114 replies to this topic

[Single-O-Seven]

I think we should all just read the whole goddamned book before critiquing it. It's only two days away. After that, say what you please.

[Safari Suit]

Nah, where's the fun in that?

Besides, it's no different from critiquing a film from its trailer, which millions of people do every day.

[Jim]

I'm also publishing an exclusive extract today, of Bondkiller 2:

''Listen, Mr Bond,' said Dr Julius Marascanga as he stroked the overfed black cat on his lap with a menacing tenderness. Faulks' Bond took in the fact that the cat was definitely black, not white, so it was rather like the early Connery films that were so good but it was a clever variation on it, a tribute in the spirit of Fleming, not simply a reshuffling of the ingredients in the blandest and most immediately obvious manner.

'I'm listening, Marascanga,' said Faulks' Bond. Now he had finally penetrated J.U.L.I.U.S., the network of evil masterminds called Dr Julius something-or-other, he wasn't going to miss out on hearing precisely what substance it was they were involved in smuggling through a pipeline to a country near but not actually Sierra Leone, which was already used in Diamonds Are Forever...'

I wrote it in six minutes, while snorkelling.

Fnurkle.

Given that there is a school of thought that Fleming himself produced pastiche, I'm not sure why people are getting a bit fraught about all this. I'm expecting it to be fun, but not terribly serious. They could have gone down the line of po-facedness I suppose but if they haven't, so be it - only ever meant to be some entertainment, after all.

[triviachamp]

My my my, aren't we critical? I had a feeling this book wouldn't reach some of the insane expectations. It doesn't help that people disagree on what the books should actually be like.

[Napoleon Solo]

I think we should all just read the whole goddamned book before critiquing it. It's only two days away. After that, say what you please.

These were two fairly long excerpts. It's almost inviting comment which the publishers probably welcome because it gets people talking before the book comes out.

[Trident]

Well, to be fair it has to be said that the final product, DEVIL MAY CARE as a novel, as opposed to these two clippings, can still be a fun read. I have to apologize here if it looks as if I'm dissing this book too early. My expectations have been high and it looks as if this could have been a mistake. I'll reserve my final judgement for when I've read the whole thing, trying to read it with as little prejudice as is possible after reading these two excerpts.

[Peaceful]

WARING SPOILER ALERT

Ok guys I CANNOT tell you how, but I HAVE IT
I'm on a work break so I have to be quick
All I can tell you is that Scarlett is the main squeeze, the extracts are from chapters 3&4 and there is a map of Persia in the front

[MkB]

WARING SPOILER ALERT

Ok guys I CANNOT tell you how, but I HAVE IT
I'm on a work break so I have to be quick
All I can tell you is that Scarlett is the main squeeze, the extracts are from chapters 3&4 and there is a map of Persia in the front

Wow, Peaceful, you're a real Fountain of Desires...
By the way, does anyone know if there will be other exclusive extracts in The Times? Nothing seems to pop out today on the website. (I'm just asking since I won't be able to get a book immediately)

[Double-Oh-Zero]

[quote name='spynovelfan' post='873581' date='24 May 2008 - 14:26'][quote name='Loomis' post='873573' date='24 May 2008 - 17:52']If Fleming had written DMC, he wouldn't have put in a gratuitous Beatles and Stones reference to say "Ho ho ho, James Bond's in the 1960s!". Because it would have been the present day as far as he was concerned.[/quote]

I agree - those references seem very contrived.
[/quote]
Thirded.

It did read as a little forced to me, but then again I suspect that Faulks may just be doing it as a reminder to the casual Bond readers who may have read one or two Bond novels in their youth, but never bothered to get fully acquainted with the Fleming Bond. Still, it is a bit annoying when you get a barrage of 60s references in the form of long-haired hippies, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the mention of recreational marijuana use, all within two or three successive paragraphs.

But...the "monkey paw."

...um.

[quote]This is just an excerpt, and I'm sure things will hot up and as we get further in it will become more its own thing[/quote]
Which it did for me when I read the second extract. It seems like Faulks was just getting the obligatory familiar Fleming elements out of the way before getting to some more interesting stuff.

Overall, there are a few small quibbles I disagreed with (which, after the "Writing as Ian Fleming" thing was announced, I expected anyway), but overall, it looks to be a worthwhile read that will doubtlessly be more appreciated as a whole rather than two small extracts. It's already beginning to bring back memories of adolescent summers spent digesting Fleming's Bond adventures for the first time, and who can fault that?


[quote name='spynovelfan' post='873627' date='24 May 2008 - 18:56'][quote name='Loomis' post='873625' date='24 May 2008 - 22:44']I wanted A Serious Novel

[Harmsway]

The real disappointment about all this is that I was really expecting Sebastian Faulks to bring Sebastian Faulks-level quality. He's an outstanding writer, and even though he was imitating Fleming, I expected him to imbue the work with the same degree of craftsmanship he applies to everything else.

Admittedly, that was just an excerpt, but it doesn't exactly make me stand up and say, "DEVIL MAY CARE will be, without a doubt, the best Bond novel since Fleming." Which is what I was hoping for, unrealistic though it might have been.

[K1Bond007]

Third Devil May Care Extract in Vanity Fair

An illustrated sneak peek

[BoogieBond]

The initial extract. Thunderballesque(Especially the yoga and Bond's conversation with Moneypenny). However, I quite like it. Reintroducing us back to the character, as in the extract, all the little Bondisms seem to be packed in there.

[MkB]

This third extract seems to me considerably more "written as Ian Fleming"! It strongly reeks of the Goldfinger Golf game (up the the "rancid undersmell of socks" in the changing room), but this extract is in the right tone IMO. Quite in line with the other cards / sport games played by Bond vs. the Villain.
I must acknowledge that these game description are one of the things I'm less interested in with Fleming (too much longueurs, and as I don't know the rules of these games I get quickly bored), but to me Faulks reached his aim there!

[TheSaint]

What I want to know is, who is that fey fop that Paul Cox illustrated in the Vanity Fair extract? Surely that's not James Bond? Were there no real artists available?

[Jim]

What I want to know is, who is that fey fop that Paul Cox illustrated in the Vanity Fair extract? Surely that's not James Bond?

Yes, most odd. Wonder if he was going for a 1920s dashing hero type; looks like it.

[Trident]

What I want to know is, who is that fey fop that Paul Cox illustrated in the Vanity Fair extract? Surely that's not James Bond?

Yes, most odd. Wonder if he was going for a 1920s dashing hero type; looks like it.

The illustration is actually so bad that my windows explorer ceases to function and folds down every time I try to visit excerpt number 3. Will have to wait for amazon whose mail told me it will take probably till the 30th before they can send the book.

[spynovelfan]

Apologies if this has already been posted, but I couldn't see it anywhere - there's a new extract in the New York Times (chapter one of the book):

http://www.nytimes.c...l-may-care.html

[spynovelfan]

And a couple more reviews:

http://online.wsj.co...=googlenews_wsj

http://www.bloomberg...6...&refer=muse

[Major Tallon]

I'm glad to have the book, but, sad to say, I think the review in the Wall Street Journal is pretty close to the mark.

[Qwerty]

Will have to keep an eye out for this particular Vanity Fair issue.

[Qwerty]

Finally got a chance to pick up this mag today. There's the usual Faulks following Fleming's footsteps bit as well in addition to the extract.

[zencat]

The cover of this particular issue is a bonus.

[Qwerty]

The cover of this particular issue is a bonus.

Not for me.

I've just never been a fan of her.

[Mr Twilight]

My wife came home from work and gave me the magazine Vanity Fair (July'08). Haven't got a clue how she got it because she never reads that kind of magazines and it's in english which isn't her best side. Well anyway the interesting part is that there are a excerpt from DMC and also an article about the background of DMC and Faulk in the magazine. There are some very "un-Bond-ian" illustrations together with DMC and Angelina Jolie on the cover.

Well, thought you wanna know...

[Qwerty]

[Moderator's Note: Topics merged]