75 pages into Never Send Flowers...so far not bad, except for one line which struck me as a bit off for a Bond novel.
This is when Bond meets Flicka, and she says:
"Oh, I think we will probably become very close friends, Mr Bond, or may I call you James?"
"Call me anything you like." A couple of seconds later, he realised what he actually meant what he had said. She could have called him Dickbrain and he still would have smiled at her happily.
Somehow, I can't imagine a word like 'Dickbrain' entering Bond's thoughts. )
Yes, that's a much-maligned line from NSF there and I concur it's really not very Bondian in nature at all. Yes, even I say that as a big NSF defender! Don't adjust your screen, folks! )
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
I have to admit that i rather enjoyed Never Send Flowers. Like all of the other late Gardner books I have read, it entertained me even though it is not as strong as most of the earlier entries. I thought that Dragonpol made a very interesting villain. Also i found the EuroDisney finale surprisingly suspenseful even though it was odd to see Bond so excited by the fantasy of the Disney universe.
I thought it was a perfectly enjoyable book, and much like the weaker Bond films, just because it is on the lower end of the ranking doesn't mean it isn't a fun read.
That's my take on it, i don't expect many others beside Sillhouette Man to agree, but so be it.
I think Disney was very good to Gardner showing him round and giving him access to the site.
So I think he must have felt obliged to have Bond sing their praises a little. I agree it is one of
the weaker Gardner books, but if you keep reading his novels. Believe me there are weaker entries.
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
superadoRegent's Park West (CaliforniaPosts: 2,656MI6 Agent
I think Disney was very good to Gardner showing him round and giving him access to the site.
So I think he must have felt obliged to have Bond sing their praises a little. I agree it is one of
the weaker Gardner books, but if you keep reading his novels. Believe me there are weaker entries.
It's interesting how EuroDisney was featured here, as well as a disguised version of it in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six. Man, what thoughts go through an author's mind when spending a "wasted" day in Disneyland with the kiddies!
"...the purposeful slant of his striding figure looked dangerous, as if he was making quickly for something bad that was happening further down the street." -SMERSH on 007 dossier photo, Ch. 6 FRWL.....
I've mentioned earlier in this thread that the only original Gardner novel that I have yet to read is COLD, which I will get round to sometime in the near future. However, there is one other missing link in my John Gardner experience, and that is the novelisation of Licence to Kill. Until now, I have never found a copy for sale and for the most part I have resisted going online to find my Bond books, preferring the satisfaction of tracking them down one by one in used book shops. Finally, on Saturday I found a copy of Licence to Kill, thereby completing my collection of John Gardner Bonds, and this morning I started reading it during my train commute. I guess all things do come to those who wait. Now I just need to track down the three Raymond Benson books which are still missing in my collection, and Raymond Benson novels have proven to be very scarce here in South Africa. I can only assume that they weren't released here in large numbers.
Reading 'Goldfinger' (only TSWLM to complete my Fleming (Bond) novels) at present.
So far so good, just finished the chapter (9) where the golf game was played at "Royal St. Marks" (St. George's) for the purists.
A long chapter and despite having played a lot of golf myself I'd never heard of a 'Brassie' or 'Spoon'. This novel was published in 1959 after all. Regardless, very descriptive but I suspect one has to either have played or at least follows golf to appreciate the content or else it may have dragged a bit.
"Everyone knows rock n' roll attained perfection in 1974; It's a scientific fact". - Homer J Simpson
I've never played golf, although I do have a basic understanding of the game, and I really love the golfing chapter in Goldfinger. Although it is not one of my overall favourite Bond novels I do think that some of the descriptive passages in Goldfinger are terrific. I've also always enjoyed the first section of the novel when Bond meets DuPont in Miami and they have dinner. I can't recall a meal that I've read on the page ever seeming so mouth-watering as Bond's meal of Stone Crabs with Mr DuPont.
Ive started to read FRWL again ,(this will be the 3rd time) I seem to have digested it better this time ,and separate the film from the book in my mind.It would be nice if one day the film makers could actually do the film as per exactly as the book was written .I think sometimes that Fleming would be sitting there ,watching his film adaptation ,saying "no no no , this wasn't what id wrote .
I finished reading the Licence to Kill novelisation about a week ago. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to, given that Licence to Kill has always ranked in the bottom 25% of the Bond films for me. I thought that although it is a fairly run-of-the-mill novelisation, the story works rather well on the page.
Re FRWL: The story goes that Fleming was watching the gypsy catfight being filmed and complained to Terence Young that it was a lot tamer than what he'd written. The director replied "And how exactly do you expect me to.get THAT past the censors??!!"
The story goes that Fleming was watching the gypsy catfight being filmed and complained to Terence Young that it was a lot tamer than what he'd written. The director replied "And how exactly do you expect me to.get THAT past the censors??!!"
Hehe - if he was that picky about such scene then god knows what he would have made of the films later down the line!!! )
I finished reading the Licence to Kill novelisation about a week ago. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to, given that Licence to Kill has always ranked in the bottom 25% of the Bond films for me. I thought that although it is a fairly run-of-the-mill novelisation, the story works rather well on the page.
I can understand where you're coming from with regards to the books and films comparison.
I try not to think of the film when reading the novel but it's much easier said than done. That's why I was reluctant to read The Man with the Golden Gun as this is one of my worst Bond films but I kept an open mind and quite enjoyed the novel. I also try to picture Bond as the caricature in the comics as opposed to the actor in the movies. In saying that I always think of Bernard Lee as 'M' regardless of the movie. And as I've just started reading Goldfinger I couldn't picture anyone else other than Shirley Eaton as Jill Masterton. I mean, how do you improve on perfection? -{
Generally speaking, in most cases I much prefer the novel to the film but with some of the Bond films (Dr. No and Thunderball are two that come to mind) I'd put them on a par with the novels, and then I much prefer the novels of You Only Live Twice and Moonraker to the films.
Finally, is there a thread somewhere here on a Bond books/films comparison. I had a brief look but couldn't find anything?
"Everyone knows rock n' roll attained perfection in 1974; It's a scientific fact". - Homer J Simpson
After writing Diamonds Are Forever, Fleming was invited to meet a 'real-life spy' as he calls him, an agent of the IDSO (international diamond security organisation) who'd just spent two years in Africa uncovering the enormous traffic in smuggled diamonds. Fleming interviewed him over the course of two weeks in Tangiers.
It's a fairly slim volume, written in Fleming's characteristic prose - slightly superior, occasionally racist, often humorous, peppered with detail ... and full of fascinating anecdotes about the diamond trade, corruption in high places, and the scrapes the IDSO agent and his colleagues got into (and out of).
A good companion piece to Thrilling Cities, for those who haven't already read it. -{
I'm reading The 4-hour Workweek right now. Some interesting stuff!
I read that, or rather, skipped around a bit. I'm also following the author on LinkedIn (which is part of his revenue-generating strategy if I recall correctly). Kind of radical and often off-the-wall strategies, but then again, very fitting for daring Millennials, which I am not a part of )
I just remembered that I also listened to the audio-book, most passively unfortunately!
"...the purposeful slant of his striding figure looked dangerous, as if he was making quickly for something bad that was happening further down the street." -SMERSH on 007 dossier photo, Ch. 6 FRWL.....
I've just started the last leg of a long journey...
Around 2003, I picked up Scorpius. (Actually, I pinched it*) It was my first John Gardner novel and I really enjoyed it. Now, 13 years later I've started reading COLD, the last of the Gardner novels that I'm reading. Of course I know its reputation, but I've enjoyed all of the other Gardner novels, even the lesser ones like Brokenclaw and Never Send Flowers so I am optimistic that I will find COLD to be at least a passable novel.
* I was in high school in 2003 at a very small school which had only been running for a few years and the school didn't yet have a library. Then one day several boxes of second hand books were dropped off at the school to be used as the starting point for the school library. I looked through one of the boxes and spotted Scorpius. I didn't recognise the title, but I did recognise the name John Gardner so I picked it up and saw that it was a James Bond novel. I decided the school didn't really need it, so I quickly put it in my bag and that was the start of my James Bond book collection! )
I am optimistic that I will find COLD to be at least a passable novel.
Good luck with that. I've read loads of Gardners (the Boysie Oakes series, his Bonds, and a couple of others- more than 20 all in) and that was definitely the worst.
I've just finished reading COLD, the last Gardner novel and appropriately the last one that I got round to reading even though I'd gone through the series in a completely random order.
Knowing its poor reputation, but also being aware of a number of not-so-negative reviews from AJB members and other online Bond fans, I went in not expecting too much but confident that I'd find it to be at least a passable novel with one or two enjoyable sequences. In fact, I found that exceeded these modest expectations and proved to be far from my least favourite Gardner novel. I found it entertaining throughout. It mixes an interesting and believable plot (especially relevant in our post-9/11 world) with several excellent action scenes and some introspective passages where Bond reflects on his relationships and the way that his women often end up dead. These emotive scenes are not very common in Bond novels and I feel they give the novel something unique. Also, the split time sequence of the narrative is an unusual touch and allows Gardner to tie up various threads and characters from earlier novels. The definite highlight for me was the helicopter chase scene. The final action sequence was okay but not amazing (in fact, it reminded me slightly of the climactic scene in one of my fan-fiction novellas.) The links to previous Gardner novels worked well, and even though Flicka had never had all that much impact for me (certainly nowhere near the level of Tracy or Vesper) Bond's grief over her demise felt genuine and moving. I also enjoyed 'witnessing' the handover between the original M and the new female M, nicely setting up the new environment for the Brosnan/Benson era.
Overall, I think a good solid effort from Gardner in his last outing as Bond author. Not quite ending with a bang, but certainly not a whimper either in my opinion. To round off my Gardner experience I've ranked the novels from favourite to least favourite. Bear in mind, I don't regard this as necessarily a ranking in terms of quality, but rather based on how much I enjoyed the experience of reading the novel. (By the way, I've left the novelisations off this list)
1. Icebreaker
2. Nobody Lives For Ever
3. No Deals, Mr Bond
4. Licence Renewed
5. Scorpius
6. COLD
7. The Man From Barbarossa
8. Win, Lose or Die
9. Death is Forever
10. For Special Services
11. Role of Honour
12. Never Send Flowers
13. Brokenclaw
14. Seafire
There are a couple of Gardner novels which I definitely want to re-read in the near future, because they didn't do much for me first time round but I feel they would be likely to rank higher if I give them a second chance. These are 'For Special Services' and 'Role of Honour'. I'm sure that as time goes by I will re-read most, if not all, of these novels and enjoy them all over again.
I've always enjoyed the first six or so Gardner Bond Novels......... Sadly those after ..... Are
Very weak ( only my opinion, of course ) and quite repetitive in story ideas.
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
An Ungentlemanly Act :
A WW2 action thriller by Adam Chance, who was a former member here. It is very well written, so good
in fact, I find it hard to believe it is a first novel. Some really interesting characters and exciting situations.
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
superadoRegent's Park West (CaliforniaPosts: 2,656MI6 Agent
An Ungentlemanly Act :
A WW2 action thriller by Adam Chance, who was a former member here. It is very well written, so good
in fact, I find it hard to believe it is a first novel. Some really interesting characters and exciting situations.
Why "former"? Did he just stop coming over?
"...the purposeful slant of his striding figure looked dangerous, as if he was making quickly for something bad that was happening further down the street." -SMERSH on 007 dossier photo, Ch. 6 FRWL.....
Comments
( stereotypical joke )
Yes, that's a much-maligned line from NSF there and I concur it's really not very Bondian in nature at all. Yes, even I say that as a big NSF defender! Don't adjust your screen, folks!
I thought it was a perfectly enjoyable book, and much like the weaker Bond films, just because it is on the lower end of the ranking doesn't mean it isn't a fun read.
That's my take on it, i don't expect many others beside Sillhouette Man to agree, but so be it.
So I think he must have felt obliged to have Bond sing their praises a little. I agree it is one of
the weaker Gardner books, but if you keep reading his novels. Believe me there are weaker entries.
It's interesting how EuroDisney was featured here, as well as a disguised version of it in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six. Man, what thoughts go through an author's mind when spending a "wasted" day in Disneyland with the kiddies!
So far so good, just finished the chapter (9) where the golf game was played at "Royal St. Marks" (St. George's) for the purists.
A long chapter and despite having played a lot of golf myself I'd never heard of a 'Brassie' or 'Spoon'. This novel was published in 1959 after all. Regardless, very descriptive but I suspect one has to either have played or at least follows golf to appreciate the content or else it may have dragged a bit.
Hehe - if he was that picky about such scene then god knows what he would have made of the films later down the line!!!
I can understand where you're coming from with regards to the books and films comparison.
I try not to think of the film when reading the novel but it's much easier said than done. That's why I was reluctant to read The Man with the Golden Gun as this is one of my worst Bond films but I kept an open mind and quite enjoyed the novel. I also try to picture Bond as the caricature in the comics as opposed to the actor in the movies. In saying that I always think of Bernard Lee as 'M' regardless of the movie. And as I've just started reading Goldfinger I couldn't picture anyone else other than Shirley Eaton as Jill Masterton. I mean, how do you improve on perfection?
Generally speaking, in most cases I much prefer the novel to the film but with some of the Bond films (Dr. No and Thunderball are two that come to mind) I'd put them on a par with the novels, and then I much prefer the novels of You Only Live Twice and Moonraker to the films.
Finally, is there a thread somewhere here on a Bond books/films comparison. I had a brief look but couldn't find anything?
These may be of interest:
http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/36041/james-bond-in-book-vs-film/
http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/35941/you-only-live-twice-book-and-film/
http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/35924/ohmss-do-you-prefer-the-book-or-the-film/
After writing Diamonds Are Forever, Fleming was invited to meet a 'real-life spy' as he calls him, an agent of the IDSO (international diamond security organisation) who'd just spent two years in Africa uncovering the enormous traffic in smuggled diamonds. Fleming interviewed him over the course of two weeks in Tangiers.
It's a fairly slim volume, written in Fleming's characteristic prose - slightly superior, occasionally racist, often humorous, peppered with detail ... and full of fascinating anecdotes about the diamond trade, corruption in high places, and the scrapes the IDSO agent and his colleagues got into (and out of).
A good companion piece to Thrilling Cities, for those who haven't already read it. -{
I read that, or rather, skipped around a bit. I'm also following the author on LinkedIn (which is part of his revenue-generating strategy if I recall correctly). Kind of radical and often off-the-wall strategies, but then again, very fitting for daring Millennials, which I am not a part of
I just remembered that I also listened to the audio-book, most passively unfortunately!
Around 2003, I picked up Scorpius. (Actually, I pinched it*) It was my first John Gardner novel and I really enjoyed it. Now, 13 years later I've started reading COLD, the last of the Gardner novels that I'm reading. Of course I know its reputation, but I've enjoyed all of the other Gardner novels, even the lesser ones like Brokenclaw and Never Send Flowers so I am optimistic that I will find COLD to be at least a passable novel.
* I was in high school in 2003 at a very small school which had only been running for a few years and the school didn't yet have a library. Then one day several boxes of second hand books were dropped off at the school to be used as the starting point for the school library. I looked through one of the boxes and spotted Scorpius. I didn't recognise the title, but I did recognise the name John Gardner so I picked it up and saw that it was a James Bond novel. I decided the school didn't really need it, so I quickly put it in my bag and that was the start of my James Bond book collection!
Good luck with that. I've read loads of Gardners (the Boysie Oakes series, his Bonds, and a couple of others- more than 20 all in) and that was definitely the worst.
Knowing its poor reputation, but also being aware of a number of not-so-negative reviews from AJB members and other online Bond fans, I went in not expecting too much but confident that I'd find it to be at least a passable novel with one or two enjoyable sequences. In fact, I found that exceeded these modest expectations and proved to be far from my least favourite Gardner novel. I found it entertaining throughout. It mixes an interesting and believable plot (especially relevant in our post-9/11 world) with several excellent action scenes and some introspective passages where Bond reflects on his relationships and the way that his women often end up dead. These emotive scenes are not very common in Bond novels and I feel they give the novel something unique. Also, the split time sequence of the narrative is an unusual touch and allows Gardner to tie up various threads and characters from earlier novels. The definite highlight for me was the helicopter chase scene. The final action sequence was okay but not amazing (in fact, it reminded me slightly of the climactic scene in one of my fan-fiction novellas.) The links to previous Gardner novels worked well, and even though Flicka had never had all that much impact for me (certainly nowhere near the level of Tracy or Vesper) Bond's grief over her demise felt genuine and moving. I also enjoyed 'witnessing' the handover between the original M and the new female M, nicely setting up the new environment for the Brosnan/Benson era.
Overall, I think a good solid effort from Gardner in his last outing as Bond author. Not quite ending with a bang, but certainly not a whimper either in my opinion. To round off my Gardner experience I've ranked the novels from favourite to least favourite. Bear in mind, I don't regard this as necessarily a ranking in terms of quality, but rather based on how much I enjoyed the experience of reading the novel. (By the way, I've left the novelisations off this list)
1. Icebreaker
2. Nobody Lives For Ever
3. No Deals, Mr Bond
4. Licence Renewed
5. Scorpius
6. COLD
7. The Man From Barbarossa
8. Win, Lose or Die
9. Death is Forever
10. For Special Services
11. Role of Honour
12. Never Send Flowers
13. Brokenclaw
14. Seafire
There are a couple of Gardner novels which I definitely want to re-read in the near future, because they didn't do much for me first time round but I feel they would be likely to rank higher if I give them a second chance. These are 'For Special Services' and 'Role of Honour'. I'm sure that as time goes by I will re-read most, if not all, of these novels and enjoy them all over again.
Very weak ( only my opinion, of course ) and quite repetitive in story ideas.
A WW2 action thriller by Adam Chance, who was a former member here. It is very well written, so good
in fact, I find it hard to believe it is a first novel. Some really interesting characters and exciting situations.
Why "former"? Did he just stop coming over?
book is worth a read.