It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
From a northern point of view, Sherman was pretty cool. Even to this day the mere mention of Sherman's name in the south brings the southerners to spit. :))
Oooh, I love Agatha Christie! I really do. I think you are in for some real treats, @Sandy. And you have the whole lot to go through; take your time, it will give you pleasure for years. I have my favorites, of course. Here are a few off the top of my head: The ABC Murders, Hallowe'en Party, Sleeping Murder, By The Pricking Of My Thumbs, What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw (aka 4:50 From Paddington), and Death on The Nile.
For me, I am currently rereading two classics: Doyle's A Study in Scarlet (trying to get my review done today) and Fleming's From Russia With Love (one of my favorite Bond novels).
I used to read lots of Agatha Christie. Not anymore I am afraid, not a big fan of whodunits. That said, she did write a short story featuring a character named... James Bond. The title was The Rajah's Emerald.
So why on Earth (or elsewhere in the galaxy) did I embark on this mission? Have I gone back to school? No, I haven't, but I'm fascinated by what astronomy has to offer. And a college textbook is the best way to get a clean scientific approach to exactly that.
I spread the chapters evenly over an eight month period, concentrating on one major part of the book at a time. In fact, the periodic one or two week school holidays offered the best opportunity to complete one such part, usually comprising somewhere between four and six chapters, and now, yesterday in fact, I turned the final page. I have read it in fascination and selectively memorising a lot of material. But as it isn't my intention to go to back to school, I haven't 'studied' the book or worked out all of its exercises and challenges. That said, I have found a lot of useful material for my own physics classes and I'm sure my pupils will appreciate the astronomical angle. ;-)
Huge recommend!
Yes, I find that Ian Fleming was a much more descriptive writer than Agatha Christie when it came to delineating characters and describing places and physical descriptions of all kinds. The "psychological moment" was the key to Christie - the moment that revealed the mystery was key, nothing else mattered very much it seems to me.
That is the problem with "key" novels, the crime and resolution of the mystery matters more than the investigation, the (stock) characters, anything else.
Excellent book about Nazism. I learned a lot about the 1938 Munich pact.
Yes, I've read parts of that one myself. Excellent and very detailed book by a man who had met many of the key players in the Nazi hierarchy.
Recommended if: a)you're an Arnie fan b)you're a biography fan or c)both.
I think the great thing about Christie is the way she plays with the reader's mind, playing tricks at us, not the crime itself. I find it very enjoyable, she had something wicket in her that few other crime authors have and that is why she remains so popular.
At the moment I'm reading:
- Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (very good so far, not actually about solving cases but about human beings);
- George R. R. Martin's A Clash of Kings (making the series last, who knows when it will end);
- Lauren Weisberger's The Devil Wears Prada (don't judge me, needed something light to go through >15h air travel).
He has some other series, too, but so far I have only really gotten into this one. It is a favorite.
Book by this columnist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Footballer
Never heard of him, bought the book, finished it a few days ago and now I'm obsessed with who it could be. There's a website devoted to finding out who he is.
There was an interview where it sounded like Dave Kitson but they said it was an actor. Then I read a brilliant theory that Kitson was the actor who the radio people got as a red herring. But the front of the book has a red shirt, which could be a reference to Kitsons red hair.
Or is it all a hoax, just some journalist? This is up there with who shot JFK.
I'm enjoying it very much. So far the story isn't really the big thing, it is the language, the style, the descriptions. From the famous incipit I was captivated by it.
Robert Galbraith (J.K Rowling) if you like crime novels you'll probably like this,it also proves J.K Rowling can write something other than harry potter.
It is not the usual crime/thriller/gory fare we often get nowadays, is it? (I like some of that, too, though; I like Val McDermid, for instance). Yes, I liked it a good bit. The sequel is written. I read there is already a BBC series in the works for the main character. I wish Rowling well - I'm happy to see her finally, genuinely, moving on from Potter (and I say that as a huge Potter fan).
I just picked up The Diamond Smugglers and can't wait to start it. It's a rare treat to read some Fleming I have not read already. Those days are numbered. I think this is the last book of his now I haven't read.
Naturally my favourite book in this series is the first one published: 2001: A Space Odyssey. Clarke was such a fantastic dreamer, thinking up larger-than-life SciFi concepts, very intelligent and with great consideration towards scientific accuracy when possible. A classic, not only in film but also in book form. Its sequel, 2010: Odyssey Two, has a very beautiful story to tell as well. I won't spoil its climax but man, some of Clarke's ideas make me happy just thinking about them. Two more books were published after that: 2061: Odyssey Three and 3001: The Final Odyssey. Though not as dynamic and extravagant as the former two, both of these are a real treat for any fan of the so-called hard science fiction genre, especially the space themed kind. Tom Hanks at one time showed interest in bringing these two books to film as well.
Clarke's Space Odyssey feels like it was written for me. These stories allow me to dream, to have hope in our future, to expand my vision on the universe.
Anne Cleeves - Red Bones, A detective situated on the Shetland Islands.
Norman Davies - Vanished Kingdoms, a history book about kingdoms in Europe that can be found in our history books and are no more around today like Burgundy, Aragon, Galacia and such.
Those books are great, especially 2001. If any of you have seen the film and scratched your head in confusion the last half hour or so, read the book. It is spelled out on the page for you.
Currently reading DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART by Dean Koontz, halfway and great so far. I would say this is one of his better novels, originally published in 1994.