Come join the
Licensed to Kill community as we work our way through the
James Bond canon. The book club begins in January 2009 and we'll start off with the Fleming novels. Each month we'll cover a different novel, which equates to about 50 pages of reading each week. If this is too much or too little, we'll adjust it as we see fit. The discussions will be lead by
joshiorio and
JustinAtheropinion, so if you have any suggestions for discussion topics, please let us know. The major topic of the discussions will be to analyze how the literary Bond is similar to and different from the cinematic Bond. Also, let us know if you'd like to be considered for the role of discussion leader one week (or for an entire novel). Future discussion leaders will be chosen at our discretion, based on the quality of the applicant's contributions to previous discussions.
Here's how it works... on the first of the month, the discussion leaders will post the monthly schedule. The schedule will consist of the chapters that should be read each week. On the Sunday beginning each week, the discussion questions will be posted for the chapter that should be read the following week. The purpose of the discussion questions is to give you something to think about while you're reading. Discussions of this nature have a way of taking on their own character, so the questions are meant to guide your reading, not dictate what you're supposed to be thinking about. We're not really trying to "answer" these questions, but they're designed to get the discussion going. The reading assignment for each week is due on Friday, and the discussion will take place over the weekend. Have a look at the schedule for
Casino Royale in order to get a sense of the timing and the kinds of questions we'll be working with. At the end of each month, we'll get together as a group and work on filling out the content of the
novel pages.
The purpose of the book club is to spark interest in the literary James Bond, and to try and understand some of the differences between the Bond of the books and the
Bond of the movies. Moreover, we're concerned with developing an understanding of who Bond is, which will inevitably be a blend of our experiences reading the novels and watching the films. In many cases, we'll see similarities, but more often than not, the two portrayals are quite different. With that being said, we expect the discussions to be serious, thoughtful, and relevant. Discussions shouldn't be based solely on your opinion, but rather your opinion supported by some passage from the novel or a scene from the film. While the purpose of the discussion is to explore some of the more complex aspects of Bond's personality, it can also be a place to clarify any part of the plot or characters that's confusing. Our goal here is to explore James Bond and to think critically about our favorite secret agent. Since we'll be discussing how the novels relate to the films, it might be a good idea to brush up on the film before you read the novel.
In the end, we'll all have a more nuanced understanding of James Bond as we work together to develop an insight into how the Ian Fleming's creation has changed over the years.
| January 2009: Casino Royale (1953) |
Due Date:
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| January 9th, 2009 | Chapters 1-7 | What are your first impressions of Le Chiffre? How is he described? What three adjectives do you think best reflect Le Chiffre's personality/history? | Since we all have an image of Bond in our mind, were you surprised about the way that Fleming describes him in the first few chapters of the novel? Why or why not? Can you identify any passages that describe Bond in a way that was surprising for you? | What kind of relationship does Bond have with M, Felix, and Mathis? Can you point to specific passages that demonstrate these relationships? How are the relationships different from the film? |
| January 16th, 2009 | Chapters 8-15 |
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| January 23rd, 2009 | Chapters 16-22 |
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| January 30th, 2009 | Chapters 23-27 |
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