155 replies to this topic

[zencat]

UK blurb. A little different. Confirms Washington D.C. as the USA location.

 

http://www.thebookbo...washington.html

[007jamesbond]

Interesting finally feature USA captial........hopefully Leiter shows up at some point and probably FBI/CIA too 

[Walecs]

James Bond is about to go solo, recklessly motivated by revenge.

 

 

That's cool, we never had this kind of plot. Except, of course, in the last 8 movies. I usually like the "this time it's personal" plot, but I think now they're exaggerating.

[sharpshooter]

James Bond is about to go solo, recklessly motivated by revenge.

 

 

That's cool, we never had this kind of plot. Except, of course, in the last 8 movies. I usually like the "this time it's personal" plot, but I think now they're exaggerating.

Heh, yeah. Ignoring M's orders, pursuing his own kind of justice, exacting revenge, etc. It's all so new for Bond. 

[tdalton]

James Bond is about to go solo, recklessly motivated by revenge.

 

 

Wonderful.  

 

One has to wonder if we're ever going to get something that isn't a "this time it's personal" storyline.  The revenge kick that they've had Bond on since 1989 has long since passed its sell by date.  It's seriously time to move on.

[Dustin]

Well, not wanting to put too fine a point to it, but:
CR - ends with Bond formulating his own mission to take revenge on SMERSH
LALD - Bond vows to himself to use Solitaire's and the US funds to avenge her (and Leiter?)
MR - Bond thwarts a Nazi scheme to annihilate London by the ultimate mega-V2 missile, dropping the bomb on the villain himself; symbolically he takes revenge for the 'Blitz' (and somewhat ironically the German translation of the novel used to be titled 'Mondblitz', a not-too-subtle reference to the Battle for Britain and the last days of the 'Little Blitz')
FRWL - mentions for the first time the real-life events of the Burgess/Maclean scandal; the scheme to acquire a Russian cypher machine (and its operator, something not to be underestimated!) carries a definite whiff of tit for tat; perhaps not 'revenge' in the bloodiest senso stricto, but definitely something akin to
DN - Strangways, Trueblood, those people having accidents on Crab Key, I rest my case
GF - Jill Masterton
FYEO - various themes of revenge, on different levels of personal involvement for Bond
TB - stretching device vs. steam box
OHMSS/YOLT - no comment
TMWTGG - the book can be summed as one single tractate on the various forms of revenge: the Russians sending Bond to kill his own father figure, M taking a - petty - kind of revenge on Bond by not briefing him himself and a much more serious one by sending a - still disoriented - Bond on a mission very likely to be his last, SIS avenging the deaths of numerous agents at the hands of Scaramanga and indirectly paying back the KGB for brainwashing Bond in the first place

The above shows that Bond in the vast majority of Fleming's works operates between the poles of vengeance, revenge and retaliation. And often his actual mission has little to do with the - usually bloody - outcome that sees various villains on their way to whatever may come after life. In fact Bond's actual briefing is often enough alarmingly simple and bordering on the naive/criminally ignorant side of utter incompetence. Bond's success often enough depends on his own independence from HQ and a very loose interpretation of M's/SIS' needs.

Insofar I think the mention of revenge in that blurb need not alarm us, after all it's really nothing new to the series. And in the end these things are written to sell books, not to actually describe them. A blurb will contain what the marketing branch thinks will catch people's interest in the tome. And thrillers often go with a revenge theme, so it doesn't surprise me they use it here. You might even make a case the very nature of a 00-section necessarily involves some kind of 'evil-has-been-done/hero-must-restore-balance-by-taking-evil-out-of-the-equation theme.

[SecretAgentFan]

Absolutely!

 

And the first synopsis actually explained everything much better - Bond is sent on a mission and then does his own thing (as always).

 

It only seems that "going rogue" sells better these days. That´s probably why this second synopsis is emphasizing this aspect.

[Dustin]

Sobering thought, but probably also a necessary consideration in the context: in today's print market Fleming's own books would most likely not make it to the in-tray of the editorial desk of a publisher. Without the films and their impact on the last century they would probably not be read by many today any more. And if they were published today they would likely have to feature massive and drastic changes. And I don't mean primarily Bond's smoking habit.

[SecretAgentFan]

That is, unfortunately, so true.

[glidrose]

Note how the author omits the fact Bond's first mission was also to an invented place.

 
France doesn't exist? It's just a state of mind?

[Dustin]

It's the place dreams go to when they feel they are going to die...

[007jamesbond]

Bond being going rouge and revenge since CR.......in particular YOLT he was both revenge and rouge.......LALD was revenge against SMESH again in Dr.NO..........it probably a mislead and there something we don't know yet 

[marktmurphy]

So.. do we think it's worth a pre-order or will it be cheaper in Sainsburys?

[Dustin]

I pre-ordered - in spite of recent disappointments - the hardback because I'm quite fond of the gecko/lizard design. Funnily I will have to wait longer for it than if I had ordered the airport/export edition.

[glidrose]

Bond being going rouge

Like Sarah Palin?

[chrisno1]

So.. do we think it's worth a pre-order or will it be cheaper in Sainsburys?

 I'll probably try Tesco - they sold Carte Blanche for £5.00 .

[sharpshooter]

In the absence of a new movie or game, I'm looking forward to this one now. I'm hoping for the best.

[007jamesbond]

I expect early review to come in next week usually a week or so before the public review 

[zencat]

Bond's SOLO car revealed!

 

http://www.thebookbo...en-in-solo.html

[Dustin]

Another splendid find, thanks for sharing, zencat!

[007jamesbond]

has there been any review by the media yet....? 

[quantumofsolace]

Ian Fleming 'was sexist, racist and sadistic': New Bond author says his book is well-written... unlike the originals http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2427871/William-Boyd-I-toned-Ian-Flemings-sexist-racist-sadistic-James-Bond.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

 

The author of the new James Bond book, says he deliberately wrote about women and African people 'not in a way Fleming would write them'.

William Boyd, the third writer in recent years to pen a new installment to the classic spy series, said he found it difficult to read the descriptions of 'negros' and chapters entitled 'Nigger Heaven'.

Boyd, who was born in Ghana in 1952 and spent his childhood travelling between Africa and his Scottish boarding school Gordonstoun, said: 'It's unbelievable to read now. I think if you were of that privileged upper class, born at the beginning of the 20th century, you were probably racist, sexist, right wing and anti-Semitic.'

The writer, whose works include bestsellers such as Restless, said he admired Ian Fleming's style, but chose to write in his own way in the novel Solo, which will be published on Thursday.

And although Boyd's 007 is in bed with a beautiful woman by page 86 of the novel, he said he had written about the spies relationships with women differently, saying of Fleming's novels: 'The sex can veer from terrible Barbara Cartland romanticism to almost sadism.

'I deliberately wrote those scenes well, not in the way Fleming would write them,' he said.

The 61-year-old admitted in an interview with The Times that he had had arguments with the Fleming estate, which authorised him to write the new novel, over his plot line that made Bond into an assassin.

Boyd said he had a high regard for Fleming, having featured him as a character in his novel Any Human Heart, saying the novelist would be his specialist subject on Mastermind.

He has written the scripts for films that have involved Bond actors Daniel Craig, Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan.

Boyd said he felt his style matched the sentiment of the original Bond books - although he accepted that some hard-core 007 fans might be disappointed with his decision to tweak the original writer's style, even having his spy drive a Jensen rather than a Bentley or an Aston Martin.

Solo, published by Random House, is set in West Africa in 1969.

It follows 45-year-old Bond on a freelance mission that takes him across the continent and to Europe and North America - via a multitude of drinks and two different women.

He has previously said that he 'accepted at once' when the Ian Fleming estate asked him to write the new novel, saying it was 'incredibly exciting and stimulating - a once-in-a-lifetime challenge'.

Boyd is the third author in recent years to write a fresh addition to the Bond series.

Sebastian Faulkes published Devil May Care in 2008, followed by Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver in 2011.

More than 100 million Bond books have been sold and the films have grossed more than $6 billion (£3.8 billion) around the world – Skyfall alone has made more than $1 billion (£637 million).

More than half the world’s population having seen a Bond film.

[freemo]

'It's unbelievable to read now. I think if you were of that privileged upper class, born at the beginning of the 20th century, you were probably racist, sexist, right wing and anti-Semitic.'

 

Upper class! Oh dear! Right-wing! Oh no! But then, those people born at the beginning of the 20th century, they were all that like, especially the way they'd all make generalisations about entire generations, not like us, we who have reached man's endpoint for enlightenment.

 

Sorry to hear the sadism is gone. Glad the snobbery is back I guess.

[quantumofsolace]

 http://www.theguardi...pc-version-solo

[Dustin]

From that source:

So what will Boyd's Bond be like? Much the same as Deaver's. Which was much the same as Faulks's. Which was much the same as Fleming's. You don't read Bond for his surprises. You read him for his familiarity.

A claim that betrays the author apparently has read neither.

[SecretAgentFan]

From that source:

So what will Boyd's Bond be like? Much the same as Deaver's. Which was much the same as Faulks's. Which was much the same as Fleming's. You don't read Bond for his surprises. You read him for his familiarity.

A claim that betrays the author apparently has read neither.

 

 

Absolutely.

 

By the way, for a book that is released in two days there curiously don´t seem to be any reviews yet.

 

Is there an embargo on it? Hasn´t the publisher made it available to the critics?

 

The new Stephen King is out today and tons of reviews were online last week already.

[Dustin]

Could be publisher-imposed silence, perhaps also to get the reviews out simultaneously to get a better public profile against King. DOCTOR SLEEP will have quite an impact, Boyd's SOLO will have to struggle not to become a mere footnote against that.

 

Another curious thing was that SOLO's kindle edition was also supposed to be downloading not before October until recently. Now it's supposedly on air Thursday like the UK print edition.   

[tdalton]

Could be publisher-imposed silence, perhaps also to get the reviews out simultaneously to get a better public profile against King. DOCTOR SLEEP will have quite an impact, Boyd's SOLO will have to struggle not to become a mere footnote against that.

 

Another curious thing was that SOLO's kindle edition was also supposed to be downloading not before October until recently. Now it's supposedly on air Thursday like the UK print edition.   

 

I'm kind of surprised that they're releasing Solo so close to Doctor Sleep, to be honest.  Doctor Sleep should be a big deal, and the reviews so far indicate that it will be.  I know that it will get my full attention before I turn attention towards Solo.

[Dustin]

 

Could be publisher-imposed silence, perhaps also to get the reviews out simultaneously to get a better public profile against King. DOCTOR SLEEP will have quite an impact, Boyd's SOLO will have to struggle not to become a mere footnote against that.

 

Another curious thing was that SOLO's kindle edition was also supposed to be downloading not before October until recently. Now it's supposedly on air Thursday like the UK print edition.   

 

I'm kind of surprised that they're releasing Solo so close to Doctor Sleep, to be honest.  Doctor Sleep should be a big deal, and the reviews so far indicate that it will be.  I know that it will get my full attention before I turn attention towards Solo.

 

 

 

And you won't be alone, thousands of readers will focus on DOCTOR SLEEP now. But I'm not sure if IFP did have a chance to avoid that mess. If I recall correctly Boyd's project was announced before King's, wasn't it?

Edited by Dustin, 24 September 2013 - 06:58 PM.

[glidrose]

From that source:

So what will Boyd's Bond be like? Much the same as Deaver's. Which was much the same as Faulks's. Which was much the same as Fleming's. You don't read Bond for his surprises. You read him for his familiarity.

A claim that betrays the author apparently has read neither.

 

 

At least he didn't go so far as to throw Gardner's non-Bond into the mix.

 

Of course any writer who starts his article with "William Boyd will become the third author, after Sebastian Faulks and Jeffrey Deaver, to publish a James Bond novel, Solo, with the official blessing of the Ian Fleming estate" clearly doesn't know what he's talking about. If he'd at least added "in recent memory"....

 

Back to the topic at hand. Reminds me of the time that prissy New Yorker critic Anthony Lane claimed that the work of the directors on the Bond films was indistinguishable from one another. Um... Lewis Gilbert vs. John Glen should disabuse anybody of that belief.