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"It's not that kind of story, it's not lithe and clever. It's just dark and full of blood." So says Philip Marlowe, the washed-up granddad of hardboiled detectives when he recounts his tale. Except it is lithe, and it is very clever and it's also the ultimate archetypal ancestor of the classic detective murder mystery. Book Two. The Big Sleep was Chandler's first novel and it feels it. It was cobbled together from a pair of short stories and reworked to make any sense but it still didn't completely. I loved The Big Sleep for all it's erratic structure and loose ends, but Farewell, My Lovely is a textbook on detective fiction. It's clean, logical and precise. If The Big Sleep breaks the detective mold, Farewell makes it. “It was a nice walk if you liked grunting.” Ian Fleming's second Bond novel. You may recognize the title from that less than favorite 1973 film featuring Roger Moore for the first time, but believe me when I tell you this is something else entirely. If Casino Royale was status porn for the gentleman wannabe, Live and Let Die is a rude awakening with real stakes, dire consequences and gritty frustrations all circling an ever more hopeless mission for Bond and his poor, poor pal Leiter who gets off lucky once, but not twice. This is the original James Bond, the cold, calculating, gentleman playboy of the 1950s. He's not rich but his tastes are expensive. He's not a super spy, but he's determined to complete his mission. Ian Fleming debuts his famous Double-O agent with perfect, pulpy unpredictability and it's nothing like you remember from the movies. This is not Sean Connery. This is not Roger Moore. This is not Pierce Brosnan. Okay, maybe it's a little bit Daniel Craig, but that's on purpose. Join me as I begin a year-long tour of the original Bond series, beginning with Casino Royale. |
Captain's Blog
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