8.7.08
Faulks, Sebastian Faulks
I got the book just about a week ago, and shamelessly finished it into the second night of reading it. Around 3:30 am I set the book down, digesting what happened. It was exciting and troubling all at the same time. Faulks writes the action extremely well, and captures the simplicity of Flemings style while giving plenty of detail that was always present in the original bond novels. Yet something was off. To start with there was sex in the book. I don't mean the act (there was), because there was plenty of that in previous Bond novels, but there was sexual tension, which is something Fleming tended to omit from his novels.
The only other noticable difference between Faulks and Fleming was the way supporting characters were described. Faulks is used to being a much more detailed and three-dimensional author whereas Fleming's supporting characters all seemed to be very two-dimensional. They were what they were, without the clutter of extraneous information about their personal lives.
There, I got the bad nes out of the way. I don't want to seem negative about the novel, because it was a fascination evolution of Bond from the ending I remember reading in The Living Daylights, putting Bond back in his usual spot of being thrust into something he didn't want to be a part of. Faulks stays true to the novelized Bond, shying away from the silver screen sensationalism that Bond took on over the years. We're shown how Bond despises his work, and actually wants to be relieved of it, yet finds himself being forced into taking action, and taking some measure of comfort in his abilities. There's no shortage of literary similarities between the villains and the supporting good guys. Fleming was a student of the old storytelling method, which gave villains physical cues of their inner selves, and glorified those who were truely good characters. The villain is laid out for the reader from the beginning with his deformed hand he unsuccessfuly tries to keep hidden. And the damsel in distress is just as beautiful and complicated as a decent lady-in-need should be.
I would suggest reading the original series, give yourself a break, and then approach Devil May Care with an open mind. You'll find yourself caught up in the speed of the story, and remembering all that Fleming strove to create.
Labels: Books
