SWFans Book Club: January '09 "Devil May Care"

[Dasquian Belargic]

Based on some feedback in the 'Book chain' thread, I'd like to propose that we make our first book club read...


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/tehwofl/Devilmaycare.jpg


Devil May Care is the 36th James Bond novel, but based on plot snippets I've read, you don't need to have read any other books in the series to understand the story. Here's a little teaser, according to Wikipedia, "A savage execution in the outskirts of Paris starts a chain of events designed to lead to global catastrophe — a narcotics tide threatens to lethally engulf Sixties Britain, a British airliner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_VC10) disappears in Iraqi airspace, and the thunder of war echoes throughout the Middle East."

Ideally, I think we should look to finish the book before the end of the month, so that we have time to discuss (and pick a new book!) I think trying to be finished by Jan 20th seems reasonable?

Where to buy the book?
Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Devil-Care-Vintage-Sebastian-Faulks/dp/0307473317) $7.99
Amazon.co.uk (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Devil-May-Care-James-Bond/dp/0718153766/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1229778480&sr=8-1) £7.59
...or your local book store.
Amazon seems to be the best price I can find online, but if anyone else has seen a cheaper offer, let us know. (You can save a couple of dollars/pounds, and often get hardbacks at a big discount, by taking one of the 'Used and New' copies available from Amazon's marketplace sellers :))

[Droo]

It's also not too late to drop hints to your loved ones, we still have four days until Christmas after all!

[Ilias Nytrau]

Sounds good to me! I'll be swiping this one from my local library. They have it in their shelves, and there's copies in. I just checked through the website. I could get it now, and let it sit until the beginning of the month, since I have other book(s) I'm trying to finish. :lol

[Nya Halcyon]

I'm going to have to wait until the new year since I'm all out of money for this one.... unfortunately my family doesn't feel any need to buy me more books.... *sigh*

[Dasquian Belargic]

Try the library? Since this is a new release, there might be copies.

[Nya Halcyon]

UHmm.... my local library doesn't have copies of books in English. That is - it has a small section, but they specialise in Dickens, Austen, etc... nothing after 1900, more or less.

[Captain Untouchable]

I could do with an excuse to read something other than sci-fi... that, and my dad keeps nagging me to read the original Bond stuff anyhow.

Sounds like a good choice to me. :)

All I need to do is get myself a copy somehow. Uhm... Rosie, sweetie - :angel

;)

[Wyl Staedtler]

Picked up a copy today! Hurrah! :D

[Dasquian Belargic]

Got my copy too :) Looking forward to starting!

[Kelly Perris]

Placed my hold at the library. Since the copy was already in the library at the time I placed the hold, I should be able to pick it up when I get near the library. :)

[Droo]

Good old Father Christmas delivered my copy this morning. Happy reading!

[Dasquian Belargic]

I'm already over half way through reading ^_^;

[Anita Stern]

Picked up the book from the library today (along with three DVDs and ...uh... lots of CDs ^_^;)... It's good so far. :)

[Dasquian Belargic]

How's the reading going everyone? :D

[Droo]

I'm just over halfway. I intend to be finished by the end of the week. It's a very easy read, I think, and I'm enjoying it a lot. Have you finished yet?

[Charley]

I've been meaning to buy this, so I'll try and snag over the weekend.

[Fidavar Veir]

It's going well. Liking it so far. :)

[Kelly Perris]

Awright, well, I've finished the book. I'm sure some others of you have as well. Still, there's less than two days until the twentieth so if you haven't finished, it's a great opportunity to do so. Then we can discuss the current read, and pick a new one.

[Droo]

So the shadow of February looms ever nearer. Let's discuss!

BEWARE SPOILERS!

I thought Devil May Care was a great choice with which to start the year and the book club. It was light, engaging, and fun. As I said before, I found it a very easy read, the chapters rolled along and the narrative felt like classic Bond to me. Frankly, I was pleasantly surprised and impressed because while Sebastian Faulks has a real eye for detail and his descriptions are always lush, in his other work like Birdsong, I always found the lengthy passages of raw desription and scene setting far too self-indulgent and I consequently felt the story drag, particularly early on. However, writing as Ian Flemming I thought he found the perfect middle ground which allowed his descriptive narrative to flourish while not being overbearing, for example, a particular favourite sequence of mine was the evening he spent with Darius Alizadeh. Everything was so rich and lush!

In terms of characterisation, I found the cast a mixed bag. The only new character I liked was Darius and I liked him a lot, he felt real and refreshing, especially in the midst of people like Scarlett Pappava and Julius Gorner. She was featureless to me and he was a woeful charicature of what we've come to expect of a Bond villain: the greasy and despicable personality and that God-awful monkey's paw. I thought he was a boring, uninspired villain and everything about him, I didn't buy, including his grand scheme. Everything seemed so set-up to me in terms of the antagonist and his plan and how he deals with Bond, right down to his super subterranean base in the middle of the desert.

So my chief grievances lie with the villainy in the novel. I did find myself rolling my eyes a lot, especially whenever the silent sidekick Chagrin turned up with his half-dead face and immunity to pain. When these characters we're killed off I was never as satisfied as I think Faulks intended for his readers to be. Having said that, in the last third of the novel where most of the action takes place, there is a golden nugget or two, such as Bond's struggle through the "Cigar pipe" - I enjoyed how that pushed him to the breaking point. I wanted Bond to be tested after returning to the Service and I believe he was here.

There were many plot developments I enjoyed and others I found a little predictable, such as the death of Happy. The death of Darius, however, I hoped didn't come although I feared it would be a blow Faulks couldn't resist delivering to his readers and when it did I was gutted. Ultimately, I have to admit I didn't see the plot twist concerning 004 coming and was surprised, if a little uninterested afterwards. On the other hand, I felt that I like Bond had had the wool pulled over my eyes, and I saw why M did what he did and sympathised with Bond's immediate sense of betrayal because that's how I felt.

The real joy of this novel came from the dry wit laced in both the dialogue and the narrative. Several times I found myself laughing out loud. The first time being when Bond told the sour old French biddy to "Give my condolences to your poor bloody husband," before hanging up. That gave me a good laugh, I didn't expect it. And everytime Bond travelled anywhere, particularly on the roads of Tehran, there seemed to be comedy. As mentioned, another great source of pleasure for me in reading this book came from the locations and glimpses of culture captured on Bond's travels. And I felt as much a stranger to the country as he did, and like Bond, I was pleased to discover the beauty of Persia along the way.

If Faulks were to make another attempt at a Bond novel, I'd swipe it up in an instant but this time with some reservation and in hope that he has learned to develop his plot and characters with more sophistication.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Anyone else... thoughts? :)

[Wyl Staedtler]

Well crap, I had this whole thing written and then Rhys smashed on the keyboard and fuck. >_<

Sigh. I'll redo it later.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Devil May Care was the first experience I'd had with both Sebastian Faulks and James Bond as a literary character, so I can't compare this book in that regard... but as a spy novel was great :)

Like Droo, one of my favorite things about this book was the variety of locations that Bond visited. The scenes in France especially had a lot of character to them, considering how sparse Faulks was with his descriptions. They had this breezy, effortless charm that reminded me of Ernest Hemmingway (especially The Sun Also Rises).

Overall, the pacing was good and there were few (if any) moments where I felt the plot dragged - though the ending did seem to arrive rather abruptly, after the reveal of 004's true identity. Speaking of, I was surprised at how well Bond reacted to learning that there was no Poppy! Considering how much was put at risk because of ......her....., I thought he'd have been a little more miffed. Oh well, I suppose he is used to big surprises by now!