The text feels like a different narrative if you focus attention on every character, however minor. In this chapter:
(i) A multi-armed Irumclagian chanting through a vocalizer to advertise Leon Ammon's joyhouse. His blue integument feels cold as Flandry brushes past.
(ii) A large, gaudily uniformed, obsidian-eyed man called Lem, armed with a stunner, who directs Flandry to room 666 and warns him not to use names.
(iii) A musky-scented, statuesque Gorzunian mercenary standing in a corner of Ammon's office.
(iv) Ammon himself although we have discussed him before.
Maybe I am wrongly promoting the Irumclagian and the Gorzunian to the ranks of "character"? They do not interact on a personal level. Nevertheless, they contribute their ambience to the narrative.
Forgettable characters in other fiction: Did you know that there is a James Bond villain called Horst Uhlmann? He is an ex-Gestapo SPECTRE man, appearing in a single chapter of a single novel.
Kaor, Paul!
ReplyDeleteForgettable characters? Yes, but I remember the Irumclagian "barker", Lem, and Ammon's bodyguard! Lem's job was plainly to screen out possible troublemakers and direct customers to various parts of this disreputable establishment.\\
That other Horst I don't recall at all! I finished rereading LIVE AND LET DIE, and found it much better than CASINO ROYALE. I esp. appreciated Mr. Big, a truly intelligent and villainous gangster. One quibble I have, tho, is why the Big Man started working for Moscow at all. Was it just for money, the thrill, Or ideological conviction? Fleming never told us.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
ReplyDeleteI am also rereading Bond but not in order.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
ReplyDeleteI would like to reread MOONRAKER next. But, when I rummaged among my boxes of books for the Bond novels, I found I did not have it! Unless I find a copy of MOONRAKER soon, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER will have to be the next 007 book I read.
Ad astra! Sean