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SOLO by William Boyd - Reviews & Feedback
Renowned Bondologists, Flemingistas & Other Ne'er-do-wells,
With Thursday fast approaching and with the 'Times' having published two extracts, I thought we'd get ahead of the game and start this thread now.
Interested parties can jump into the fray at will — either as they read Boyd's book or after they've finished.
From the tasters in 'The Times', I think things are looking very positive.
In Saturday's edition they gave us part of the first chapter and I have to say it starts well. He writes from Bond's perspective and he gets the voice absolutely right. I loved the way he evoked the zeitgeist of the late '60s, from one who was around and in London at the time (aged 16 in 1969 - God help me ) I would say he nails it. His description of Bond's routines — albeit it's not a normal day — are well handled. We know we are in Bond land from the get go but he doesn't make the mistake of aping Fleming. I also liked the way he mentions Bond's clothes and accessories with a deft touch. He sets the high old tone but doesn't labour it and avoids pastiche.
Today's extract is taken from location in Africa and includes a significant action scene. Again it reads exceptionally well and dispelled a small reservation I had about Boyd writing Bond. Anybody who has read any of his other excellent works will know that action writing has not been a particular feature. Here he shows that he can handle it well and it makes for exciting reading. Another key moment in this extract is his first meeting with the books villain and yes, for a first encounter, I think he gets it right — physical deformity et all — and my skin was starting to crawl.
All in all, so fare so good and I can't wait to get my hands on the real thing this Thursday when I attend the launch.
With Thursday fast approaching and with the 'Times' having published two extracts, I thought we'd get ahead of the game and start this thread now.
Interested parties can jump into the fray at will — either as they read Boyd's book or after they've finished.
From the tasters in 'The Times', I think things are looking very positive.
In Saturday's edition they gave us part of the first chapter and I have to say it starts well. He writes from Bond's perspective and he gets the voice absolutely right. I loved the way he evoked the zeitgeist of the late '60s, from one who was around and in London at the time (aged 16 in 1969 - God help me ) I would say he nails it. His description of Bond's routines — albeit it's not a normal day — are well handled. We know we are in Bond land from the get go but he doesn't make the mistake of aping Fleming. I also liked the way he mentions Bond's clothes and accessories with a deft touch. He sets the high old tone but doesn't labour it and avoids pastiche.
Today's extract is taken from location in Africa and includes a significant action scene. Again it reads exceptionally well and dispelled a small reservation I had about Boyd writing Bond. Anybody who has read any of his other excellent works will know that action writing has not been a particular feature. Here he shows that he can handle it well and it makes for exciting reading. Another key moment in this extract is his first meeting with the books villain and yes, for a first encounter, I think he gets it right — physical deformity et all — and my skin was starting to crawl.
All in all, so fare so good and I can't wait to get my hands on the real thing this Thursday when I attend the launch.
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Comments
Yes indeed, Thursday evening at the Southbank - I'll be there.
Regarding this thread, hopefully everybody will avoid spoilers.
I've also read some of his other books and was particularly impressed by "Waiting For Sunrise".He is quite a different writer to Faulks and Deaver which also bodes well and as @Villiers53 pointed out he can certainly evoke a great sense of time and place.
Roll on Thursday!
:-<
Good God - October 8th and you get that awful cover!
It's virtually worth a flight over - maybe you could expense it to 'Universal Export'?
Todays piece in the newspaper.
Good God, this is an empty piece if ever there was one.
The idiot Guardian writer doesn't even know that IFP and Eon are different entities and the only similarities between Faulk's Bond and Deaver's is that they were both excruciating awfull !
Hopefully Boyd's will be great - we just want a good book and of course it will be written for today's audience - but it must include sex, violence and snobbery. This is James Bond not Andy Pandy!
And the cretin has clearly never heard of Kingsley Amis, John Gardner or Raymond Benson. Is it too much to expect a journalist on a broadsheet newspaper to perform even the most perfunctory research before spouting forth on particular subject?
Yes, very few of them are aware of what we call The Continuation, though The Times bis well aware of this.
That's what happens when unprofessional people get hired to write for a news source.
Seems to be quite the trend these days.
I think I might save this book (and read the reviews you all have, as those are the ones that matter to me) for some Christmas reading, perhaps a gift to myself. I just started a Crichton novel that I would love to finish.
Yeah but it's not the Sunday Sport. If you are working on a 'quality' paper shouldn't you be professional?
Of course, but sadly it doesn't appear to work that way.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/25/william-boyd-solo-success-new-james-bond-mission
And just for starters, the book is divided in 5 parts, and more than 35 chapters. The titles of the chapters are very promising. I feel it's going to be a lot of fun !
Nice reading everyone ! \:D/
Bodes well but I'm not sure I rust these Guardianistas!
Bond wouldn't be seen stiff with one of those liberal rags under his arm.
if the Guardian likes it, one has to wonder.
http://www.standard.co.uk/arts/book/more-tots-that-plot--or-even-totty-8840874.html
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-09-26/william-boyds-new-james-bond-novel-solo---reviews
Above average seems to be the verdict so far.
The reviews according to this website seem fairly positive thus far:
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-09-26/william-boyds-new-james-bond-novel-solo---reviews
This review seems positive but I've only read part of it as I don't want to read spoilers:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2432833/Solo-William-Boyd-review-Hurrah-James-Bonds-ruthless-bed-hopping-best.html
I don't think I'll bother skimming through the rest of them out there at the moment until I've read the book. It's difficult to avoid spoilers.
Who will be the first Bond fan website to post their review..? :)
I don´t know of course if Solo continues like that, but after the first 20 or 30 lines I felt huge respect for the writer. It was one of these magnified paper back editions, I guess otherwise I´d have bought it.