19 replies to this topic

[Dustin]

With some astonishment I learned this morning that one of the genre-defining thrillers of the 80's (well, actually 1979, but it always felt to me like the first thriller of the new decade), Trevanian's masterwork "Shibumi" is about to have a prequel. No, actually it has the prequel already, as the book is already in stores I'm told. Here's the story from the BBC.

Who'd have thought that? After over 30 years - and probably without Trevanian suspecting(*) something like this would happen finally - an antihero is brought back to the pages the reading public might well have entirely forgotten about in the meantime. Nicolai Hel, for those of you not familiar with him already (and I hereby urge you to do something about this shortcoming), is a truly unique character in a memorable setting. If you haven't already done so, go read it for yourself.

Now the superspy thriller to end all superspy thrillers has gotten a prequel, officially authorised by the family of Rodney William Whitaker, the man behind the pseudonym Trevanian, who died in 2005. What to make of this?

I have to admit that I would not have craved to hear more of Nicolai Hel. His story, what story there was, was told by Trevanian and it didn't call for more. Shibumi is an entwiklungsroman and the whole journey of the character through its various stages is told until the end. In my opinion the addition of further chapters to that development is entirely superflous.

Then again I can see why there was a wish to reanimate the figure and Trevanian indeed hinted at a number of fascinating anecdotes in Hel's life that could indeed be worthwhile hearing more about. And Hel, such as he was conceived by Trevanian, is IMO character that may in fact have come thirty years too early. The book - apparently already a huge bestseller in its day - would have been the bombshell in the 2001 aftermath. And would doubtlessly have shared the odd bonfire with a number of Dixie Chicks CDs afterwards. Hardly surprising that such potential is what keeps publishers awake at night. Perhaps had to come sooner or later.

Which begs the question, when will Jonathan Hemlock come back to us?

*Come to think of it Trevanian probably expected something along those lines. The man has forseen nearly every tomfoolery and idiocy our drivel-infested world has delivered upon us and commented on it in his sardonic manner. Shibumi reads like a novel anticipating most of the post-2001 hysterics, scheming and hypocrisy and has no qualms about changing the usual role allocation in thrillers up till then.

Edited by Dustin, 28 April 2011 - 02:54 PM.

[MkB]

Thanks for creating this thread, Dustin!

I discovered the news of the Shibumi prequel a couple of days ago, and was equally baffled. I've tried to find reviews, but the only ones I've read were written by Don Winslow fans who were discovering Trevanian, and I'm the exact opposite.

Honestly, I'm worried. As fascinating a character as he is, Nicholai Hel's stolyline didn't call for a prequel or sequel, I found it perfect as Trevanian had done it (if we really want to go there, Jonathan Hemlock would be a more appropriate character for prequels / sequels).
But that's not my main point: most of Trevanian's novels are, by essence, spoofs. The two Hemlock novels and Shibumi are brilliant spy novel spoofs by a master of the genre. My fear with the prequel is that it might retain only the exciting and exotic features of Hel, and make a "regular spy" of him in a "regular spy adventure", leaving aside the spoof dimension, not to mention the typical Trevanian approach to society and its shortcomings (like his despise for the Merchant).

I'm awaiting Satori reviews by Trevanian connoisseurs! Yet, what I'm really eager to read, is his unfinished work, Sreet of the Four Winds, that apparently his daughter plans to edit and somehow finish and publish.

[Loomis]

I've tried to find reviews, but the only ones I've read were written by Don Winslow fans who were discovering Trevanian, and I'm the exact opposite.

I was able to find a couple of reviews by doing a Google News search on the word "shibumi": one from The Guardian and one from the Los Angeles Times (both of them glowing, incidentally - if these reviews are to be believed, Don Winslow has knocked it outta the park in a way that us 007 fans can only dream of with regard to the so-far-mostly-incredibly-lacklustre Bond continuation novels).

There's a worrying line in the BBC's report, though: Winslow read such novels as Sebastian Faulks' Bond thriller Devil May Care to convince himself it was possible for a writer to take on another's classic creation. Well, DMC is the last thing he should have read! If he'd picked up COLONEL SUN or Christopher Wood's JAMES BOND, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME for a lesson in how continuation novels ought to be done, I'd feel much more reassured.

Still, this is surprising and intriguing news. I suspect that there are plans for further adventures of Nicholai Hel and that SHIBUMI, SATORI and future episodes in the literary series will be developed into a film franchise that aims to rival Bond and Bourne. This has put me in the mood to re-read SHIBUMI and to pick up SATORI when it appears in paperback.

[Brisco]

I've tried to find reviews, but the only ones I've read were written by Don Winslow fans who were discovering Trevanian, and I'm the exact opposite.

I was able to find a couple of reviews by doing a Google News search on the word "shibumi": one from The Guardian and one from the Los Angeles Times (both of them glowing, incidentally - if these reviews are to be believed, Don Winslow has knocked it outta the park in a way that us 007 fans can only dream of with regard to the so-far-mostly-incredibly-lacklustre Bond continuation novels).

There's a worrying line in the BBC's report, though: Winslow read such novels as Sebastian Faulks' Bond thriller Devil May Care to convince himself it was possible for a writer to take on another's classic creation. Well, DMC is the last thing he should have read! If he'd picked up COLONEL SUN or Christopher Wood's JAMES BOND, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME for a lesson in how continuation novels ought to be done, I'd feel much more reassured.

Still, this is surprising and intriguing news. I suspect that there are plans for further adventures of Nicholai Hel and that SHIBUMI, SATORI and future episodes in the literary series will be developed into a film franchise that aims to rival Bond and Bourne. This has put me in the mood to re-read SHIBUMI and to pick up SATORI when it appears in paperback.

Wow, I totally missed that! And I guess it's been out for a little while. Hm. While my interest is definitely piqued, I'm highly dubious, too. Especially with that DMC quote! But I guess Winslow's well regarded, so maybe it's worth a read...

Edited by Brisco, 29 April 2011 - 06:27 AM.

[Dustin]

I tripped about that DMC mention too.

[Dustin]

I've just browsed the first few pages on amazon's look inside!-feature. Frankly, lots of information on Nicolai, his backstory and general character. Perhaps a bit on the wordy side there, thus going for the new reader rather than the initiate. A syllable short of the information dump. I'd prefer that all to be more evenly distributed over a longer distance. But Hel is a most unusual character and perhaps an introduction is necessary in this condensed form to new readers.

One thing though, Don Winslow writes a solid English that doesn't come across as forced.

Another thing, there is an author's note that suggests Winslow has been working closely throughout with Trevanian's/Whitaker's daughter and the literary agents Pine and Carlisle. So I suspect he may have been in a similar place John Gardner found himself in back in 1979 or so.

I think I will pick this one up, if only to get a better base for judgement than one and a half chapters (that's three pages of actual text, in case you wondered). Winslow has written some praised thrillers already and I'm willing to give him a decent chance for the enormous courage he's shown in taking on this challenge. It's not as if he doesn't expect a hard time from us fans.

Edited by Dustin, 04 May 2011 - 04:34 PM.

[MkB]

Thanks for the feedback Dustin!
I'll probably read Satori too, when it'll be available in pocket book. I don't doubt Winslow can come up with a good thriller, with all the praises I've seen about his work. But my main fear is that the clever, sardonic spoof dimension of most of Trevanian's work might be lost in the continuation(s) novel(s).

[Loomis]

I've just browsed the first few pages on amazon's look inside!-feature. Frankly, lots of information on Nicolai, his backstory and general character. Perhaps a bit on the wordy side there, thus going for the new reader rather than the initiate. A syllable short of the information dump. I'd prefer that all to be more evenly distributed over a longer distance. But Hel is a most unusual character and perhaps an introduction is necessary in this condensed form to new readers.

One thing though, Don Winslow writes a solid English that doesn't come across as forced.

Another thing, there is an author's note that suggests Winslow has been working closely throughout with Trevanian's/Whitaker's daughter and the literary agents Pine and Carlisle. So I suspect he may have been in a similar place John Gardner found himself in back in 1979 or so.

I think I will pick this one up, if only to get a better base for judgement than one and a half chapters (that's three pages of actual text, in case you wondered). Winslow has written some praised thrillers already and I'm willing to give him a decent chance for the enormous courage he's shown in taking on this challenge. It's not as if he doesn't expect a hard time from us fans.

I think SATORI is likely to be at least as good as the best of the Bond continuation novels.

Having decided to re-read SHIBUMI (I read it quite a few years ago and remember that I enjoyed it, but don't actually remember too much about it, so I'm champing at the bit for another read), I bought the just-published paperback reissue.

Opening it, I was surprised and pleased to find an introduction by Don Winslow (oddly, neither he nor SATORI is mentioned anywhere on the front or back cover). He writes: "The style is unique, the voice so powerful, the characters so distinctive that an attempt to simply imitate the original book could only result in an embarrassing spectacle akin to a lounge singer 'doing' Sinatra.

"But how do you turn down the chance to write a novel about a character as rich as Nicholai Hel?

"Foolishness, I thought, to attempt it.

"Folly.

"But if you are passed that ball, with open field in front of you, you make a run.

"I only hope I made a good one."

BTW, some contributors to this thread may be interested in a thread on SHIBUMI from a few years back, which contains some very interesting observations on the novel, as well as other works of spy fiction:

http://debrief.comma...page__p__434192

Perhaps a mod could merge these two threads.

[Dustin]

BTW, some contributors to this thread may be interested in a thread on SHIBUMI from a few years back, which contains some very interesting observations on the novel, as well as other works of spy fiction:

http://debrief.comma...page__p__434192

Very interesting, thanks for pointing to this.

[Loomis]

I've just finished the new paperback edition of SHIBUMI and was pleasantly surprised to the first three chapters of SATORI tacked on at the end as an appetite-whetter (very short chapters, of course, in the modern manner).

From what I've read so far, I'd say that SATORI is a surprisingly seamless continuation of the, uh, franchise. It doesn't quite read like Trevanian (Winslow has, of course, indicated that he wasn't prepared to an attempt an imitation), but then again (and unlike many a Bond continuation novel's relationship to Fleming) it isn't so horribly far off the mark from the original author as to make one wince.

The best way I'd describe SATORI - and this sounds like a diss, but isn't intended as such - is as "Trevanian Lite". It appears to have some of the spirit and flavour of the original, but in diluted form, shorn of the digressions and general eccentricity and OTTness. And, as expected, it moves at a much faster pace (which may well be a good thing, for much as I love SHIBUMI I cannot in good conscience say that parts of it don't drag, such as the first cave exploration episode that introduces Le Cagot).

Going straight into SATORI after finishing SHIBUMI, SATORI does at least seem like it's telling the story of the same character and the same universe. It's safe to say that Winslow is the Christopher Wood to Trevanian's Fleming, and thankfully not the Sebastian Faulks.

By the Rocky Balls of St Peter, it looks as though Winslow has pulled it off!

[dodge]

Well, thanks, y'all, for your takes on this publishing event. For a long time it had been that Gore Vidal was writing the Trevanian novels. Even knowing now that that was never the case doesn't detract from the literary kick of Trevanian's novels. Can't get around to Satori right now, but I hope to by mid-fall...unless some heavily negative reviews start flooding this site.

[Harmsway]

SATORI is being made into a film, with Leo DiCaprio as Nicholai Hel.

[Loomis]

SATORI is now available in paperback in Britain (and, presumably, other countries as well), and I've just got back from the bookshop with my copy. I'll put my thoughts in this thread once I've read it.

As for a film adaptation, just imagine the budget! Employing DiCaprio, recreating 1950s China and Vietnam (and maybe other locations too - dunno because I haven't read the book yet), and coming up with action sequences to rival Bond and Bourne.... SATORI sounds like one of the most expensive films of all time right off the bat. Can't wait to find out who's directing.

The obvious choice, I guess, would be Christopher Nolan. He's worked with DiCaprio on INCEPTION, can handle huge-scale projects, has shown a somewhat Bondian sensibility with BATMAN BEGINS and has expressed an interest in Bond (which I suppose we can take to also mean Bond-type projects like SATORI), no longer has an ongoing franchise what with THE DARK KNIGHT RISES being his final Batman, seems to have at least a vague interest in Asia judging by the Batmans and INCEPTION, might be interested in doing a period piece as he's never done one before, and might welcome the chance of creating his own, original action franchise.

Another director who might be great (although I type this without having seen DRIVE, although I do intend to watch it and hopefully very soon) is Nicolas Winding Refn. For some reason, Scorsese also springs to mind - maybe mostly because of the DiCaprio connection, but then again SATORI could be Marty's debut venture into the world of high-end action franchise blockbusters and he'd certainly seem a very safe pair of hands.

Who knows who's being eyed to direct SATORI, though? Could be anyone, I guess.

[Dustin]

The thing about DiCaprio is that Hel is in fact supposed to look fairly youngish and not too physically impressive, much like DiCaprio himself. I'd welcome this much more than I would the Travis McGee adaption with him. He just might be right for Hel.

I still didn't get around to reading any Winslow (other projects taking up more time than expected) but I've stocked up with THE DAWN PATROL, THE POWER OF THE DOG, CALIFORNIA FIRE AND LIFE and ISLE OF JOY to get an overview (yes, I hold AMAZON shares). Up to now I've read mostly favourable reviews of Winslow's work, so the only thing keeping me from ordering SATORI is that I want to reread SHIBUMI first, although that may not be entirely fair to Winslow as he has to live up to a lot.

[Loomis]

The thing about DiCaprio is that Hel is in fact supposed to look fairly youngish and not too physically impressive, much like DiCaprio himself. I'd welcome this much more than I would the Travis McGee adaption with him. He just might be right for Hel.

Maybe. If an A-list star like DiCaprio is enough to get SATORI a good budget and a good director, then it'll all be worthwhile. And DiCaprio is a decent actor with a fair amount of old-school screen presence. He can carry a movie (to my mind he's pretty much the only good thing about the underwhelming INCEPTION and SHUTTER ISLAND), and when the material is good he really shines. My only concern about him as Hel is his age - okay, DiCaprio can play much younger than he really is, but, still, he's almost forty. I don't remember exactly how old Hel is supposed to be at the start of SATORI, but isn't he in his teens or early twenties?

Still, no big deal, I imagine.

[Dustin]

At a guess I'd say Hel was born in 1925 or 1926 (just browsed SHIBUMI but didn't find the proper chapter where his date-of-birth is given). SATORI is set in 1951, so Hel would be mid-twenties. The last thing I've seen DiCaprio in was indeed INCEPTION; I'd say he could still act a 25-ish character, especially as Hel truly isn't the average slacker or nerd some may associate with that age. Somehow I don't think the exact age will play much of a role.

The interesting part here really is the potential scope of the production. DiCario is hardly thinkable without an above-average budget, and the director would have to fit the same bill. This could turn out to be a huge affair and I'm really curious what kind of potential Tinseltown sees in SATORI. For all intents and purposes it's a commissional work of fanfic. Yet right from the start it attracts enough attention for an adaption, as the original work apparently never did in 30 years.

[Loomis]

At a guess I'd say Hel was born in 1925 or 1926 (just browsed SHIBUMI but didn't find the proper chapter where his date-of-birth is given). SATORI is set in 1951, so Hel would be mid-twenties. The last thing I've seen DiCaprio in was indeed INCEPTION; I'd say he could still act a 25-ish character, especially as Hel truly isn't the average slacker or nerd some may associate with that age. Somehow I don't think the exact age will play much of a role.

I've started reading SATORI, and it says within the first couple of pages that Hel is 26. Thinking about it, in days gone by, people tended to look older than people of the same age do today, so DiCaprio at 40 is actually probably ideal to play a 26-year-old in 1951. But as you say, though, it seems unlikely that Hel's age will be nailed down by the script. It probably won't even be mentioned.

The interesting part here really is the potential scope of the production. DiCario is hardly thinkable without an above-average budget, and the director would have to fit the same bill. This could turn out to be a huge affair and I'm really curious what kind of potential Tinseltown sees in SATORI.

It would seem that Tinseltown wants an action franchise to rival Bourne - and this is essentially Bourne in a period setting. The same time period as the Fleming novels, in fact (well, okay, very slightly earlier). It's interesting that among the snippets of critical blurb on the back cover of SATORI is the following comment from the Daily Mail: "Written with a panache that Fleming would have admired." Even though us hardcore Bond fans on CBn know full well that very few people other than ourselves actually read Fleming nowadays, it seems that his name still carries a lot of cultural weight and commands respect. In fact, you could pitch SATORI very simply to a Hollywood studio as "Bourne meets Fleming", and I suspect that someone did precisely that.

I think Bourne is the main reason why Hollywood is keen to spend many millions on SATORI (you can bet that this film will be infinitely more action-driven than Trevanian's SHIBUMI), but the period setting helps turn it into what I'd call a high-end or classy action franchise - something a lot closer to Bond and Bourne than THE EXPENDABLES or THE TRANSPORTER - and thus something that's capable of attracting a highly acclaimed director like those names I've mentioned. Just as Bourne and Bond have recently attracted respected, top-quality directors (like them or not, Paul Greengrass and Sam Mendes are certainly not action movie hacks), I imagine that the makers of SATORI are aiming to sign a director who, as you say, will fit the same bill as Leo.

For all intents and purposes it's a commissional work of fanfic. Yet right from the start it attracts enough attention for an adaption, as the original work apparently never did in 30 years.

It does initially seem strange that SATORI should be brought to the screen before the iconic, classic spy novel that inspired it - rather like if a John Gardner novel had been chosen as the first Bond film, with the Flemings left untouched.

Still, it probably makes sense from a chronological point of view to start with SATORI, and I suspect that Winslow or another writer has already been contracted to write further prequel continuation novels featuring the young Hel. If SATORI does lead to a successful film franchise, I daresay that SHIBUMI will be filmed in due course, maybe as the third or fourth film, but as we know it would be an extremely tricky novel to adapt faithfully, so I'm sure that any film version would be a very loose adaptation. SATORI, I'm guessing, has a far more straightfoward and screenplay-friendly narrative.

[Dustin]

It does initially seem strange that SATORI should be brought to the screen before the iconic, classic spy novel that inspired it - rather like if a John Gardner novel had been chosen as the first Bond film, with the Flemings left untouched.

Still, it probably makes sense from a chronological point of view to start with SATORI, and I suspect that Winslow or another writer has already been contracted to write further prequel continuation novels featuring the young Hel. If SATORI does lead to a successful film franchise, I daresay that SHIBUMI will be filmed in due course, maybe as the third or fourth film, but as we know it would be an extremely tricky novel to adapt faithfully, so I'm sure that any film version would be a very loose adaptation. SATORI, I'm guessing, has a far more straightfoward and screenplay-friendly narrative.

The more I think about this the stranger it seems to me. Hasn't all this gone awfully fast? In May we learn about the completely unexpected (at least to me) revival of Trevanian's stand-alone hero in a kind of midquel written by Winslow. And by October there are already plans to film the book? I'm starting to suspect the hopes to create a rival franchise to Bond and Bourne have been a crucial part of the plan from the beginning. Yes, Don Winslow is an accomplished author with 20 years of experience and an impressive backlist in the crime field. But this apparently is the first - or second, depending on the state of affairs of Oliver Stone's adaption of SAVAGES - of his books that gets adapted. I'd say DiCaprio's scouts must practically have been sitting right beside Winslow's publisher and Trevanian's daughter to make a deal so fast for this project.

Of course SHIBUMI mentions a lot of Hel's adventures only in passing, so there could be stuff for numerous continuations, all set in Hel's intriguing profession as a freelance counter-terrorist. What I wonder is, will the period setting also feature on the screen? It's a factor that increases production costs significantly, so I could understand if there was pressure to update it - if that is possible, that is.

[terminus]

Just ordered both Shibumi and Satori with an Amazon voucher I got.

[Dustin]

I've recently finished SATORI. While it surely wasn't SHIBUMI - or Winslow anything like Trevanian for that matter - I can see what kind of appeal the book has for Hollywood. Exotic Asian locales - somewhat under-represented in recent years in the major blockbusters - a charismatic hero, an even more charismatic heroine, despicable and horrifying villains, action of the Bourne variety with guns and stunts and deadly martial arts - no, really, it's quite the stuff I can see filmed. As a matter of fact it almost reads as if it's a go at a screenplay, with the cuts already preconceived. Funnily, I do not see DiCaprio in it now; the idea he's too old for the role by now must have caught with me (but he's approaching the age where I now would buy a Travis McGee he's apparently optioned too).

I wonder why Winslow wasn't approached by the Ludlum heirs to pen a Bourne sequel; he strikes me as a much better fit for the job than Lustbader. The thing SATORI captures best in my opinion is not SHIBUMI/Trevanian's prose but that sense of urgency and mystery that permeates the Bourne books and much of his other work. That said I have a few complaints about the book itself, the end comes as a bit of an anti-climax and leaves the reader - me in any case - somewhat underwhelmed. It could have done with a little more passion and perhaps also a little more exposure. The word 'rushed' repeatedly comes to mind, although being fast-moving is one of Winslow's qualities as a writer. Here I wished he had been given more room, more time, to bring his story home.