Benson's bad books . . .

Scribe74

The works of Ian Fleming inspired me to become a writer. With the release of the brilliant "Casino Royale," I recently tore my way through the Fleming novels once more. I'm about to start re-reading the John Gardner books, which I also enjoyed very much through my teen years ("No Deals, Mr. Bond" being my favorite).

I'm curious, however, to find out what the AJB forum members think of Raymond Benson's literary Bond. I purchased "Zero Minus Ten" when it first came out and couldn't believe Glidrose had allowed a writer of such minimal talent to tackle the world of 007. I couldn't even finish the book.

Any similar thoughts, or am I being unfair?

Hardyboy

You might want to have a look at this thread. Also, do a search under "Benson" or under individual titles of his novels and you'll find a lot of information. I'm particularly proud of my take on The Man with the Red Tattoo--not that I'm bragging. Enjoy!

zencat

I think the Benson books are excellent Bond adventures. Better than Gardner, IMO. Wish he would have done at least one more.

Willie Garvin

I'm with Zen on this.As much as I appreciate John Gardner's skills as a writer, I think his best James Bond books are his Boysie Oakes novels written decades before Glidrose signed him to continue in Fleming's place.I recommend the Boysie Oakes books without any reservations.In these novels,Gardner is writing his own characters and satirises the James Bond series while also producing some excellent adventure stories at the same time.The first book is The Liquidator.

By the time Gardner was approached to write 007's adventures, he was quite unwell and his wife was dying.Reportedly,not long after signing the Glidrose contract,Gardner had second thoughts and briefly discussed his reservations in taking on such a task.Regardless,I certainly respect Gardner's efforts at keeping Bond in print, but I never really enjoyed his take on the character or most of the plots he came up with--and yes,I've read them all.Including COLD .On paper, Gardner really sounded like the perfect man to follow in Fleming's footsteps--after all,he'd written plenty of espionage novels,apart from the best-selling Boysie Oakes series, and had even seen action as a commando years before.He made a special point before he wrote his first 007 novel to tell the public that he wasn't going to imitate Fleming-adding, in jest,that he didn't have a vocabulary equal to Ian's.However,in some interviews taken while he was still writing 007, Gardner sometimes comes across as considering the Bond books to be almost beneath his talents.

By contrast to John Gardner,whatever one might say about Raymond Benson as a writer,he is a human encylopedia of 007 facts and factoids, and aside from Ian Fleming, probably knows more about the literary James Bond than anyone else on the planet.Is he a great writer?No--but he's not an untalented storyteller either, and I think he developed considerably over the course of his writing the Bond books.

I liked that Benson made a effort to occasionally bring back some of Fleming's characters from the earlier novels(something Gardner didn't do much of),and even referenced some of the original books--sometimes using those as indirect inspirations for some of his own novels.In all fairness,by the time Glidrose hired Benson,he was immediately placed in an awkward position.Benson was called upon by his publishers to entertain both the long time fans of the original literary 007 and also please the people who only knew James Bond from the Pierce Brosnan motion pictures.Satisfying both groups was probably impossible.

And then there were those helpful editors who often wouldn't allow Benson or Gardner to use more evocative Flemingesque titles for their novels--thus Gardner's No Deals,Mr.Bond.:o(Better than Bond Strikes Back--which was actually suggested to Benson--but not by much.)Benson's often talked in interviews about how difficult it was to come up with a title both he and his publishers could agree on.Gardner has plenty of his own horror stories about this,too.

Anyway,is Raymond Benson the equal of Ian Fleming?Of course not.He doesn't think he is either.Nor(IMO) is he as adroit as John Gardner. Nevertheless, I still give him plenty of props for the overall quality of most of his stories and for his efforts to at least try to align his work with some of Fleming's stuff.I also like his enthusiasm.And in fairness, I wouldn't be so quick to call Benson's books "bad".To decide that Benson's completely inept on the basis of one book is like deciding Fleming wasn't much of a writer after only looking at a few of his lesser novels.

Benson's not as adept at replicating Ian Fleming's distinctive narrative "voice" as Christopher Wood and Kingsley Amis were, but that's not as important to me as it might have been at one time.

I suspect that any writer who follows in Ian Fleming's footsteps--regardless of his own unique talents--will always find himself being compared to the man who created James Bond, and usually in a negative manner.

Just look at how Charlie Higson was treated on nearly every 007 website when he was first announced as the author of the Young Bond series...

Golrush007

I must admit that I have not read all of Benson's books, but what I have read has always been an enjoyable escapist adventure. I have read all of Benson's novelisations and they are quite good, although nowhere near as good as Christopher Wood's efforts.

I am reading HTTK at the moment and I am finding the frequent references to earlier tales a little distracting. Such references are something I usually associate with fan fiction. Still, I am enjoying the tale. I like to compare Fleming vs Benson to viewing a film like Moonraker as opposed to FRWL or OHMSS. They are quite nice for some fairly light escapist entertainment, while Fleming's novels are a little deeper and intriguing thrillers.

On the whole, they are good fun to read, but I think there are fan fics on this site which are just as good if not better.

caractacus potts

who are these Glidrose people who hire continuation writers and tell them what rules their books must follow?
are they personal friends and family of Flemings?
some group of speculators who bought a controlling share of the rights?
somewhere in between?

Golrush007

Glidrose, which is now called Ian Fleming Publications, is a publishing company which Ian Fleming bought when he published CR. It is now owned by Fleming's family and they own all the Fleming/Gardner/Benson novels, the film novelisations, the young bond books, moneypenny diaries and all other spin offs. They call the shots about who will be made the continuation author and I gather they also choose the titles of the books.

zencat

Golrush007 wrote:

They call the shots about who will be made the continuation author and I gather they also choose the titles of the books.

When it comes to choosing the titles, I believe it is a collaborative effort between the author, IFP, and the publishers. Every author has commented on how difficult it is for everyone to agree on a title. Of all the Benson novels, only Never Dream of Dying was his original working title. Too bad because I liked some of Benson’s original choices:

ZMT – No Tears for Hong Kong
TFOD – The World is Not Enough (yes, this before the movie)
HTTK – A Better Way to Die
DS – Doppelganger
NDOD – same
TMWTRT – Red Widow Dawn

cdsdss

Scribe74 wrote:

I purchased "Zero Minus Ten" when it first came out and couldn't believe Glidrose had allowed a writer of such minimal talent to tackle the world of 007. I couldn't even finish the book.

Any similar thoughts, or am I being unfair?

No, you're pretty much on the money. I think Gildrose went with Benson because they had a relationship with him already and the man's a walking encyclopedia of Bond. Not necessarily the best of criteria...