The article...

Respecting and trusting young people

To be as brave as James Bond

I know this has nothing to do with our course - or does it? Any way, I just want to share this article with you from today's Aftonbladet...

 

Silverfin – simply good old entertainment?

Charlie Higson deserves credit for making Silverfin (2005) appealing to readers and Bond fans of all ages. Placed in 1933, this hero narrative where thirteen year young Bond saves the world in a straightforward heroic quest, is full of action and ingredients such as suspense, a bold villain, elaborate plans for world domination, technology, life and death situations, violence, capture and escape, supporting friends from different backgrounds, a monster with good intentions, a detective, a mad scientist/professor, a housekeeper, plenty of cliffhangers, and a classic plot ending, leaving me as a reader satisfied. Just as the books and the films with Adult Bond, first written during the cold war of the 1950s, Silverfin has a healthy dose of good humour and self distance. A Bond experience is to suspend your knowledge of the real world and go along for the ride. It is fiction, our hero is more than capable, even at this young age, and the reader knows he lives on in sequel books. The aim is to entertain, revive nostalgia of a lost time, sell books and make money.  

Higson’s Bond is a round character and a modern boy, who preferably eats multicultural food, speaks several languages, runs, swims and who learns to dive, drive and fish. His stamina stops him from giving up. His character gradually develops, as he turns tougher and challenges his abilities. But he also learns of the importance of his family (aunt, uncle, dead parents) and heritage. Dealing with uncle Max’s dying and death, he starts taking his footsteps to become a spy and work for MI6 and also to drive his Aston Martin. Though deprecatory and feeling intimidated by Wilder at first, he watches her from a distance and learns that her strengths is needed by him in his pursuit to destroy the lab. Getting out he doesn’t walk away, but returns and trusts George, who in spite of fear eventually takes side against his father. Red Kelly is a good guy though he has a background of stealing, so Bond realizes not to judge people by first impression or from their background. Most of the side characters are round characters with many qualities and many develop throughout the story.

Silverfin is full of intertextuality and is flirting vividly with the clichés of the genre and British Literature for Children and Youths. The most obvious flirtation is to Rowlings’s Harry Potter books. The initial setting in Eton with details of school life (the school year, the school itself, school activities, teachers,  lessons,  sport days) make/s that pretty inevitable. Later in the remote Scottish moors our hero is supported by Wilder and Red and form a literary trio (just as Harry has Hermione and Ron). But in the climax they stand back and instead George steps in (just as Harry has different helpers in the different books). Lord Hellebore (as Lord Voldemort) is the villain, who marks James with a scar. Not to mention the last chapter, there James wakes up in his bed after passing out and hardly survived saving the world. The voice in James’s head while diving out through the underwater tunnel, coming from the dying uncle Max (and not father as in Harry’s case), the eels (and the basilisk), the castle by a lake and its surrounding landscape, just as the importance of water and breathing under water are other resemblances.   

Planting seeds to future happenings Higson follows the Bond formula. In an interview he said he “tried all along to make them proper books, as engrossing and serious as any adult books. I wanted to create a quality product with a long shelf life. I wanted depth. I wanted to have the readers lose themselves in this world. I don’t patronise the kids and I try to put in as many Bondian elements as I am able without it becoming cheesy. … as much an adventure for the reader as it is for Bond … I have tried to follow Fleming’s rules as much as possible. Do proper research, create a convincing background, write about things you are passionate about, create a believable world with authentic detail and that gives you the leeway to go off into more fantastic areas without losing the reader”.  SilverFin begins with a similar opening to Casino Royale. Fleming writes "The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning". Higson writes "The smell and noise and confusion of a hallway full of schoolboys can be quite awful at twenty past seven in the morning". At the circus the announcer presents "The Mighty Donovan", who is Donovan "Red" Grant's father, referenced in From Russia, with Love. While hunting Lord Hellebore tells George he is a true Red Indian. This reference of Fleming's World War II experiences, also appears in Casino Royale.

The women in the story are few, but they are strong and independent characters with modern values. (Aunt Charmian drives an identical Bentley to one Bond drives in Casino Royale and in subsequent books). The US edition of the book was edited to remove descriptions that were considered too racy for young readers eg a description of  Wilder 's legs during a tussle with Bond. In aspect of gender students could write back the story and change gender of the hero, or find differences from the book of how women were regarded at the time and how it was changing even then. Teaching students how to think, instead of what to think.

In my opinion the class, gender and moral values of Eton are very much a cultural reproduction of what part of the British society stands for. Where else but Eton could Bond have attended school? After all "No other school can claim to have sent forth such a cohort of distinguished figures to make their mark on the world"(Nevill). Tony Little, the present Head Master of Eton College writes at their website “Our primary aim is to encourage each Etonian to be a self-confident, inquiring, tolerant, positive young man, a well-rounded character with an independent mind, an individual who respects the differences of others. By the time he leaves the school, we want each boy to have that true sense of self-worth which will enable him to stand up for himself and for a purpose greater than himself, and, in doing so, to be of value to society”. (retrieved 20121015).

I simply like clever good old entertainment! / Helena

Not even James Bond would make it without family and friends.

Even though James Bond, already in SilverFin, is an amazing character himself he wouldn’t become this great spy if it wasn’t for family and friends.

At a very young age he loses his parents in a tragic accident. His mother seems to be the one he was closest to while his father was a bit more absent, not being able to settle down. It’s like it’s just the way it’s supposed to be that his mother is taking care of him while his father is doing what he likes, going off on adventures, being a man.

When the parents are tragically killed in the accident Aunt Charmian (James’ father’s sister) is the one who steps in to take care of him, even though there is an Uncle Max (James’ father’s brother). Once again it is the woman who takes care of the child. Luckily Aunt Charmian is a caring woman, who really loves James. But she is also a woman who can take care of herself. She lives on her own, drives a car and doesn’t depend upon anyone else. When James later on gets into trouble at Lord Hellebore’s castle, Aunt Charmian is there to pick him up and bring him home. She is certainly a woman of actions, a modern woman and not one of these soft ladies that you might think would fit into the story at this time. She shows James that women can.

Later in the book James gets to spend more time with his Uncle Max, who unfortunately is dying at this point. You can tell that they are very fond of each other and they would both have enjoyed having more time together. But Uncle Max takes the opportunity to teach James to drive a car, “the car”, and tells him about his life as a spy during the war. How he managed to escape and survive. To never give up and to see and seize the opportunity. To be a “real” man. And of course all this come in handy when James is trapped at Lord Hellebore’s.

Red Kelly, who he first meets at the train station, is a boy with quite the opposite life compared to James. But in spite of that they both learn from each other and have to look after each other. The one wouldn’t manage without the other in the case with SilverFin. You get the feeling that they would like to keep in touch, but at the same time it’s like they both know that that won’t happen.

Wilder Lawless is a girl that will not be dismissed. She, as well as Aunt Charmian, is quite capable of taking care of herself. When James first saw her, at the circus, it was her eyes that caught him. When she later on wants to help out at Lord Hellebore’s she won’t listen to James talk about she being a girl, danger and so on. She is also involved in helping James when he is being chased by Lord Hellebore. Yet another capable woman.

So as you can see they all helped James to survive his first adventure. He wouldn’t have made it without any of them.

Silverfin - a new James Bond?

The new Bond film premiers this weekend so James Bond is a character you meet everyday on posters, commercial and on TV. The question is - can you take this character change him to suit for young adults, as in Silverfin?

The original Bond is a womanizing man with hardly any feelings and of course with a license to kill. If you focus on the earlier films this is even more accentuated for example he has many women, all portrayed as sex objects, not that intelligent. In the more recent Bond movies he is a bit more sensitive and there are less women and they help him more with his task. But in the end he is always the hero that rescues the day.

Is he any different as young Bond in Silverfin? Here we meet a younger Bond. He is bit nicer and a bit more emotional. Of course he is the hero, but he doesn’t always win everything – for example in the cup. In the story you learn a bit about his past and you realize that what has happened to his parents will affect him in the future.

He is nice to the ones who are in need of help or being bullied by others. He is scared of Lord Hellebore even though he stands up to him when he hits him. He tries to avoid confrontations for example with Greg, but in the end you can see that he has evolved. When they try to scare him he is no longer afraid.

The women hardly exist in young Bond’s life. There are two small characters – Wilder Lawless and Aunt Charmian, in some way strong and independent women but very anonymous. Compared to other Bond stories the women actually rescue him. But of course first after he has become the hero, the hero that rescues the world.  

Has Bond really changed? -  I some ways – yes, but in some ways – not. The author has modernised him as a person to be more sensitive. The women help to rescue him not just the other way around. But we still don’t get to know the women at all. On the other hand we don’t really get to know anyone except for James Bond.

This is the first story in a series. I believe that this is just the beginning that lay the ground to young James Bond’s coming perfection. In Silverfin he becomes a great runner, he learns how to fight and he is injected with something that makes him into a super solider. In some ways Ian Fleming’s James Bond is not far away.

Maria Forsberg

Silverfin vs "Ondskan"

Silverfin as well as "Ondskan" by Jan Guillou are examples of stories about young males need for dominance.  In both novels the main characters, James and Erik, have many similarities, as do their context - the expensive upper class boy schools. The hierarchy demands for submissive actions. Winning over someone higher up in the hierarchy means trouble. But neither James nor Erik can hold their talents back ( for example in sports where they both excel).

Both novels; women are not portrayed the same way as men. They are only referred to when it comes to their relationship to the main male characters, i. e. the  prolonging of  the presentation of the male perspective.

The Bechdel test decides whether the media is gender neutral or not and  is made with the cinematic medium in mind, but can easily be applied in literature as well. It is used to raise the gender perspective in a simple yet very effective way.
The Bechdel test consists in three criterias:

1.      It has to have at least two (named) women in it.

2.      They talk to each other.

3.      The conversation does not involve men.

Both Silverfin and “Ondskan” fail the test. Hence none of them would be a good choice in a classroom with both boys and girls.

I think “Ondskan” is a better choice in a gender perspective since it questions the macho norm and shows examples of emotional and philosophical values.  Individuals lower in hierarchy are focused upon and their suffering due to subordination is obvious.

In contrast, Silverfin projects the glamourous side of reaching the top of the pyramidial structure. Loosers are out of interest, winners take it all.

Ian Fleming versus Charles Higson

Ian Fleming versus Charles Higson

I’ve focused on the similar parts between Ian Fleming’s and Charles Higson’s James Bond. By knowing a lot about the adult James Bond I have found and noticed some parallels.

Silverfin is written in three parts. In the beginning there is a prologue where you can follow a young boy who wants to go fishing at Loch Silverfin. He founds a big fence, he dig under it and run towards the water.  There an eel-like man saves him. The prologue is really a cliff-hanger… what’s happen to the boy? In Ian Fleming’s books James Bond always has a mission. Here you have Higson’s coming mission to young Mr. Bond.

The first part we can follow James Bond’s start at Eton College. He doesn’t know much about the world outside. James Bond is a handsome, gently and honest boy who arrives to Eton. What about his entrance at Eton:

-What’s your name boy?

-Bond, James Bond.

Does it sound familiar? There he meets George Hellebore, son to Lord Hellebore who had worked together with James’ father during the war. Lord Hellebore and his son, embodies the image of Americans. They are white, strong, well-educated and have gleaming white teeth. James has problems with George and his friends, he can’t put any trust in them and they are not honest. In Ian Fleming’s books there are always some villains James Bond has to fight against. Who are they and can some of them be civilized? Higson’s character must of course do the same…to fight against enemies.

In part two James Bond has Easter break and travels to Scotland by train. There he gets to know “Red” Kelly who is cousin to Alfie, the missing boy from the prologue. At the station, his aunt Charmain is picking up him and they go for visiting Uncle Max. His aunt seems to be a modern woman by her behaving in the novel. Uncle Max teaches young Bond how to drive a car. Can we say here starts Mr. Bond’s fascination of cars? What car are aunt Charmain and Uncle Max driving? What a coincidence! The same as in Ian Fleming’s books: a Bentley and a Bamford & Martin (later Aston Martin). Wilder Lawless (what a name of a girl) comes like a riding heroine on her horse called Martini (shaken not stirred, Mr. Bond’s favorite drink) There’s always some woman who is giving Mr. Bond a helping hand.

Finally part three James and Red are trying to get into to the castle. This part has a lot of action. Lord Hellebore tries to kill them and finally ended this part with a fight between him and his eel-like brother. Both of them are killed-mission closed.

Margery Hourihan points out the details in hero stories often are the same. Nothing has changes through the years. Why is it so? Perhaps it’s time to start analyzing this genre much more, or as Margery Horihan writes in her article: “it’s time to tell knew stories and read the old ones differently.”

Is Silverfin by Charlie Higson just another book to confirm the superiority, dominance and success of the white European male?

Margery Hourihan writes according to the typical story that has been told over and over again that ”..white  European men are the natural masters of the world because they are strong, skillful, rational and dedicated.” and further “…women are designed to serve them.. (the men i.e.)).

Silverfin is about a young white male. He is confronted by enemies which he must overcome. He is good at fighting. He fights the “others”. The women in the story appear only in relation to the hero.

Is Silverfin by Charlie Higson just another book to confirm the superiority, dominance and success of the white European male?

First of all, one must remember that the story is set in the past, equality between the genders has changed to the better over the last years. Higson makes Wilder Lawless a girl of today set in the past, which makes Bond seem dull and stupid to the modern reader of today, when he tells Wilder Lawless that a girl cannot be a part of solving the mystery. Wilder herself lets Bond know there and then that she is strong by wrestling him down. Bond leaves her out when he and Red Kelly goes to solve the mystery, but it is Wilder Lawless who saves him, saves his life and she helps him to succeed in his mission Wilder has a mind of her own, she dislikes the Hellabore and has a personal reason why.

Bond still has his old fashioned way of treating women when he tells her he will be back to visit her one day, but lets the reader know that he probably will not. Lawless, on her behalf, answers in a modern way that she has no intention to sit there to wait for him but is going to see the world herself.

James Bond, however, guards his old reputation in being successful with women. Lawless is falling for him, is kissing him, Red Kelly is really trying hard to impress on Lawless but without success, she only has eyes for Bond.

In naming Wilder Lawless Higson makes her a modern girl.

Bond is confronted by enemies. But who are the enemies? It is not the communists not the Middle East nor the Muslims but the Americans and the Germans. Science is the enemy, like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Higson is stepping away from the stereotyped enemy and make the enemy ourselves i.e. white western male.

Higson is white, he is male, he is European therefore it is not strange that his protagonist is as well. Higson makes Bond familiar with modern values he challenges in a way the old way of thinking. Rome was not built in a day and one has to change values little but little and Higson has taken a step in the right direction.

 

Eton College - a man´s world

 

Eton College – a world of ancient traditions. Young James Bond attends the college in the 1930´s, but after visiting their home page, a lot is recognized. To the reader, the book might as well be set 2012.

In the town of Windsor, you will find Windsor Castle and Eton College, two very British landmarks. The school is an exclusive private boarding school with over a thousand boys, and ONLY boys, attending. At Eton you will have a house master, who acts as “your father, your priest and your God”. There is also a house-maid, who seems to be the only female individual at the school. Of course, she is a servant.

Class seems to be an important issue, if you are born into it, but maybe even more how much money your family has. If you donate an extensive lot of money, you will be accepted and can make up your own rules, just like Lord Hellebore. Another important element is the school uniform. It is described as a very stiff upper-lip outfit; black trousers, white shirt, waistcoat, black tie, an Eton jacket, a top hat and black boots. The school even has its own language and James is trying hard to learn the different terms. The interesting part is that “Glossary of Eton Expressions” actually does exist. Eton College is a world that wants to exclude people that do not fit in to their rules and values – whether it is done by clothing, language, money or how good of a sportsman you are.

At Eton College traditions and rules are very important and it is not always clear why. Pritpal tells James; “You will soon learn that there are a lot of traditions here at Eton whose meaning has long since been lost. Nobody knows why we do most of the things we do. We just do.” (p. 22f). The younger boys also have to do errands and chores for the older boys and it seems to be an unspoken rule that you do not report people, even if they have done something wrong. It does not matter if it is your friend or your enemy – you do not tell. Basically, the school has got their own set of rules. This reminds me of the book “Ondskan” by Jan Guillou, who also has its setting at a private boarding school, where a bullying manner is accepted, and which we have just recently found out via the media, still exist. It is like a motto; “We have done this for over a hundred years and it has worked, so why question it?”

So – as long as you have class (or money), the correct gender and act after the moral values of Eton College, I am sure you will have a pleasant stay…

 

Hero story

I must say that this reading of Silverfin was a real pleasure for me personally. Was it because of me wanting to know more about the background of James Bond or was it the story itself? James Bond is a character very well known to a lot of people and you don´t really know about his background. Charlie Higson´s Silverfin gives us some hints about his childhood which I think can be really useful if you are going to use the book for teaching.

 

In my point of view it is not altogether a boys´ book. The book is full of adventures which appeal to young readers of both genders. I believe young readers of today will react positively reading this action packed book .The story is not slow and you are taken through three parts (Eton, Scotland, Castle) to follow James in his struggle to save us from the horrendous Lord Randolph Hellebore.
Higson has succeeded in adapting the story into a modern version. Even though the story is supposed to take place in 1933 (a decision made by Ian Fleming Publications and Charlie Higson) it doesn´t feel old at all in its context. Does his book challenge the reader? In some aspects yes (the action packed story, page turner: you really want to know the ending to the story) but it also rehearse the traditional Bond themes and values (eg between good and bad: James and Hellebore and his vicious medical experimenting with creating better and stronger soldiers by manipulating the endocrine system) and for the reader to understand boys are more strong and adventurous then girls. One exception is Wilder Lawless. Her character is described as ´wild´ meaning adventurous and she probably lives a ´lawless´ life and is challenging James. I don´t feel there is a lot of passion between them just, at some point, a kiss. Otherwise men, women and passion are so typical for the modernized Bond with the subordination of women which don´t appear in Silverfin at all just the brief kiss.

 

As I wrote in the beginning Higson´s book follows a well-known pattern for hero story and his quest according to Hourighan´s article ´Deconstructing the Hero ´. Eg most of the time it is the same in terms of storyline: true manhood of prowess, courage, aggression, determination and dominance. Since hero stories has dominated children´s books for a long time it is not strange that values have been passing on to younger generations although we might read Silverfin today with a different view thinking about those words. Another example in Higson´s Silverfin is how the story starts with a journey (the train ride to Eaton) and then follows the typical pattern creating the hero story Hourighan discusses in the article as well (Beginning of chapter 1: THE STORY).  Very interesting. 

 

Test

Just to see if it works...

My name is Bond, James Bond

There is a sentence in this spy novel about the young Bond that is stuck in my mind, and the sentence is ”Nobody can hold a Bond forever” (p.263)

My first thoughts were when I got the book that this is an other product that the film industry wants kids to buy, a way to introduce them to the grown up Bond. To sort of create a need for their product - The Agent 007 James Bond. But after only a chapter or so I couldn't stop reading. I liked what I read. The prehistory of James Bond's childhood felt quite true. It COULD have happened. I haven't read any of Ian Fleming's books about James Bond but I have seen many of the films, so I think I know the character quite well.

It's quite interesting how the author tries to explain how young Bond learns:

• to fight (from Red)
• to use different gadgets (from his uncle) that Red hides in a heel in one of Bond's boots
• to keep fit by exercises (running) which comes in handy when he has to run for his life
• to drive a car fast
• to solve problems that he encounters – in this case how to escape from being locked in a small room
• about the secret life of an agent (from his uncle)

Young Bond is also introduced to the opposite sex - Wilder Lawless. I guess this is when the seed is planted for his appetite for women later in life. I wonder why the two females in this book are portrayed by the author to be so masculine – Wilder on her horse and aunt Charmaine in her car? They seem to be so different from the women that James Bond ”meets” later on when he’s an adult.

These last days in Swedish media you can read about what has taken place in a Swedish boarding school where students have been bullying other (younger) students quite badly. This is also what happens in James Bond’s school Eton. This is something that happens in other schools too, and it’s a important subject to discuss with the students. What I found interesting is how James transforms from not doing anything when George and his friends bullied him, to stop the bullying just with a look into their eyes. How come? Why was he able to stop the bullying without fighting? That’s a topic the students could discuss, too.

I really enjoyed reading this book, and I will recommend it to some of my more advanced students.