ecl@ahuta.UUCP (ecl) (12/12/84)
MODESTY BLAISE
A book review by Mark R. Leeper
A few weeks back I reviewed a film called AMERICAN DREAMER. In it I
said that the fictional character that JoBeth Williams imagines herself to
be is based on Modesty Blaise. At the time my only knowledge of Modesty
Blaise was derived from conversations with a friend who was fond of the
"Modesty Blaise" books by Peter O'Donnell. In order to get some better
knowledge of the character and the books, I read the first book in the
series, titled, logically enough, MODESTY BLAISE.
The series involves the adventures of a most remarkable woman. Her
earliest memories were from a DP camp in the Middle East. By age 26 she has
been married and divorced, has set up a criminal syndicate called The
Network, made herself independently wealthy, and retired. Yet she remains a
well-oiled fighting machine, master of many martial arts. Her best friend,
and through the series of books her sidekick, is Willie Garvin, a hood with
a cockney accent. It is the relationship between Modesty and Willie that
creates the greatest curiosity of the series. It seems that it is one of
mutual admiration and some sexual attraction, but in actions, anyway, it is
totally platonic and professional. It is extremely rare in popular fiction
to have close relationships between men and women that are not romantic. It
is this subtly frustrated sexual tension between the Willie and Modesty that
makes the relationship live for the reader. There is no doubt for the
reader that Willie means much more to Modesty than any of her casual
paramours.
The "Modesty Blaise" novels, in fact, are an adaptation from another
medium and the writing style reflects it. The stories started as a comic
strip and in 1965, at the height of the James Bond craze, the cartoonist
started writing the stories as novels. There are vestiges of the comic
strip origins in O'Donnell's writing. Part of the comic strip's attraction
was in the the title character's sexual attraction. O'Donnell always takes
pains to describe what Modesty's clothing which is often just enough to
cover the subject. While the real plot of MODESTY BLAISE does not start
until the second half of the book, there is action throughout so that the
reader is never bored. O'Donnell has a straightforward, clean writing style
that makes his prose very easy to read.
In the first novel the British government calls Modesty out of
retirement asking a favor and paying her by giving her information that her
old friend Willie is in danger and how she can save him. In return for the
information, they would like Modesty use her connections in the underground
to guarantee that a certain shipment of diamonds to an Arab sheik gets to
its destination. The story makes for a crisp thriller with comic strip
style villains, but not more exaggerated than Ian Fleming would have
created, and certainly more believable than most that one would find in a
James Bond film. The book makes for fun light reading and is enjoyable
enough that I would want to read more in the series. Rate it a +1 on the -4
to +4 scale.
(Evelyn C. Leeper for)
Mark R. Leeper
...ihnp4!lznv!mrlmoriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer) (12/14/84)
I would also add my recommendations to this book. I've only read this
particular Modesty Blaise adventure, but it definately is something I'd like
to read more of. Does anyone know of 1) the number of other Modesty Blaise
books out there, and 2) where one finds them? Buena.
"Some tottyhead is mixing genres!"
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.
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fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPAsharp@noao.UUCP (12/18/84)
I have read at least five Modesty Blaise books, but the titles are difficult to recall because they're all in England. However, they are all as good as the first one, and I like them a lot. I also have two cartoon collections in paperback size, but, of course, there's much less action in them. Look for the story with the super-martial arts fanatic and the sadistic girl who likes garroting ! -- Nigel Sharp [noao!sharp National Optical Astronomy Observatories]
jagardner@watmath.UUCP (jagardner) (12/18/84)
If people have never read Modesty Blaise books before, they're missing some good James Bond-ish stuff. I find that the Blaise books are somewhat more "realistic" than the Bond books (and certainly more than the Bond movies). In particular, the Blaise books pay a good deal more attention to the realities of combat -- Willie and Modesty generally do a good deal more fighting than Bond. The climax of a Bond book is usually Bond escaping some diabolical trap and blowing up the enemy somehow; the climax of a Blaise book is a good knock 'em down fight. The other interesting point about the Blaise books is how they keep coming back to the conflict between specialists and generalists. Willie and Modesty are confirmed generalists, dabbling in everything (and always conveniently dabbling at the beginning of the book in precisely the skills that will save them at the end of the book). Their opponents are always specialists: the best fencer, the fastest draw, the greatest martial artist, etc. It's interesting to see the difference between the two approaches, e.g. Modesty who has dabbled in fencing vs. one of the world's greatest swordsmen. The author of the books (Peter O'Donnell) manages time and again to let Willie and Modesty win such fights in believable ways. (In the fencing fight, Modesty doesn't even try to outfence the villain...and to avoid spoiling the story, I won't tell you what she does. This particular fight takes place in "A Taste for Death", if memory serves correctly.) I would recommend any of the Blaise books, although my favourites are "I, Lucifer" (a trifle more fantasy than most) and "A Taste for Death". Jim Gardner
bala@CS-Mordred (Bala Krishnamurthy) (12/24/84)
Here are ALL the books that have been written by Peter O'Donnell featuring Modesty Blaise: (1) Modesty Blaise (2) Sabre-tooth (3) A Taste of Death (4) Pieces of Modesty (5) The Impossible Virgin (6) I, Lucifer (7) Silver Mistress (8) Last Day in Limbo (9) Dragon's Claw They are all good, except for Pieces of Modesty which I did not like due to it's "quickie" nature. I think Blaise is best enjoyed as a full length book, not as a 30 page story. I read all these in India but I am sure that bookstores in Greenwich Village (Manhattan) will have them. Of course, if you happen to be in London, stop by in Foyle's. They have all the books. My introduction to Modesty was through the cartoon strip that Nigel mentioned, in a Tamil (a language in South India) weekly magazine. I subsequently discovered that Modesty is a syndicated cartoon strip and that Peter O'Donnell had written books. The cartoon strip started appearing 22 years ago. I think Modesty Blaise books are unique and that Willie Garvin's is one of the best supporting characters created. Have fun reading them, if you haven't already. bala Balachander Krishnamurthy bala@purdue (ever reliable ARPA) Dept. of Computer Science bala.purdue@csnet-relay (reliable CSNET) Purdue University decvax!purdue!bala (semi reliable usenet) W. Lafayette IN 47907 317-494-7765 (um, well, er.. GTE)
kalash@ucbcad.UUCP (12/29/84)
> Here are ALL the books that have been written by Peter O'Donnell > featuring Modesty Blaise: > (list of books) Well, almost all. You forgot The Night of Morningstar, Souvenier Press [1982] Joe Kalash kalash@berkeley ucbvax!kalash
jimb@amd.UUCP (Jim Budler) (01/08/85)
In article <> bala@CS-Mordred (Bala Krishnamurthy) writes: >... > (8) Last Day in Limbo >... >I think Modesty Blaise books are unique and that Willie Garvin's is one of the >best supporting characters created. > >Have fun reading them, if you haven't already. > I have read all of the Modesty Blaise books Bala listed except the title listed above ( I lust for a copy of it) and agree totally with his evaluation. Willie makes the stories work. They are FUN. -- Jim Budler Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (408) 982-6547 UUCPnet: {ucbvax,decwrl,ihnp4,allegra,intelca}!amd!jimb Compuserve: 72415,1200 The Source: STW265