Re: Book thread : Mon Jan 19, 2015 10:56 am
carl_spackler wrote:
Because as Jerry Chicken says, it's exactly who he is.
On this subject, there's been uproar on both sides regarding the suggestion of Idris Elba as the next James Bond.
To me, James Bond is the quintessential white British secret agent as has been portrayed since Dr No. That's not racist, it comes from years of watching white British men playing him. I'm fairly open to a black man playing Bond, but by moving away from the established vision of the character it could become just another action film. Fleming certainly visualised him as white. As it happens I think Elba could probably do a very good job but for me Bond is what Bond has always been.
Anyway, on books - has anyone tried Iain M Banks' Culture series? Some are a bit long-winded and a self-indulgent but the concept behind the Culture universe is superb, fairly hard sci-fi but with plenty of humour and twists. Think I've got through most of them. The idea of The Minds is fascinating.
Finally, anyone else browse the 'cheap' sections of Amazon from time to time? Plenty of unknown authors flogging their works for less than a pound, or even for free, who have kept me entertained on many trains and planes. Doubt many would be considered literary classics and I've abandoned more than a few but also come across some very entertaining reads - the sort of books or series you can plough through in a few hours.
