Boxing Clever

Last month, the lovely people at Waterstones made a bit of a boo-boo and sent me two books through their Read and Review system just a couple of days apart.  One was 'The Devil in the Marshalsea', the other 'Bird Box' by Josh Malerman.  On the one hand, I was delighted to have two new interesting books to read.  On the other, I knew that I'd never get through both of them in the requested time frame.  So, with humble apologies, here are my thoughts on 'Bird Box'.  Sorry they're late.

'Bird Box' by Josh Malerman
(HarperVoyager 2013)

Malorie hasn't looked outside in over four years.  Human society has disintegrated as an unnamed and unknown horror has swept across the globe, bringing instant madness to anyone who sees it.  Before long, even the most ardent sceptics have boarded up their windows and locked themselves away.  Now, years later, Malorie is trapped in a house with two small children, Girl and Boy, remembering the past and nervously waiting for the right moment to escape.  But escape into what?

This is a fantastic book.  I really wish I could say something cleverer or more entertaining about it, but this really sums it up.  'Bird Box' is the first book I've read in a long time that I've found impossible to put down - a definite case of 'just one more page before bed'.  From the beginning, I was gripped by the story, intrigued and unnerved by the frightening reality our world had warped into.  The build to the terrifying climax is expertly paced, but the journey is not one for the faint hearted.

Although I thought this was a great read, it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea.  It's very dark and violent, claustrophobic and horrifying, with key themes of madness, suicide and being trapped by circumstances beyond the characters' control.  In a way, it's very, very stressful, but it's also got a number of glimmers of hope.  Readers are kept guessing right to the very end, however, and it's not until then we know for sure whether this is a tale of survival or disaster.  Even then, after everything that's gone before, it's hard to believe that everything will be entirely OK.

Overall, if you enjoy science fiction/horror along the lines of 'I Am Legend' or 'The Year of the Flood', you will probably enjoy (if that's the right word!) this book too.  I look forward to seeing more from this author.

Rough and Ready

After really enjoying 'For Your Eyes Only' in AudioGo's 007 Rebooted series, I decided to go back to where it all began and listen to the first Bond book, 'Casino Royale' by Ian Fleming, read by Dan Stevens (him off Downton Abbey).

'Casino Royal' by Ian Fleming
read by Dan Stevens
(AudioGo 2012)

Top Soviet secret agent Le Chiffre has taken one risk too many with his paymaster's money.  On the verge of bankruptcy and pursued by Russia's elite spy killers SMERSH, he's decided to gamble himself out of harms way at the exclusive French resort of Royale-Les-Eaux.  But Le Chiffre isn't the only one seizing his chance; the British Secret Service knows he is vulnerable and, if he is beaten, one of the USSR's key pieces will be out of the game.  So they send James Bond, double-0, assassin and the best gambler they have, to take his money so that SMERSH can take his life.

'Casino Royale' was an interesting book because here is James Bond before he became the James Bond we're more familiar with.  There's something unformed about him, as if Fleming met him in a bar and then casually decided to follow him and see where he ended up.  At the start of the book, the character seems peculiarly aimless, only interested in getting the job done and the sexual buzz that comes afterwards.  If he has any driving force at  all, it's the appeasement of his senses; whether it's an excellent meal, the colour of a women's dress or the warmth of the sun on his skin, he lives fully in the moment while remaining controlled and analytical.  By the end, however, his self-contained, shadowy world has been turned upside down and he's on a quest to defeat one of the most feared and secret organisations in the world.

Every hero needs a villain and 'Casino Royale' provides one which will presumably keep Bond going for all the books to come.  I'd always assumed SMERSH was some sort of non-governmental, hard line splinter group, so it was intriguing to hear more about them.  It turns out that they are in fact (if that's the right phrase to use!) part of Soviet Russia's secret service.  They police the police and spy on the spies, keeping the most feared men and women in the USSR in check.

'Casino Royale' by Ian Fleming
(Penguin Modern Classics, 2004)

Dan Stevens did a great job of reading this story, although I couldn't help but smile at the voice of Le Chiffre at first.  It didn't last long, though, and his interpretation perfectly evoked the toad-like figure described.  I'll certainly look out for his name on future audiobooks.

Awful as it sounds, one thing that did pleasantly surprise me about 'Casino Royale' was how closely the plot of the 2006 film matched that of the book.  I'm so used to the Fleming stories having nothing to do with the films, I simply didn't expect it, so at least the book wasn't ruined for me.  Whether this is why it's one of the better Bond movies I couldn't possibly comment.  It is kind of strange that the movie Bond and the book Bond appear to have finally converged 50 years and 60 years after they were created!  Of all the Bonds, Daniel Craig certainly seems to best match the spy described by Mr Fleming.


Overall, I think the best word for this book is 'interesting'.  I really did get the feeling that Mr Fleming was throwing everything at the story, as if it had been bubbling around inside him for a long time.  Now I know where Bond began, I'm looking forward to seeing where he ends up going next.