great story teller which may well be a lot harder to pull off. I'll give Benson top marks for enthusiasm, but feel a bit disappointed that he hasn't been able to recapture the visceral thrills that I still get when I open one of my increasingly worn Fleming paperbacks.

You've hit the nail on the head by stating that Benson tells the reader what's happening to Bond and not so much what he is feeling and what it feels like to be Bond. That's a great observation. However, for Benson to do what Fleming did, he needs to possess better LITERARY skills and a better grasp of the HUMAN CONDITION...ie perhaps a better knowledge of what makes a human being tick under life threatening stress. I will always maintain Benson's plotting is better than Fleming's, whose style was always too simple and too direct (and at times lacked suspense and excitement, unlike Benson). On the other hand, Fleming's skill as a wordsmith (plus the ingenious gimmicks, book titles and character names) was superb and if Benson was up to Fleming's par on that score, then his novels would be perfect !.

P.S. I do want to reiterate that I do like the Fleming novels and in particular my favourite piece of Fleming is perhaps "FROM A VIEW TO A KILL". An example of good PLOTTING and good WRITING.

[MDSmith]

I see in Raymond Benson a combo of both Fleming, Gardner, and the movies. He does use many movie moments like the mentioned lines, but he also goes back to Fleming's world, calling him Major Boothroyd and not Q so on. We also see that Bond smokes still, Pierce has ended that (that is a good thing).

[RossMan]

I also feel that Benson's books are more liek the films than the books. They even start off with a "pre-title sequence" (except Doubleshot)
In TFOD he even referred to GoldenEye when Bond is talking with Boothroyd and he says "I am quite good in tanks." In that same book Admiral Hargreaves from the Spy Who Loved Me has a brief cameo. But nonetheless, I do find his books enjoyable.

[Digitarius]

Agreed. The whole Benson world was based on the films.
I also agree that Zero Minus Ten was a bid dire. The ending was OK, and the description of Hong Kong was entirely correct, but I just can't imagine 007 being able to speak Cantonese and not Mandarin, and there might be not enough Bond girls, unlike his later works which was flooded with them.
In Doubleshot, while the action scenes reminds me of a Pierce Brosnan Bond, the parts where 007 passes out reminds me of Roger Moore, mainly because he was useless. Sorry Roger.

[Blue Eyes]

I dont' know if this is 100% relevant. But I've always felt that Benson was describing the onscreen James Bond - even to the extent of Pierce Brosnan. But I could be wrong. Perhaps that's why he doesn't get in Bond's skin, perhaps he's too attached to the films?

But looking at his character of Major Boothroyd there is no doubt that it is Desmond Llwellyn he's thinking of. You can just tell! But that's fair because Desmond was brilliant in the role!