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Sebastian Faulks Talks James Bond With The Observer

Centenary Bond author discusses his two newest novels

Interesting interview generally if you're interested in his work, but it doesn't look like there's much new there about Devil May Care if that's all you're after.

"But Bond doesn’t reflect."

That's a shame. I would have liked him to have developed Bond's character more than Fleming did. I'm not talking about a full physcological profile but merely a little bit more information than Fleming gave us.

This post has been edited by Jack Spang: 16 March 2008 - 10:46

Twoo point:

Bond doesn’t have an inner life.

Pity. I liked the moody atmosphere of the last Fleming novel.

All you can do is move on to the next bomb or shark or car.

Do you think this is to be taken literally? "Shark"? mmmmh, I like it!

I wonder whether Faulks is deliberately trying to talk Bond down (a la P&W's quip of a couple of years ago about how their job was basically about "finding new ways to blow stuff up"), for he must know that Bond frequently reflects on things in Fleming and indeed shows occasional signs of manic depression (and I'm not just talking 'bout YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE).

Anyway, ENGLEBY rules and so will DEVIL MAY CARE.

Come on, Seb, throw us a bone here. A Bond Girl name, a location, a hint of what the villain is up to. I'm coming away with this with "shark" and that might have only been a quip. Learn from the Great Higson. Tease us into a frenzy!

No, don't!

I guess it's only a matter of days before, say, The Sunday Times gets wind of the plot of DEVIL MAY CARE and splashes it all over its pages (and website). I really want to be spoiler-free for this one (oddly, I don't really care what I know in advance about QUANTUM OF SOLACE), and given to the level of publicity it's been getting of late, it's surprising that its details have remained under wraps like this, mere weeks before release.

Man, I hope I'm not building this book up too much for myself. Doubt it, though.

I don't want spoilers, but I do want something to get my motor running. Right now, I only see this book as a generic "new James Bond novel." I want a unique detail of some kind. A fresh location would do it. I did love when Faulks mentioned the book would feature...

"A very very exotic Cold War vehicle."

I like seeing a little a hint of skirt before I'm hit full in the face with the whole enchilada (pardon the mixed metaphor).

See, I see it as THE NEW SEBASTIAN FAULKS NOVEL™, which just in passing happens also to be a new James Bond novel.... erm, written AS Ian Fleming. But it's only because I love me my Faulks that I'm getting so worked up about it, although then again I'd never have started reading Faulks had it not been for his hiring by IFP. Chalk up another great thing I've become a fan of due entirely to my Bond fandom.

(Curse Bond for suckering me into buying that Lee Tamahori DVD box set, though. Just kidding.)

Good point. I've never read Faulks before so I'm not really factoring that in. And while he's said the book contains everything Bond fans like (cars, trains, girls, high life), I want to know that it contains something we haven't seen in a Bond novel before -- even if it's just a fresh location. That's what I latch onto. Hearing something like "James Bond goes to Africa" jazzes me while hearing "traditional Bond novel" doesn't really do much for me. But a 1960s setting...yeah, that does it for me, so maybe that's the thing to latch onto and look forward to.

Actually, Zen, Bond goes into outer space in this one as he battles the Soviets, who are attempting to sabotage America's space program. Hope that's fresh enough for you!

BTW, I, too, was inspired to read Faulks. I picked up "A Fool's Alphabet", and I must say his breezy travelouges will fit nicely into a Fleming-esque Bond novel.

Dude, read him. Now, I myself have read only two of his books, A FOOL'S ALPHABET and ENGLEBY, so I'm not even close to being an expert on the man, but both novels are among the best I've read in years. Beautifully written, highly original, thought-provoking and desperately moving.

Especially A FOOL'S ALPHABET, which I'd advise you to read right now as you await DEVIL MAY CARE. Why? Well, see the following thread:

http://debrief.commanderbond.net/index.php...1878&st=120

These books give me hope that DEVIL MAY CARE may well be something truly incredible - not just "another Bond novel" (heck, that in itself is more than enough for us fans!), nor even "a very good Bond novel", but a true milestone in the history of 007. Having Faulks writing Bond after ENGLEBY is like Quentin Tarantino directing a Bond film straight after PULP FICTION (or pick any great director/great film you like).

For me, "the thing to latch onto and look forward to" is that the new Bond novel is by one of the greatest writers on earth (who's doing what seems to be a note-perfect imitation of Fleming into the bargain). Don't worry, this is so gonna rock!

While a literary Bond book is always good news, I did have higher hopes for this one than the ones of the past two decades.

If he did his proper research, he would find that Bond always pondered every action he did and did not 'just move on'. That recent interview with him sounds as if he, like all the other authors, is more influenced by the motion pictures than Ian Fleming.

Hopefully, that is all 'gossip' and he really is doing a true continuation of Ian Fleming (though the book should start, at least, in 1965 and not 1967, as the events of THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN happened in 1964. OCTOPUSSY had events all prior to that time). One can only hope.

{The sad thing is that I will have the pleasure of meeting him next month, but will have no idea of what is contained in the novel. Not the best situation to be in!}

Say what?

<<<<'But Bond doesn’t reflect. All you can do is move on to the next bomb or shark or car.’

Just one example: at the start of the novel Goldfinger, Bond is rather moody. He doesn't just reflect on the mission he's completed but the nature of life and death itself. Later in the novel, he's thinking a