Hacker News Reader

Comment by ztjio | Hacker News Reader

If you haven't read the original novels, they are an absolute treat. Very refreshing. There is great detail, but, almost never more than you absolutely need. It is used to set the pace, so, in the slower moments there will be some fluff details. Ultimately it makes for short novels, really novellas by today's standard. And frankly I love them all the more for that. It's easy to finish one in a single sitting.

View on HN

How do you feel about the ones written post-Fleming? I have a couple compilations from Raymond Benson but have not found time to finish them yet. Was curious how the Bond others wrote compared, as I haven't read the originals yet.

John Gardner is actually pretty good. But by the time it gets to Raymond Benson novel Bond has become to much like movie bond and it just comes across as a caricature.

That sounds like exactly the type of escapism that I need right now. Are the novels meant to be read in order? If not, do you have one or two that would be good to start with?

They are in order, and Bond evolves based on his experiences in previous books. I would start with the first, Casino Royale and go from there. Bond of the novels is a more complex and less hero-worshipable character than his movie equivalent. My personal favourite is On His Majesty's Secret Service - I also loved the short story A Quantum of Solace (which has nothing to do with the movie of the same name).

And while I personally enjoy the novels, I will say that some of them have not stood up to the test of time as well as others, and now read as very dated. Not discouraging you from reading them, just be forewarned!

OHMSS is also my favorite. Out of curiosity which would you say have not aged well? Dr. No has some issues racially as I recall but not that I can think of as outright offensive. I ask because I want to know what I have missed (sometimes the blinders are up and you don’t see what you should).

The published order of the books is not chronological order, but, I believe unless an author explicitly says so, one should always read their books in published order.

The way to look at them is they are glimpses into Bond's past. A few of them are several stories, in fact.

That being said, the first published is also Bond's first mission so no harm in starting with Casino Royale either way.

I never have, but now I'm putting them on my list. Thanks for the recommendation.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com