well I think that's swell news
they say he was invited to write another "after the success of ...Trigger Mortis"
does that mean they acknowledge the previous three oneshots were failures?
I still would like to see them just publish a collection of Fleming's (Bond related) fragments, outlines, and rough notes as is, I'd read them and flesh out the potential stories in my own mind
as good a job Horowitz did, its still just one mans fanfic, no more valid to me than what my own imagination could come up with
for comparison...
there's a Philip Marlowe book called Poodle Springs, by Robert B. Parker, completing four chapters of an unfinished novel Raymond Chandler left behind when he died. The Chandler content is more substantial than the "400 words" or so, plus notes, that are genuine Fleming content in Trigger Mortis, and its easier therefor to appreciate what Chandler actually wrote, if not what he intended. The genuine Chandler content has Marlowe married to rich woman living in a new house out in the suburbs! very unChandlerian, and the Parker content that completes the book is structured to lead Marlowe back to the more typical dirty downtown office / bachelor lifestyle situation that we expect.
Tintin fans may know something called Tintin and the AlphaArt, which was an unfinished book Herge was partway through when he died. His heirs decided not to complete his last work, but instead published his sketches and notes as is, in a fancy artbook format. For completists only, but I like it. The first pages are rendered in detail, ready to be inked, then by twenty pages in we get increasingly random scribblings and notes crossed out. Last image is Tintin tied up, left in a deathtrap, with no indication how he is to escape.
there's a Philip Marlowe book called Poodle Springs, by Robert B. Parker, completing four chapters of an unfinished novel Raymond Chandler left behind when he died. The Chandler content is more substantial than the "400 words" or so, plus notes, that are genuine Fleming content in Trigger Mortis, and its easier therefor to appreciate what Chandler actually wrote, if not what he intended. The genuine Chandler content has Marlowe married to rich woman living in a new house out in the suburbs! very unChandlerian, and the Parker content that completes the book is structured to lead Marlowe back to the more typical dirty downtown office / bachelor lifestyle situation that we expect.
I'd been familiar with what was then known as "The Poodle Springs Story" for many years before Parker was assigned to expand on it, since it was included in "Raymond Chandler Speaking" (which I recommend to anyone interested in Chandler's world) and think Parker did a better job of it than with "Perchance To Dream", his "Big Sleep" sequel, which came next.
It's fair to compare that with Horowitz's work, thanks for pointing it out.
(Side note- did you ever see the film of "Poodle Springs", with James Caan as Marlowe? It took very little from either Chandler or Parker.)
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,668MI6 Agent
From memory (actually from Pearson's other Bond-related biography), there were at least three leftover plot outlines from the abandoned TV series, that did not get used in FYEO. Hopefully Horowitz will be invited back to flesh those out into proper Bond books as well.
I believe though that it's a prequel to Fleming's Casino Royale, correct? I gather there will still be original Fleming story material used though. It will be interesting indeed to see how that is ultimately achieved.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
I hadn't heard that it's a prequel, though that would be interesting. Yes, it will feature unused Fleming material and Horowitz says he has "a killer first line" which I'm looking forward to. He's writing it at the moment but it'll be next year before we see it.
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,668MI6 Agent
I hadn't heard that it's a prequel, though that would be interesting. Yes, it will feature unused Fleming material and Horowitz says he has "a killer first line" which I'm looking forward to. He's writing it at the moment but it'll be next year before we see it.
That was the talk when it was first announced about a year ago. Don't know if it's still going to be a prequel or not though as Horowitz took to Twitter recently to reveal he was on the, I think, seventh chapter.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
I've never read his other stuff (Alex Rider, etc) but have enjoyed his Bond and Holmes books, and of course his TV work. He's perhaps the best 007 continuation author since... ah... don't want to upset you!
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,668MI6 Agent
I've never read his other stuff (Alex Rider, etc) but have enjoyed his Bond and Holmes books, and of course his TV work. He's perhaps the best 007 continuation author since... ah... don't want to upset you!
Kingsley Amis? I won't take offence at that.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
I'd say since Amis if your after the Fleming era vibe. I found colonel Sun a decent read, though I found it floundered here and there. It's possibly a bit long or felt it compared to a Fleming tome which always seem quick to finish. I'm looking forward to the trigger mortis follow up or prequel, the only thing that even slightly bothered me about tm was the name checking as if we needed reminding it was a bond story.
(Side note- did you ever see the film of "Poodle Springs", with James Caan as Marlowe? It took very little from either Chandler or Parker.)
didn't know there was such a film. Seems funny somebody would adapt that when there's several proper Chandler novels that have yet to be filmed, or if they were are so obscure, or so poorly done, they might as well be remade. For example, the Altman/Gould version of The Long Goodbye barely qualifies as a proper adaptation and could stand a more faithful remake.
I was looking at some other threads where folks discussed Trigger Mortis. One reviewer (sorry I forget who) pointed out a big structural issue with this book: the "Hell on Wheels" portion, the bit that is directly based on Fleming's outline, is a selfcontained second act (the Pussy Galore content being the first act), and is only connected with the main plot by the skimpiest logic. I'm not even sure I understand it. SMERSH and Jason Sin wish to beat the USA in the Space Race. They also want to prove superiority in all technology, so they sabotage a car-race so that their entrant (and his vehicle) will win. Sin just happens to be there, even though that's nothing to do with his mission to sabotage the rocket.
The Pussy Galore section is even more selfcontained. It has nothing to do with what follows (although Bonds racetrack training overlaps it), and the baddies who try to kill Pussy are completely unrelated with SMERSH or Sin. So really the book is three separate episodes, that only just barely connect.
I guess I don't mind that. The book chronologically precedes For Your Eyes Only, which I believe was "five further episodes from the life of James Bond". So the unused Fleming story which could have been part of that book becomes one section of another episodic book. The only difference being the three separate stories are presented as overlapping parts of one bigger story. Its just too bad the Fleming content turns out to be so ultimately unimportant to the final plot.
I note in the acknowledgements, he thanks his friend Nick Mason for introducing him to the world of the Grand Prix, giving him access to his library, and his collection of vintage cars at Ten Tenths near Cirencester, including Nick's own Maserati 250F
I presume that would be Pink Floyd's drummer, a well known race car enthusiast, collector and competitor? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Mason
I think that would make this book the only James Bond/Pink Floyd crossover
(Side note- did you ever see the film of "Poodle Springs", with James Caan as Marlowe? It took very little from either Chandler or Parker.)
didn't know there was such a film. Seems funny somebody would adapt that when there's several proper Chandler novels that have yet to be filmed, or if they were are so obscure, or so poorly done, they might as well be remade. For example, the Altman/Gould version of The Long Goodbye barely qualifies as a proper adaptation and could stand a more faithful remake.
I don't think Playback has ever been filmed, but all the others have- some poorly as you say, and some more than once.
having recently skimmed through Goldfinger, I'm thinking all the Pussy Galore content in this book is doubly odd.
Because Pussy Galore is just about the least developed of all the FlemingGirls. She is introduced barely twenty pages before the book's end, and is, I think, very unpersuasively written. So why should we believe Bond invites her of all BondGirls to move back to his London flat?
The cult of this character is from Honour Blackman's portrayal in the film, not because of the character's role in the book. And yet in the film, she is not explicitly a lesbian, which is the ultimate point in Horowitz's plot thread for the character.
In the books it is Tiffany Case who really does move in with Bond. FRWL tells us he actually spent a full year living with her. This really is a chapter in Bond's life begging for some fanfic exploration, perhaps second only to whatever happened in Vladivostock. And we can tell from DaF Fleming does like this character, he is much more interested in writing about her than in whatever gangster plot the book is supposed to be about. And Bond is much more interested than usual: Bond tells himself he cannot just seduce and abandon this one, and so he lives with her for a year.
The two characters are rather similar. Both tuff talking dames involved in the gangs, both survivors of sexual assaults in their respective childhoods who as a consequence have avoided men. Both talk in Fleming's Englishman's idea of how an American dame talks (no doubt from having watched some of that film noir). But Bond just does not seem to care that much about Pussy in the last pages of Goldfinger, and I don't think he'd repeat the cohabitation experiment after his experiences with Tiffany (whom he called neurotic after she left him).
duh whoops, what I meant to say is, uh, er…
Bond doesn't care about Pussy as a person, but rather just for her anatomical namesake.
Darn Fleming language where one word means two different things.
Comments
they say he was invited to write another "after the success of ...Trigger Mortis"
does that mean they acknowledge the previous three oneshots were failures?
I still would like to see them just publish a collection of Fleming's (Bond related) fragments, outlines, and rough notes as is, I'd read them and flesh out the potential stories in my own mind
as good a job Horowitz did, its still just one mans fanfic, no more valid to me than what my own imagination could come up with
for comparison...
there's a Philip Marlowe book called Poodle Springs, by Robert B. Parker, completing four chapters of an unfinished novel Raymond Chandler left behind when he died. The Chandler content is more substantial than the "400 words" or so, plus notes, that are genuine Fleming content in Trigger Mortis, and its easier therefor to appreciate what Chandler actually wrote, if not what he intended. The genuine Chandler content has Marlowe married to rich woman living in a new house out in the suburbs! very unChandlerian, and the Parker content that completes the book is structured to lead Marlowe back to the more typical dirty downtown office / bachelor lifestyle situation that we expect.
Tintin fans may know something called Tintin and the AlphaArt, which was an unfinished book Herge was partway through when he died. His heirs decided not to complete his last work, but instead published his sketches and notes as is, in a fancy artbook format. For completists only, but I like it. The first pages are rendered in detail, ready to be inked, then by twenty pages in we get increasingly random scribblings and notes crossed out. Last image is Tintin tied up, left in a deathtrap, with no indication how he is to escape.
I'd been familiar with what was then known as "The Poodle Springs Story" for many years before Parker was assigned to expand on it, since it was included in "Raymond Chandler Speaking" (which I recommend to anyone interested in Chandler's world) and think Parker did a better job of it than with "Perchance To Dream", his "Big Sleep" sequel, which came next.
It's fair to compare that with Horowitz's work, thanks for pointing it out.
(Side note- did you ever see the film of "Poodle Springs", with James Caan as Marlowe? It took very little from either Chandler or Parker.)
I believe though that it's a prequel to Fleming's Casino Royale, correct? I gather there will still be original Fleming story material used though. It will be interesting indeed to see how that is ultimately achieved.
That was the talk when it was first announced about a year ago. Don't know if it's still going to be a prequel or not though as Horowitz took to Twitter recently to reveal he was on the, I think, seventh chapter.
Kingsley Amis? I won't take offence at that.
I'm a big Amis fan too of course and would agree that Colonel Sun is the best and most authentic of the Bond continuation novels.
I was looking at some other threads where folks discussed Trigger Mortis. One reviewer (sorry I forget who) pointed out a big structural issue with this book: the "Hell on Wheels" portion, the bit that is directly based on Fleming's outline, is a selfcontained second act (the Pussy Galore content being the first act), and is only connected with the main plot by the skimpiest logic. I'm not even sure I understand it. SMERSH and Jason Sin wish to beat the USA in the Space Race. They also want to prove superiority in all technology, so they sabotage a car-race so that their entrant (and his vehicle) will win. Sin just happens to be there, even though that's nothing to do with his mission to sabotage the rocket.
The Pussy Galore section is even more selfcontained. It has nothing to do with what follows (although Bonds racetrack training overlaps it), and the baddies who try to kill Pussy are completely unrelated with SMERSH or Sin. So really the book is three separate episodes, that only just barely connect.
I guess I don't mind that. The book chronologically precedes For Your Eyes Only, which I believe was "five further episodes from the life of James Bond". So the unused Fleming story which could have been part of that book becomes one section of another episodic book. The only difference being the three separate stories are presented as overlapping parts of one bigger story. Its just too bad the Fleming content turns out to be so ultimately unimportant to the final plot.
I presume that would be Pink Floyd's drummer, a well known race car enthusiast, collector and competitor?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Mason
I think that would make this book the only James Bond/Pink Floyd crossover
EDIT: yes it is, Ten Tenths has its own website, with a page for Nick Mason:
http://www.tentenths.co.uk/nick-mason/
Unless you count Michael Kamen!
I don't think Playback has ever been filmed, but all the others have- some poorly as you say, and some more than once.
Because Pussy Galore is just about the least developed of all the FlemingGirls. She is introduced barely twenty pages before the book's end, and is, I think, very unpersuasively written. So why should we believe Bond invites her of all BondGirls to move back to his London flat?
The cult of this character is from Honour Blackman's portrayal in the film, not because of the character's role in the book. And yet in the film, she is not explicitly a lesbian, which is the ultimate point in Horowitz's plot thread for the character.
In the books it is Tiffany Case who really does move in with Bond. FRWL tells us he actually spent a full year living with her. This really is a chapter in Bond's life begging for some fanfic exploration, perhaps second only to whatever happened in Vladivostock. And we can tell from DaF Fleming does like this character, he is much more interested in writing about her than in whatever gangster plot the book is supposed to be about. And Bond is much more interested than usual: Bond tells himself he cannot just seduce and abandon this one, and so he lives with her for a year.
The two characters are rather similar. Both tuff talking dames involved in the gangs, both survivors of sexual assaults in their respective childhoods who as a consequence have avoided men. Both talk in Fleming's Englishman's idea of how an American dame talks (no doubt from having watched some of that film noir). But Bond just does not seem to care that much about Pussy in the last pages of Goldfinger, and I don't think he'd repeat the cohabitation experiment after his experiences with Tiffany (whom he called neurotic after she left him).
Bond doesn't care about Pussy as a person, but rather just for her anatomical namesake.
Darn Fleming language where one word means two different things.