An Audience with Brian Blessed

I nearly called this post 'A Quiet Night in with Brian Blessed'.  Ha!  Who am I kidding?  For a start, I don't think I've ever finished a book in one evening, and for a finish, I doubt Mr Blessed has ever been quiet in his life!

Last week, I was distracted by 'Absolute Pandemonium', Brian Blessed's latest autobiography.  I was looking for something entertaining, read the first few pages and was hooked.

'Absolute Pandemonium'
by Brian Blessed & James Hogg
(2015, Sidgwick & Jackson)

'Absolute Pandemonium' is an energetic romp through Mr Blessed's life, full of love and passion and deftly linking more subjects than you can vigorously shake a stick at.  From his childhood and school days in South Yorkshire, to boxing and acting, Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn, the tribulations of falling in love, 'Z Cars', 'Star Wars', the return of Hong Kong to China, death and, of course, 'Flash Gordon', every chapter brings a fresh avalanche of stories that entertain from beginning to end.  Far from the standard celebrity biography, this is a book built on themes and anecdotes that lifts the spirits with an infectious lust for life.

As you can probably already tell, I really enjoyed 'Absolute Pandemonium'.  Near the start, Mr Blessed encourages readers to imagine he is in the room telling them his story, so they should hear his voice in their head while reading.  As if I could do anything else!  The writing style is colloquial enough to be personal without becoming unreadable and adds to the energy of the text itself.  It really does feel like you have an audience with one of our most idiosyncratic national treasures!

Mr Blessed has lived a wide and varied life (so far, although I don't think hitting 80 will stop him!) and I was pleasantly surprised by the range of stories in 'Absolute Pandemonium'.  When I started reading, I never expected to hear about Katherine Hepburn, for example.  Equally, I never thought I'd find myself enjoying reading about boxing, so hats off to Mr Blessed for that!  This wondrous variety does mean that I think many people will find much to enjoy in this book.

Although I loved the style, however, it may not suit everyone.  Mr Blessed's passion can manifest in choice vocabulary that some may find offensive, but he makes clear from the introduction what kind of book you hold in your hands.  Let's face it, if you find yourself po-faced at the Everest-poo story that introduces the book, then you might want to try something else.   

Overall, I would heartily recommend 'Absolute Pandemonium'.  It's full of bounce and go and you really do feel like you've spent time with the author by the time you reach the end.  It was almost exhausting, but what a ride.

Now, back to Poldark!

Bond goes on a Treasure Hunt

The final book I finished last month was 'Live and Let Die' by Ian Fleming.  It was another in the 007 Reloaded series from AudioGo and read by Rory Kinnear, who played M's assistant Bill Tanner in 'Quantum of Solace' and 'Skyfall'.  Fact!

'Live and Let Die' by Ian Fleming
(AudioGo, 2012)

'Live and Let Die' begins with a pirate's gold.  Old, rare and valuable coins from a legendary Caribbean hoard are mysteriously surfacing in America and the authorities want to know how they're getting there.  Working with the FBI and the CIA's Felix Leiter, Bond is sent on a treasure hunt that plunges him headlong into a world of superstition, voodoo and organised crime.  His target is Mr Big, cult leader, smuggler and SMERSH operative, a powerful figure in the Black community who manipulates his magical reputation to get what he wants from his network of terrified informants.  When 007 is forced to go on the run with Mr Big's pet psychic Solitaire, there seems to be no chance of escape.  But Bond was born lucky and it takes more than stories to frighten him.  Something more like the thought of a night time swim in a sea of frenzied sharks and barracuda...

This book is the most 'boy's own' of all the Bond stories I've read/heard so far.  Ignoring the fact that the novel is very much of its time and uses words and descriptions that are unacceptable today, it starts off very gung ho and a bit Bond-by-numbers, almost like Fleming wasn't sure where he was going with it.  For example, a scene set in Mr Big's night club hide out featuring an erotic dancer who strips her meagre coverings for a baying mob may be a teenage boy's cheap thrill, but it seemed excessive even as an attempt to suggest Mr Big and his minions were nothing but unsophisticated tribal savages or to remind us that we're in the hyper-charged world of Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.  Solitaire, also, feels like a box ticked rather than a necessity for the story.  A typical damsel in distress, she comes across as vapid, useless and rather pointless overall.  But can Bond be Bond without a girl?

About half way through, however, Bond and Leiter get back to the business in hand, start doing some actual

'Live and Let Die' by Ian Fleming
(Penguin, 2004)

spying and - lo! - the story starts to pick up.  From then onwards, the tension builds to a fantastic climax that kept me guessing even though I knew what would probably happen.  Now that's more like it!

As with the other 007 Reloaded CDs I've listened to so far, this one kept things simple and benefited from it.

Overall, I was slightly disappointed by this book, but enjoyed the return of Felix Leiter, the tense second half and working out which films various scenes and events had ended up it.  (It goes without saying that this book bears little resemblance to the enjoyable film, but bits of it do appear in other movies, most obviously in 'Licence to Kill'.)

I've already started on 'Dr No' and it's already a much more plodding work, leaden by comparison with this.  I'll be interested to see if it does the opposite to 'Live and Let Die' and gets a bit feisty in the second half instead.

Related Posts

'Casino Royale'
'For Your Eyes Only'

Bond, but Not as we Know Him

Cue the theme music!  I've just finished an audiobook of 'For Your Eyes Only' by Ian Fleming, part of AudioGo's 007 Reloaded series and read by Samuel West.

'For Your Eyes Only' by Ian Fleming
Read by Samuel West (AudioGo, 2013)

'For Your Eyes Only' is a collection of five short stories featuring nigh legendary British Secret Service agent James Bond.  The book includes familiar and unfamiliar titles 'From a View to a Kill', 'Quantum of Solace', 'Risico', 'The Hildebrand Rarity' and, of course 'For Your Eyes Only'. Telling tales of mysterious murders and personal vendettas, double-crossers and drug barons, exotic locations and discrete offices, these stories take you into a world you thought you knew, then shows you there is so much to Bond, James Bond.

I love short stories and this collection is one of my favourites so far.  The stand out piece is definitely 'Quantum of Solace'.  Forget the awful film, if you read no other work by Ian Fleming, read this.  It's subtle, it's heartbreaking and has a twist in the tail that tied the whole thing up beautifully.  As a result, I'm really looking forward to reading more by Mr Fleming and have high hopes for his other books.

I'm a great fan of Bond films and was a bit worried that the character of the novels would be so hard and impenetrable that I would be put off completely.  I knew that the film plots bear little, if any, resemblance to the books that share their titles, so that difference didn't come as a surprise.  To be honest, in some instances it was a relief, but if you wanted reviews of Bond films, you'd be reading a different blog!

The stories and the films will always draw comparisons, but I'm glad to say that the things that define a Bond film are all present and correct; exotic locations, beautiful women, rich living, vile villains and, of course, our savoir faire secret agent.

Far from a character assassination that put me off Bond, this book has made me more interested in him.  The great strength of these stories (and, I hope, the books I have yet to read) is that they let you get inside the head of the character.  We hear his thought processes and get a glimpse of the cold and analytical outlook he has on the world.  It's fascinating.  Suddenly Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is more than just a bored, vain, playboy assassin.

'For Your Eyes Only'
by Ian Fleming
(Vintage, 2012)

I enjoyed listening to 'For Your Eyes Only' as an audiobook and the interview given by the reader, Samuel West, at the end was quite interesting, although it would perhaps be more useful to trainee actors than readers.  Some may dislike the lack of music and sound effects, but this appealed to me as really all I wanted was the book read to me.  That's what I got and it meant I could use my own imagination, just as though I was reading it for myself.

So, if you're a reader and a fan of escapist action-adventure stories like the James Bond series, I think you'll enjoy this book in either format.  Like many a Bond girl, 'For Your Eyes Only' has certainly left me wanting more and I can't wait to read/listen to more by Ian Fleming.

Now, what next?