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eshalliday 's review for:
Moonraker
by Ian Fleming
Fantastic! I'm so surprised at how much I'm enjoying the James Bond novels.
I don't know why I'd previously assumed that they wouldn't be well-crafted. I've rarely been made to feel so much suspense, to feel so tense and involved in action sequences as in the car chase, the clifftop tragedy, and - wow! - that climax of the rocket launch in 'Moonraker'!
In essence, Fleming's writing is fundamentally modern, and I find myself repeatedly marvel-struck at the delicacy and refinement of his style. Consider the opening of Chapter 16: 'A Golden Day', which is like a lovesong to the English coast of Kent, and shows Fleming's appetite for precision and accuracy in his phrasing, structuring, and image building, as well as a real attraction to language:
Actually, I suspect that even our hero, if truth be told, recognises Gala as his mentor. She is the only one whilst on-mission to whom Bond discloses his suspicions and to whom he imparts his findings. And thus, Gala is often the figure who unlocks knowledge for Bond. Observe that it is Gala who confiscates the notebook from Drax's pocket, it is Gala who gets hold of the crucial figures, and it is Gala alone who, in fact, solves the entire mystery and comprehends the truth of Drax's evil scheme! Furthermore, it is Gala's superior 'head for numbers' that devises the eventual plan to foil Drax and save London from nuclear devastation. James Bond could accomplish nothing in 'Moonraker' without Gala Brand empowering and equipping him.
I am mindful that Fleming offers us the narrative through Bond's eyes. The following quote illustrates the complexity where the author's gaze and the hero's gaze vie for assessment of Gala's character:
I know this is only an assessment of a very small slice of the novel, rather than a full review, really, but I'm interested to see where this particular train of thought leads me as I listen through other novels in the series.
I don't know why I'd previously assumed that they wouldn't be well-crafted. I've rarely been made to feel so much suspense, to feel so tense and involved in action sequences as in the car chase, the clifftop tragedy, and - wow! - that climax of the rocket launch in 'Moonraker'!
In essence, Fleming's writing is fundamentally modern, and I find myself repeatedly marvel-struck at the delicacy and refinement of his style. Consider the opening of Chapter 16: 'A Golden Day', which is like a lovesong to the English coast of Kent, and shows Fleming's appetite for precision and accuracy in his phrasing, structuring, and image building, as well as a real attraction to language:
'It was a wonderful afternoon of blue and green and gold. When they left the concrete apron through the guard gate near the empty firing point, now connected with a thick cable to the launching site, they stopped for a moment on the edge of the great chalk cliff and stood gazing over the whole corner of England where Caesar had first landed two thousand years before. To their left, the carpet of green turf, bright with small wildflowers, sloped gradually down to the long pebbled beaches of Walmer and Deal, which curved off towards Sandwich and the Bay. Beyond, the cliffs of Ramsgate showing white through the distant haze that hid the North Foreland, guarded the grey scar of Manston aerodrome, above which American thunderjets wrote their white scribbles in the sky. Then came the Isle of Thanet and, out of sight, the mouth of the Thames. It was low tide and the Goodwins were golden and tender in the sparkling blue of the Straits with only the smattering of masts and spars that stretched along their length to tell the true story. The white lettering on the South Goodwins Lightship was easy to read and even the name of her sister ship to the north showed white against the red of her hull. Between the Sands and the coast, along the twelve-fathom channel of the Inner Leads, there were half a dozen ships beating up through the Downs, the thud of their engines coming clearly off the quiet sea, and between the evil sands and the sharp outline of the French coast, there were ships of all registries going about their business: liners, merchantmen, ungainly Dutch skoits, and even a slim Corvette hastening down south, perhaps to Portsmouth. [...] It was a panorama full of colour and excitement and romance, and the two people on the edge of the cliff were silent as they stood for a time and watched it all.'As with the other Ian Fleming novel I've so far read ('Casino Royale'), I'm pleased to see that it's really not from Fleming's presentation of women whence the sexism in the James Bond franchise arises. Galatea Brand in 'Moonraker' is as carefully drawn as Vesper Lynd in 'Casino Royale'. Gala says that she loves the rocket Moonraker as much as Drax; in my view, Fleming attempts to portray her as just as dedicated and driven as the male characters. In fact, the archetype whose role Gala Brand seems to fulfil in the plot, unusually, is the figure of mentor. She is the character from whom the hero protagonist gains the skills and tools that they need in order to complete the quest, at the centre of the plot. Gala is, as such, the wisdom keeper in 'Moonraker'.
Actually, I suspect that even our hero, if truth be told, recognises Gala as his mentor. She is the only one whilst on-mission to whom Bond discloses his suspicions and to whom he imparts his findings. And thus, Gala is often the figure who unlocks knowledge for Bond. Observe that it is Gala who confiscates the notebook from Drax's pocket, it is Gala who gets hold of the crucial figures, and it is Gala alone who, in fact, solves the entire mystery and comprehends the truth of Drax's evil scheme! Furthermore, it is Gala's superior 'head for numbers' that devises the eventual plan to foil Drax and save London from nuclear devastation. James Bond could accomplish nothing in 'Moonraker' without Gala Brand empowering and equipping him.
I am mindful that Fleming offers us the narrative through Bond's eyes. The following quote illustrates the complexity where the author's gaze and the hero's gaze vie for assessment of Gala's character:
'She said something to Walter and then stood beside him looking upwards as the pipe was delicately manhandled through into the interior of the rocket. Bond thought she looked very innocent standing there with her brown hair falling back from her head and the curve of her ivory throat sweeping down into the plain white shirt. With her hands clasped behind her back, gazing raptly upwards at the glittering fifty feet of the Moonraker, she might have been a schoolgirl looking up at a Christmas tree-except for the impudent pride of the jutting breasts, swept up by the thrown-back head and shoulders. Bond smiled to himself as he walked to the foot of the iron stairway and started to climb. That innocent, desirable girl, he reminded himself, is an extremely efficient policewoman. She knows how to kick, and where; she can break my arm probably more easily and quickly than I can break hers, and at least half of her belongs to the Special Branch of Scotland Yard. Of course, he reflected, looking down just in time to see her follow Dr Walters into Drax’s office, there is always the other half.'One personation of Gala Brand (either Bond's or the author's) often silences the other, as in the above, but it's fascinating to witness the interplay between the two. We can see that Bond's view of Gala differs from Fleming's characterisation of her by the fact that it is only ever Bond who refers to her as 'the Girl', and yet, she foils even Bond in the end: she gives him her wisdom, but not her body. Fleming holds back on Gala's biggest secret, in order to gather the clout for that final revelation of her unattainability. Fleming forbids Bond possess Brand, and so, the hero's innate desire to subjugate his female counterparts in the Intelligence/spy game (Moneypenny, Ponsonby, Goodnight, Lynd, Brand) comes to naught, and we see Fleming frustrate and undermine his protagonist in terms of his most rudimentary drive.
I know this is only an assessment of a very small slice of the novel, rather than a full review, really, but I'm interested to see where this particular train of thought leads me as I listen through other novels in the series.