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'Sophistication' level required for the Fleming Bond.

PerdoggPerdogg
edited August 2013 in Literary 007 Posts: 686
I am thinking about giving my Richie Fahey novels to my nephew who is about 12 years. My brother-in-law took him to see Skyfall and like all boys he liked it. I was wondering if he would be interested in reading the Bond novels. He is doing well in reading, I am not sure if would be interested in reading it.

I started thinking about it and began to wonder if the novels might be over his head. When I first read the Bond novels I was 23. I was educated, I knew about World War II and the Cold War and a college graduate, so I could follow along. I was excited to read the novels because it dealt with the post-war world of the 1950s and the coming social changes and reflections that took place in 1960s among the World War II generation. Also I quickly realized that the novels were intended to be read at a slower pace and required a greater attention than the movies.

What 'sophistication' level is required for the Fleming Bond?

Comments

  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited August 2013 Posts: 18,333
    Well, I started reading them when I was only 12 so what would I know! I was far from being sophisticated then and still am, sadly.
  • PerdoggPerdogg
    Posts: 686
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Well, I started reading them when I was only 12 so what would I know! I was far from being sophisticated then and still am, sadly.

    You are very smart. You could work with George Osbourne ;)
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,333
    Perdogg wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Well, I started reading them when I was only 12 so what would I know! I was far from being sophisticated then and still am, sadly.

    You are very smart. You could work with George Osbourne ;)

    Smart in dress or in terms of education, @Perdogg? Pray tell which.
  • WillyGaloreWillyGalore
    Posts: 6,396
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Perdogg wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Well, I started reading them when I was only 12 so what would I know! I was far from being sophisticated then and still am, sadly.

    You are very smart. You could work with George Osbourne ;)

    Smart in dress or in terms of education, @Perdogg? Pray tell which.

    Or that you're rather partial to a £10 burger! ;-)
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,333
    WillyGalore wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Perdogg wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Well, I started reading them when I was only 12 so what would I know! I was far from being sophisticated then and still am, sadly.

    You are very smart. You could work with George Osbourne ;)

    Smart in dress or in terms of education, @Perdogg? Pray tell which.

    Or that you're rather partial to a £10 burger! ;-)

    Did you see the picture from Twitter @Perdogg put up of me on the boards? :)
  • WillyGaloreWillyGalore
    Posts: 6,396
    No. Did he have the same thought then? :-)
  • PerdoggPerdogg
    Posts: 686
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Perdogg wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Well, I started reading them when I was only 12 so what would I know! I was far from being sophisticated then and still am, sadly.

    You are very smart. You could work with George Osbourne ;)

    Smart in dress or in terms of education, @Perdogg? Pray tell which.

    I would feel safe at night if you were the Second Lord of HM Treasury.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,333
    WillyGalore wrote:
    No. Did he have the same thought then? :-)

    Yes, he put the now infamous Twitter pic of George Osborne up in a thread and said it was me! :) Don't know whether its a compliment or not?! ;)
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,333
    Perdogg wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Perdogg wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Well, I started reading them when I was only 12 so what would I know! I was far from being sophisticated then and still am, sadly.

    You are very smart. You could work with George Osbourne ;)

    Smart in dress or in terms of education, @Perdogg? Pray tell which.

    I would feel safe at night if you were the Second Lord of HM Treasury.

    Oh, thank you. Do you think I would do a good job then?
  • Perilagu_KhanPerilagu_Khan
    Posts: 2,483
    I would think any reasonably intelligent teenaged boy would be able to appreciate the Flemings.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,333
    Perilagu_Khan wrote:
    I would think any reasonably intelligent teenaged boy would be able to appreciate the Flemings.

    Me too. I did, for one.
  • PerdoggPerdogg
    Posts: 686
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Perdogg wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Perdogg wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Well, I started reading them when I was only 12 so what would I know! I was far from being sophisticated then and still am, sadly.

    You are very smart. You could work with George Osbourne ;)

    Smart in dress or in terms of education, @Perdogg? Pray tell which.

    I would feel safe at night if you were the Second Lord of HM Treasury.

    Oh, thank you. Do you think I would do a good job then?

    Yes.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited August 2013 Posts: 18,333
    Perdogg wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Perdogg wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Perdogg wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Well, I started reading them when I was only 12 so what would I know! I was far from being sophisticated then and still am, sadly.

    You are very smart. You could work with George Osbourne ;)

    Smart in dress or in terms of education, @Perdogg? Pray tell which.

    I would feel safe at night if you were the Second Lord of HM Treasury.

    Oh, thank you. Do you think I would do a good job then?

    Yes.

    Well I have a First in History, as does Osborne, or perhaps he had a 2:1? And I am a natural Conservative.
  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    edited August 2013 Posts: 13,356
    Perilagu_Khan wrote:
    I would think any reasonably intelligent teenaged boy would be able to appreciate the Flemings.
    Again, the same for me. I read them between the ages of 13 and 16 for the first time. It took me a long time to buy them all for some reason!
  • Matt007Matt007
    Posts: 1,314
    I read golden gun age 13 but it was a little over my head. Re reading them all at the mo. a real pleasure to appreciate Flemings writing.
  • MrBondMrBond Station S
    Posts: 2,044
    I read CR for the first time at the age of 9 in the running up to CR in the summer of '06 ( i was turning 10 that autumn). And i understood it, i enjoyed it thoroughly and started to enjoy the further elements of the character. But i did also read the book "The James Bond Legacy" in the spring of '06 wich is a quite large book - especially for a swedish boy with english as my second language. My parents and teacher thought i had taken water over my head totaly. But i read that to and my knowledge started to grow even more!
  • Perilagu_KhanPerilagu_Khan
    edited August 2013 Posts: 2,483
    MrBond wrote:
    I read CR for the first time at the age of 9 in the running up to CR in the summer of '06 ( i was turning 10 that autumn). And i understood it, i enjoyed it thoroughly and started to enjoy the further elements of the character. But i did also read the book "The James Bond Legacy" in the spring of '06 wich is a quite large book - especially for a swedish boy with english as my second language. My parents and teacher thought i had taken water over my head totaly. But i read that to and my knowledge started to grow even more!

    That's very impressive! You've got quite a Bond future ahead of you, I daresay.

    PS--Just out of curiosity, where did you manage to get a copy of CR in Sweden?

  • MrBondMrBond Station S
    Posts: 2,044
    Perilagu_Khan wrote:
    MrBond wrote:
    I read CR for the first time at the age of 9 in the running up to CR in the summer of '06 ( i was turning 10 that autumn). And i understood it, i enjoyed it thoroughly and started to enjoy the further elements of the character. But i did also read the book "The James Bond Legacy" in the spring of '06 wich is a quite large book - especially for a swedish boy with english as my second language. My parents and teacher thought i had taken water over my head totaly. But i read that to and my knowledge started to grow even more!

    That's very impressive! You've got quite a Bond future ahead of you, I daresay.

    PS--Just out of curiosity, where did you manage to get a copy of CR in Sweden?

    Thank you sir!

    Well, the one i read back in '06 was the first release from 1955. But then i brought a new edition which had the front of the CR poster. But i prefer the english versions, they are more real and capture the sense of the Flemings prose better!
  • Perilagu_KhanPerilagu_Khan
    Posts: 2,483
    Were you able to buy them in a bookstore in Sweden, or did you have to go online? I'm just curious about the distribution of the Fleming novels.
  • MrBondMrBond Station S
    Posts: 2,044
    Perilagu_Khan wrote:
    Were you able to buy them in a bookstore in Sweden, or did you have to go online? I'm just curious about the distribution of the Fleming novels.

    The CR one was available at a book-store. The rest of them did i buy online.
    People at book stores here just shake's there heads and looks at me as if i were crazy when i ask them about the Fleming novels. And the continuation novels is even more impossible to find.
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    I read them first as a teenager and thoroughly enjoyed them. I was able to appreciate them more as an adult but I found that some of the thrill factor was lost. I would definitely recommend reading Fleming in your teens!
  • Perilagu_KhanPerilagu_Khan
    Posts: 2,483
    MrBond wrote:
    Perilagu_Khan wrote:
    Were you able to buy them in a bookstore in Sweden, or did you have to go online? I'm just curious about the distribution of the Fleming novels.

    The CR one was available at a book-store. The rest of them did i buy online.
    People at book stores here just shake's there heads and looks at me as if i were crazy when i ask them about the Fleming novels. And the continuation novels is even more impossible to find.

    I as afraid of that, but I'm not surprised. Don't let them bother you.

  • MrBondMrBond Station S
    Posts: 2,044
    Perilagu_Khan wrote:
    MrBond wrote:
    Perilagu_Khan wrote:
    Were you able to buy them in a bookstore in Sweden, or did you have to go online? I'm just curious about the distribution of the Fleming novels.

    The CR one was available at a book-store. The rest of them did i buy online.
    People at book stores here just shake's there heads and looks at me as if i were crazy when i ask them about the Fleming novels. And the continuation novels is even more impossible to find.

    I as afraid of that, but I'm not surprised. Don't let them bother you.

    Well, i got them all so that's not an issue.
  • Villiers53Villiers53
    Posts: 802
    I first read Dr.No in 1963, aged 10, and devoured every thing that was available in UK paperback editions (Casino Royale thru' Thunderball) in the same year.
    I understood most of it and what I didn't I made it my business to discover.
    I owe my life long reading habit, my love of fare away places, beautiful things and beautiful women all to the late, great Ian Fleming (RIP) and I am eternally grateful!
  • Perilagu_KhanPerilagu_Khan
    edited August 2013 Posts: 2,483
    Ah, how great it must have been to soak up both literary and cinematic Bond at the height of Bondmania.
  • Villiers53Villiers53
    Posts: 802
    Perilagu_Khan wrote:
    Ah, how great it must have been to soak up both literary and cinematic Bond at the height of Bondmania.

    It was unbelievable!
    The cultural impact of Bond can't be over estimated. It literally changed lives. For the first time we were taken to glamorous fare away places in the most amazing fashion.
    I started life in a small UK mining village and finished up running a multi-national in the USA with sales of over 1 billion US$ and Mr.Bond had more than a little bit to do with it. The novels made me ambitious!
  • Cameron_MottCameron_Mott
    Posts: 53
    I'm not answering your question but I began reading Fleming's Bond when I was 14 in 1965.
  • Bertha_widehips420Bertha_widehips420
    Posts: 19
    I think it takes a very, very sophisticated man to get boned up on Fleming. ;) Now, what we have in this thread, looks to be some very sophisticated BOYS... Not that I'm judging I was once young too ;) not telling my age
  • BentleyBentley
    Posts: 267
    Villiers53 wrote:
    Perilagu_Khan wrote:
    Ah, how great it must have been to soak up both literary and cinematic Bond at the height of Bondmania.

    It was unbelievable!
    The cultural impact of Bond can't be over estimated. It literally changed lives. For the first time we were taken to glamorous fare away places in the most amazing fashion.
    I started life in a small UK mining village and finished up running a multi-national in the USA with sales of over 1 billion US$ and Mr.Bond had more than a little bit to do with it. The novels made me ambitious!

    Very interesting - the cultural significance of Fleming's work is often overlooked but is absolutely key to Bond's longetivity. The UK was quite a dark place in 1953. The country was still suffering from post war shock and rationing had just stopped. This was the environment into which Fleming launched his suave, sophisticated, Bentley driving secret agent. It made us all dream and was as important to shaping the swinging sixties as The Beatles.
    I started reading the books at boarding school which often resulted in multiple purchases because the teachers kept confiscating them. Doubtless to read themselves!
    Certainly, getting into the franchise young did me nothing but good.
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