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.
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.
I find this book exciting and interesting too. I also believe girls may like this book and enjoy reading it as much as boys.
SvaraRaderaI like the beginning of the book set on Eton (a life at a private school tend to capture many readers, but I also think Higson criticeses private schools through this book) and also the plot set in Scotland. But when the excitement increases at the castle it’s like the connection to reality becomes more and more tenuous. I don’t really know what to think about all this: on the one hand I find it exciting but on the other hand I find the story a bit too unrealistic. But I guess this is just the way it is with Bond stories and that’s probably why I’m not the biggest fan of the adult James Bond.
When reading Ronald Paul’s article I realized he is quite critical to the young Bond stories. He claims this book “promotes an uncritical view of the British imperial policing in which young people are seen as natural recruits with a license to kill.” He also says that we don’t want child soldiers but we want Bond. I see his point, but when reading a book like this you might just enjoy it for the moment, it’s like an escape from the real life, and when putting it aside you forget about it (at least I do when reading action packed stories). I understand some children can’t determine what’s right or wrong so maybe it is our responsibility to analyze and talk to our students and children about issues mediated through literature. But do we always have to?
I also enjoyed reading the book. I must admit that it suprised me. I thought that it would be a typical "Bondstory" with the typical "Bondingredients" that would bore me. But since he is so young in this book he behaves in another way. He is kind, gentle and empathetic and has not yet developed the grown Bond´s negative qualities. The "real" Bond doesn´t interest me at all. He is more like a cold and distant sexual predator. Bur I am sure that the male students would find him and his stories very interesting.
SvaraRaderaI think you are right, sometimes we should let the students read and find the joy in reading without having to analyze anything. It is important to analyze but it is also important that the students get a pleasant and positive experience.
I definately think both boys and girls would enjoy this book. Most of them have probably seen one or two of the Bond movies and if you get to read about the same character as you like to watch and somehow can imagine that the books will be somewhat like the films it might work. I just hope the books won't be turned in to film to soon, like eg the Hungergames. It feels like as if you sometimes find a good book to use at school it won't take long before it turns up as a movie - and then the book is kind of useless to the students. "Why read a book, when you can watch the film." Well I know that the film is never as good as the book, but they don't see it that way. They just see the easiest way.
SvaraRaderaI see your point about students watching a film instead of reading the book. In my Swedish lesson I sometimes do both. Firts we read the book and then we compare the film with the book and take the discussion from there, which often works very good. Sometimes the students even find the book better than the film!
RaderaI do both as well.to compare book and film is always interesting but not as easy as it sounds. Sometimes I let my students,who study Swedish as a foreign language, watch the film first as a pre- understanding.This helps them a lot and we can thereafter easier go deeper into the book.
RaderaI had the same feeling as you about the lack of passion between James Bond and Wilder Lawless. The kiss she gave him was more the kiss a mother would give her little son. He is very far from the character in the Bond films. It seems he hasn’t reached the level where boys start to pay interest in love and sex. This could be the author’s strategy to reach a wider range of readers as boys who haven’t reached puberty often express fear of “girl germs”.
SvaraRaderaHi - we mustn't forget the character is 13 :-)
SvaraRadera