Books of their moments

[shewhomust]

I have posted before about the concept of the Book of the Moment, as understood at the Elm Tree quiz; at that time the Book of the Moment was Goldfinger, and I was not enthusiastic about it, but at the start of this year we embarked on The Thirty Nine Steps and, oh, dear! After four weeks in the company of Richard Hannay, I'm beginning to miss James Bond. To be fair, there's a question of pacing: the questions have so far related to the very beginning of the book, the first few pages - but my memory being what it is, I have read each week to the end of the chapter. So I have now read, three or four times, about the Jewish-anarchist conspiracy which threatens Eastern Europe, and once would have been more than enough. Well, it's a book of its time: it was written in 1915, and its final paragraph begins "Seven weeks later, as the world knows, we went to war..."

Goldfinger, published in 1959, is similarly a book of its time. Take Bond's immediate hostility to Oddjob: from the first, knowing him only as Goldfinger's chauffeur, he reflects that this Korean matched up with what he had always heard about Koreans, and he feels the desire to attack him violently. Presumably 'what he had always heard' is what Goldfinger also believes: he employs Korean staff because "They are the cruellest, most ruthless people in the world," and he bases this judgement on their rôle as guards in Japanese prison camps during the war. I wonder whether the brutal efficiency with which Bond finally disposes of Oddjob channels the same sense of the man as barely human.

Bond's attitude to women - famously - is equally of its time, not this time hostile but entirely condescending. "Pussy, get back to your basket," he instructs one of America's criminal masterminds. The regret he feels for the death of Tilly Masterson comes from his belief that he could have saved her if she'd only done as she was told; neither he nor, I think, Fleming, seems aware that the text also supports Tilly's contention that if Bond had not intervened, she could have shot Goldfinger as she planned (or at least escaped capture). He seems to bear her no ill-will for being "one of those girls whose hormones had got mixed up" (as a result of 'sex equality' and votes for women) and for disappointing his reverie, as they drove across France, of an affair which always had as much of the travelogue as the seduction about it. Despite his claim that 'he knew the type well', it takes him some time to interpret her coolness towards him: Goldfinger remarks on it before Bond does. Things might have been different if Bond's imagined seduction had been translated into action, but he is a curiously passive seducer: both Jill Masterson and Pussy Galore have to throw themselves at him before he responds.

The relationship which does come to resemble a prolonged courtship is the one between Bond and his adversary. Repeatedly, Bond expresses his admiration for Goldfinger (his intelligence, his power, his wealth) and repeatedly Goldfinger creates elaborate traps for Bond, Bond obligingly walks into them and Goldfinger releases him. Take the invitation to dine at Goldfinger's house, where Bond id left alone on what turns out to be an elaborately constructed and lit film set: Bond knows this is a trap, but he investigates anyway, finds nothing incriminating except the trap itself (and a pornographic book) and manages to leave enough doubt about his activities that only the cat pays the penalty. Or Goldfinger's last minute decision not to slice Bond in two with his circular saw because actually, he could do with some secretarial help. Not to mention Bond's capitulation to the final ruse at Idlewild, when he meekly submits - despite his hatred of inoculations - to a fake typhoid jab. You'd think he wanted to be captured. Viewed in this light, that interminable game of golf becomes foreplay, one long, slow seduction. But I digress...

Bond's drinking is also of its time, with no suspicion that alcohol might affect him in any way. Half a litre of mâcon (per person) is a suitable accompaniment to a picnic break while driving, and in Geneva Bond prepares to reconnoitre with a couple of shots of eau de vie and a beer - and then, to accompany the sauerkraut, a carafe od wine (my edition calls it 'Fondant' but I'm guessing it's fendant). The Sediment wine blog is unimpressed by Bond's knowledge of wine. Compared to the quantity of information dumped on the reader on other topics, I think we can take it that Bond isn't terribly interested in the subject (Goldfinger, a non-drinker, has a rant about Napoleon brandy, for what that's worth). He drinks what's local, which is a perfectly respectable approach, and the sheer quantity is impressive.

I never came to love Goldfinger, but I was constantly surprised by it. Prime example: the chase across France ends near Geneva, where Goldfinger has (as a little research before setting off would probably have revealed) business premises, at Coppet "the tiny lakeside hamlet made famous by Madame de Staël." I was not expecting James Bond to name-check Madame de Staël. Perhaps The Thirty Nine Steps will surprise me too. Here's hoping.

Comments

[sovay]

So I have now read, three or four times, about the Jewish-anarchist conspiracy which threatens Eastern Europe, and once would have been more than enough.

Well, I rejoice that that did not survive into the 1935 movie.

Viewed in this light, that interminable game of golf becomes foreplay, one long, slow seduction. But I digress...

You are in good company. Have you seen Miike Snow's "Genghis Khan"?

[shewhomust]

I rejoice that that did not survive into the 1935 movie.

durham_rambler read the book straight off in a day and a half, which is probably the way to do it, though not helpful for the quiz. He complains that it is nothing like the film, and no-one gets handcuffed to anyone else.

Have you seen Miike Snow's "Genghis Khan"?

I had not. I have now. I may recover. (I also haven't seen the Bond film, so I can't calibrate the video against it - which is probably just as well).

[poliphilo]

I'm rather fond of Buchan. I've always thought it a little unfair how The 39 Steps eclipses everything else he wrote. I don't think it's necessarily his best book. My favourite of the ones featuring Hannay is The Three Hostages.

[shewhomust]

We read Prester John at school, but I remember almost nothing about it.

I don't want to say too much on the strength of one chapter!

[cmcmck]

The Architect Erno Goldfinger (for whom i have rather a lot of time) was really ticked off by the use of his name in that film! :o)

[shewhomust]

James Bond, author of Birds of the West Indies was apparently not amused either!