Modern Spy Fiction's Debt to Poe, Arsene Lupin & the Crime Pulps; An Early History of the Genre

Рет қаралды 7,784

Жыл бұрын

Adventure stories and tales of political intrigue have been around for hundreds of years. Spies have been around for millennia. But the spy novel is a distinctly 20th century innovation. What took it so long?
This video examines the cultural stigmas and propaganda pressures that impeded (and promoted) the development of the spy genre. It's not an exhaustive overview of the early history of the genre, but it provides a flavor of the literary milestones that led to Ian Fleming's James Bond and the seismic cultural shift Bond ushered in.
Some of the authors discussed include Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, R. Austin Freeman, E.W. Hornung, Maurice Leblanc, Leslie Charteris, Anthony Hope, Rudyard Kipling, Erskine Childers, Baroness Orczy, John Buchan, E. Phillips Oppenheim, Francis Beeding, G.K. Chesterton, W. Somerset Maugham, John P. Marquand, Eric Ambler, Graham Greene, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, Ian Fleming, John le Carre, Len Deighton, Alistair MacLean, Richard Condon, James Grady, Robert Ludlum, Agatha Christie, Dorothy Gilman, Patrick O'Brian, Harry Harrison, Keith Laumer and Michael Moorcock.
In an upcoming video, I'll explore all of Fleming's James Bond novels, evaluate them on their own merits, and compare them to their film versions.
0:42 Spy fiction stigma
5:46 Early propaganda motive
8:08 19th Century literary spies
9:34 Emergence of detective fiction
10:40 Criminal anti-heroes
11:54 Political adventure novels
13:39 Early 20th Century spy stories
17:17 Influence of hard-boiled crime fiction
17:57 Ian Fleming's James Bond
20:04 Genre growth in the 1960s
21:08 Influence on other genres in the 1960s
22:49 Recap
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I've opened a merchandise store: thelibraryladder.creator-spri...
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Art and film clip credits:
John McClusky
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
The Thirty-nine Steps (1935)
Secret Agent (1936)
The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
Raffles (1939)
He Walked by Night (1948)
Dr. No (1962)
Waterloo (1970)
The Age of Innocence (1992)
The Three Musketeers (1993)
Hornblower (1999)
The Patriot (2000)
The Four Feathers (2002)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
Troy (2004)
Agatha Christie's Marple: At Bertram's Hotel (2007)
London Olympics (2012)
Game of Thrones (2011)
#booktube #thrillers #jamesbond #vintagebooks #rarebooks #bookcollection

Пікірлер: 111

@macsnafu 9 ай бұрын

I never really thought too much about the origins of the spy story. Although I would have thought that greater internationalism, and changing technology would have played a part in that development. It's one thing to intercept someone's mail. It's an entirely different thing to tap a phone line, which of course would not have been possible before phones existed. And it's difficult to underestimate the importance of movies and television on the popularity of spy stories, especially the explosion that occurred in the 1960s, although earlier Hitchcock films helped that process along as well. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday was an interesting and unexpected book, capturing Chesterton's love of paradox. But Chesterton is almost a genre to himself. Of course I liked the action and adventure involved in Bond stories, but I was quite impressed by the more realistic portrayal of espionage in John LeCarre's books, and how different that was from Bond. Thrillers like Buchan's 39 steps were good, but I think the professional spy tends to make a better spy story than the amateur spy thrust into circumstances.

@richardgifu Жыл бұрын

This was a very enjoyable video. After you asked the first question I was immediately thinking; "I wonder if he will mention Buchan or Chesterton" - two of my schoolboy favourites - and of course you did. Also, the editing of the video was fantastic; creative and professional beyond even your usual standard. I am looking forward to your treatment of the Bond novels (another of my schoolboy favourites). Please keep producing these wonderfully informative and entertaining videos.

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Thank you for the very kind words of encouragement! I had a lot of fun making this video (although outside factors caused me to take a lot longer than I wanted to produce it). I hope to have the Bond video up within the next couple of weeks.

@stevewapner9061 2 ай бұрын

He really knows his subject.

@ignorethis214 Жыл бұрын

Wow, I loved this video! I especially appreciated how you portrayed how Bond 'worked' - the environment he was in when created and it's part in changing the public's perceptions to such characters.

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Thank you! I'll go into more detail about Bond in an upcoming video. In Fleming's novels, he's essentially a character from hard-boiled crime fiction or a film noir movie transplanted into the British Secret Service. His hard-as-nails toughness was a prime selling point for propagandists in the early years of the Cold War.

@youtubehandle367 Жыл бұрын

This was such an informative and interesting video. Really appreciate how you go as far back into the history of literature as you can - the roots of genres are something that's very often neglected in modern genre discussions, and it's great to get that grounding here.

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I’m planning a series of videos that will explore the roots of several more genres, including fantasy, science fiction, mystery and horror. There are so many great older classics in those genres that are mostly forgotten or overlooked today. Those classics also help me put modern genre fiction in perspective by highlighting the literary debts owed to the earlier pioneers who created the genres.

@murph_archer1129 Жыл бұрын

Whenever you release a new video I always know my tbr is about to get even longer 😆. I've never gotten into spy fiction but your videos haven't led me wrong yet I've been eyeing the Master and Commander books and the Bond novels so this has definitely given me a push to get started on them both. Amazing suggestions and presentation as always!

@Mr.Immortal1231 11 ай бұрын

Arsene Lupin is one of my favourite literary characters great to see how influential his stories still are. I haven’t read much Spy fiction just the first James Bond and a few Matt Helm novels but this video has peaked my interest. 🕵️‍♂️

@the16thGemini 9 ай бұрын

This is one of the best spy fiction history breakdowns I have seen in recent time. Some of these authors I recall from the Spybrary Top 120 Author List. The history of world events, evolutions in literature and changing societal attitudes really sells it. Please consider making dedicated content of Eric Ambler and Graham Greene. They are often overshadowed by their successors.

@thelibraryladder 9 ай бұрын

Thanks! I had a lot of fun making this video. Both Ambler and Greene are on my list of authors to cover in future videos.

@the16thGemini 9 ай бұрын

@@thelibraryladder I am happy to hear those are in the works. What I admire most about these two authors is their ability to capture geopolitics of the time. As we know this would be a lasting feature of spy novelists to this very day.

@KalleVilenius Жыл бұрын

Never read much spy fiction but Thomas Pynchon's V. gave me an affinity for that more old-timey style espionage.

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Old-timey espionage stories are my favorites. A lot of modern spy fiction relies too heavily on technological deus ex machinas and over-the-top action set pieces which undermine the books' realism, in my opinion. The human -focused espionage tradecraft in older (pre-1980s) novels is more interesting to me.

@kristin5700 10 ай бұрын

I loved this video. As a spy novel fan, it was fun to see you mention some of my favorite writers

@thelibraryladder 10 ай бұрын

Thanks! This is one of my favorite videos I've made. I plan to make more videos about classic adventure/thriller novels and other gernes, such as historical fiction and mystery. I read widely, but KZfaq's algorithm seems to get confused when I discuss too many genres too too quickly, which is why I'm introducing various genres only gradually.

@kublatard Жыл бұрын

i really love your vids - i always learn something - what an excellent theory about the birth of a genre - very interesting as usual 👍

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying them.

@rickkearn7100 Жыл бұрын

Just watched this post for the first time, TLL. An education in the spy novel genre in less than 25 minutes? Now THAT's is a neat trick, worthy of any modern fictional spy anti-hero! My introduction to the world of spies occurred in movie theatres during the 1960's and I enjoyed a reimmersion later, when I bought a collection of Ian Fleming 007 paperbacks at a thrift store liquidation sale. This was a very astute and well-presented (and well-written) dissertation on the genesis of the spy novel, a subject I had given little thought to until now. Well done sir! Cheers.

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Thank you! I really enjoyed putting this video together. It's one of my favorite ones I've made. I'm planning similar looks at the historical roots of other genres (the fantasy genre is up next).

@ronaldwilliams2456 Жыл бұрын

That was very informative. Thank you.

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I'm very glad you enjoyed it.

@BookishChas Жыл бұрын

Wow Bridger! This was a fantastic “Thesis”. I didn’t know much of this. I’m looking forward to your video about the Bond novels.

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Thank, Chas! I love digging into the history of books, authors and genres and the impact they've had. My intent is to make similar videos across a wide range of genres and authors, so stay tuned!

@ShiverMeTimbers70 Жыл бұрын

Very interesting! Thanks for the history lesson ✌️

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I'm very glad you enjoyed it.

@wileyschmitt Жыл бұрын

Very cool! Thanx for the informative history lesson! I always come across those Donald Hamilton novels when I'm out hunting, but even more so with Don Pendleton's 'Executioner' series, which they continued into oblivion long after he stopped writing them himself. Fleming's Bond novels pop up a lot surprisingly, even the vintage ones, so they must've printed those many times over back at their height.

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Thanks! Those book series were very popular in the 60s and 70s, and they went through many editions and printings as paperbacks, so they're pretty common. If you find them in hardcover, though, you should snap them up if they're affordably priced.

@FIT2BREAD Жыл бұрын

Great video..informative and entertaining!

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Thanks, Michael! Those are my two main goals for my videos, so I'm glad this one succeeded.

@FIT2BREAD Жыл бұрын

@@thelibraryladder such an interesting topic and curious to think about the recency of it all

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

@@FIT2BREAD WWII was a real turning point, because it became easier to publicly justify the use espionage when we were doing battle against “evil” (Hitler). The number of US and British films about spies mushroomed during the war and might have outnumbered the novels about spies.

@darrylldoucette6895 Жыл бұрын

I was so happy to hear you mention the Prisoner of Zenda in relation to this topic and the Ruritanian as a sub genre. I love that novel (though unfortunately the sequel, Rupert of Hentzau leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth.) I was unaware of the three Graustark stories you flashed on the screen. I’ll have to track those down.

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

I quite enjoy Prisoner of Zenda (and the Ronald Colman film adaptation), as well as many other older novels of adventure and intrigue. Often the writing is more subtle and the dialogue cleverer, without the graphic descriptions of violence, over-the-top action and absurd plot elements found in many modern novels in the genre. The older classics can be a nice change of pace. The Graustark novels are available as ebooks at gutenberg.org.

@Dreamfox-df6bg 10 ай бұрын

While it is nice that you mentioned Lady de Winter, but you forgot Cardinal Richelieu, the person that had the largest and most efficient spay network at the time. Not just in fiction, but for real. Some of them came from his personal guard, but many others didn't even know that they were working for him. It enabled Richelieu to keep track of his enemies, be they foreign or at home. Even King Louis XIII, the King Richelieu was supposed to serve, were under surveillance. True, it isn't shown much in the novels, except that he is able to send messages faster than the Musketeers can ride to have people ambush them among other things.

@murph_archer1129 Жыл бұрын

Whenever you release a new video I always know my tbr is about to get even longer 😆. I've never gotten into thrillers but your videos haven't led me wrong yet

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I can understand a reluctance to fully embrace thrillers, including spy fiction. The modern spy thriller genre isn't one I enjoy bingeing, either because the characters are too paranoid or cynical (which can rub off on a reader), or because the plots are too absurd (in anticipation of being adapted as a brainless action or suspense movie). There are some good ones in the modern canon that are smartly written, but there's a lot of derivative shlock as well. (And sometimes I read the shlock, too, if I just want a mindlessly fun beach read.) I generally find older spy fiction (pre-1980s) to be more palatable, but even then, the quality is uneven. James Bond was a very good and a very bad influence on spy fiction (as I'll discuss in an upcoming video), and both influences show up in many novels from the 1960s and 70s.

@murph_archer1129 Жыл бұрын

@@thelibraryladder I feel like the issues I have with spy thrillers also exist with modern action movies. Modern technology is super boring and often robs a plot of agency. Give me fun gadgets and rough and tumble protagonists any day

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

@@murph_archer1129 I feel much the same way.

@michaelfeeney6108 Жыл бұрын

@@thelibraryladder Great video! I was going to add my own comment/question but see you bring up the topic of my question here. What are your go to modern day/currently working spy thriller authors? I’m gearing up to read the latest Charles Cumming novel. Looking for any recommendations you may have!

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

@@michaelfeeney6108 That’s not an easy question for me, because most modern spy fiction that I’ve encountered tends to be of the former-assassin-navy-SEAL-turned-fugitive-or-solo-operator variety, that can be fun, but often are simply mindless beach reads. Their plots tend to lack the realism and nuance that I prefer in the genre and instead read like many of the ridiculously over-the-top action movies made in the past 25 years (which many authors seem to aspire to in the hope their books will be adapted into film versions). Those books/films can be fun, but I have to check my brain at the door before reading/watching them. I haven’t found many authors who write realistic spy plots, particularly ones set in our modern era (rather than a historical setting). David Ignatius has some interesting novels (informed by his real-life connections to the intelligence community). Before John le Carre’s recent passing, I’d have described him as the greatest living spy author. Olen Steinhauer and Terry Pilgrim straddle the line with (mostly) smartly written books that have strong action elements. Charles Cumming is one I haven’t read. He’s been on my radar for a while, but I haven’t gotten around to reading him.

@joshadams1551 Жыл бұрын

Awesome video! You have great taste, I’m primarily a nonfiction reader but I’ve started to dabble in fiction.

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I hope you find something here on my channel that sparks your reading interest. If you're coming from a nonfiction background, you might find some of Neal Stephenson's books a good fit. I've made a couple of videos about his works that might help you decide.

@brownjason3068 3 ай бұрын

Great thesis and excellent supporting analysis. Having some insight into the world of espionage, I suggest Le Carre is the standout. His earlier works through to “Smiley’s people” are professionally and culturally very realistic. He returned to form in his later books and with the exception of the “Constant Gardener”, “The Night Manager”and his homage to Greene with “the Tailor of Panama” I suggest the middle books lost a bit of their edge. I should add that “The Russia House” with its occasional plot element Pfizer Penkovsky/Wynne case has merit.

@thelibraryladder 2 ай бұрын

Thanks! I'm partial to early Le Carre as well. In recent decades, the spy genre as a whole (generally speaking) seems to have been unable to resist the allure of Hollywood. Too many spy novels eschew realism (with its subtlety and mundanity) for spectacle and preposterous conspiracies that translate well to cinema. Mick Herron's Slough House series is one of the few recent examples I can think of that straddles that divide reasonably well (at least it feels more real, even if its accuracy might be off).

@liamschulzrules Жыл бұрын

Great video Bridger. I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you're interested in podcasts The Rest is History did a great episode on James Bond and another on Sherlock Holmes

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I'll have to check out those podcasts.

@KarloVukosic Жыл бұрын

Great vid, i loved it, if you had to pick what would be your favourites autors or even books?

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Thanks! In the spy genre, I lean toward the more cerebral authors and novels, rather than the action/adventure-oriented ones (although I enjoy both types if they're done well). Early Eric Ambler, Grahame Green and John le Carre are three I hold in high regard.

@Shamino1 Жыл бұрын

The shift in open-warfare tactics so common throughout the Von Clausewitz era of European combat, towards more 'partisan' skirmishing and more clandestine warfare, really occurred in spades when senior officers realized they would not be meeting each other off of the battlefield. So many of the ethical codes surrounding hostage taking, officer capture, objective-based warfare, etc.. Were also based around gentlemen who had every reason to believe that they'd have to deal with each other after the war was concluded. Therefore, much like lawyers and other adversarial professions today, where two lawyers may fight all day in court may end up drinking together when the case is concluded, so too were noble-officers concerned about their reputation and prestige among even their enemies. Once warfare became mechanized, so too was its organization, and while thousands of soldiers shuddered a collective sigh of relief that fox-hunting noblemen cannot just buy their commission anymore, they traded an eloquent rules-based meatgrinder for a cold, synthetic, distant, rules-free meatgrinder in World War 1 and 2. This makes me wonder whether or not the massive uptick in espionage fiction in the 1930's and 1940's also assisted in assuaging the public's perception of upper-class elites: After all, so much spy fiction is about the aristocratic class going out of their way behind enemy lines to save Tom, Dick, and Harry in the trenches. Excellent video!

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Thanks! Those are great points, and you ask a good question in the last paragraph. Although technically not spy fiction, A E W Mason's earlier classic The Four Feathers checks most of the boxes for the point you make in that paragraph.

@donaldrobers5028 Жыл бұрын

Quite true regarding the quality of the Nick Carter "Killmaster" series of spy novels. Obviously the anonymous authors did not spend much time on them - in fact, several of them including Danger Key pillaged whole paragraphs, word for word, from Ian Fleming.

@buddhabillybob Жыл бұрын

Fantastic video! Will we ever have a video that focuses on the master of spy fiction, John le Carre?

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

There's a good chance of that. My goal is to highlight authors and books that haven't already received a lot of attention on KZfaq, and I haven't seen much about le Carre here on YT. Thanks for your question!

@donaldrobers5028 Жыл бұрын

In the 1960s and 1970s the fictional detective Nick Carter was repurposed into a Bondian spy in numerous novels. The quality varied from ok to downright terrible, but I suspect that many of the authors honed their craft on these anonymous works and went on to produce better fiction under their own acknowledged authorship. This was the road travelled by Martin Cruz Smith when he wrote "The Inquisitor" series and then went on to create Russian Police Inspector Arkady Renko in the series that started with Gorky Park.

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

I'm familiar with some of the early Nick Carter stories in the pulps, both as a Doc Savage-type character and later as a hard-boiled detective, but I've never read the spy stories from the 60s and 70s. I just looked them up and discovered there were more than 100 of those spy novels published, which is probably not a good sign of quality writing. I didn't realize Smith wrote any of those stories or The Inquisitor series. Thanks for sharing that information!

@ENCELADUS777 Жыл бұрын

Excellent video Bridger! I was curious about spies and espionage in modern fantasy. (I was looking to add books to a TBR pile that’s already way too big.) I believe someone on Reddit mentioned Le Carre’s work once. (Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy. I believe.) I have never read a spy novel before, but a series of books, I always wanted to try was the James Bond novels. I also had the Retief series referred to me by an older co-worker whose been reading fantasy and sci-fi since the 80s. I was it was on my TBR. But I think I will give Retief a shot sometime next year. Would you happen to have any advice for a dark fantasy reader interested in trying some spy novels?

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I highly recommend le Carre. His novels are more cerebral and intricately plotted, and less action-oriented, than those of many other authors. The Bond books are a mixed bag (as I'll discuss in an upcoming video--some are quite enjoyable, while others are really underwhelming; in many respects, they have more in common with hard-boiled crime thrillers than with earlier spy novels). The Retief books are fun, lighthearted reads (Laumer wrote them to poke fun at his colleagues in the foreign service--he was a government diplomat by training and profession when he wasn't writing SF stories.). If you want a transition from dark fantasy, Declare by Tim Powers is a very good read that features covert spies in the years during and after WWII who are in a race to harness a supernatural entity for their respective sides in the Cold War.

@jimgillespie6109 Жыл бұрын

So glad you managed to fit in the Spy vs. Spy rivals, not to mention Nick Fury.

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

I was determined to find a way to squeeze that Mad Magazine comic into the video somewhere. Thanks for watching!

@Rhaegar.Targaryen 6 ай бұрын

Can you please make a video about gentleman thieves genre? Otherwise, thank you very much for your content. I primarly really enjoy your fantasy videos.

@thelibraryladder 6 ай бұрын

Thanks and great suggestion! Yes, I plan to revisit the gentleman thief subgenre in a future video. They're some of my favorite classic stories.

@Rhaegar.Targaryen 6 ай бұрын

@@thelibraryladder I'm very glad to hear that. Recently, I started watching Lupin III, which led me to its inspirational source, Maurice Leblanc. I tried to find more about its predecessors and successors (in the gentleman thieves genre), but the internet is quite scarce on this topic. So, I'll appreciate your extensive knowledge. I know it might sound a bit sentimental, but in many literary areas, you've truly opened my eyes.

@thelibraryladder 6 ай бұрын

It's gratifying to hear that my videos have had an impact. Thanks! You might also enjoy the live-action show Lupin on Netflix, which is set in modern day Paris, but was inspired by the character and stories created by Leblanc. The third season of the show began streaming earlier this year.

@Rhaegar.Targaryen 6 ай бұрын

I avoided that series because Netflix has very variable quality. But since you recommend it, I'll gladly give it a try.

@thelibraryladder 6 ай бұрын

I know what you mean about Netflix's uneven track record. Lupin has moments of absurd plotting (like many Netflix shows), but on the whole I enjoyed it. (I'm a sucker for heist films.)

@PeculiarNotions Жыл бұрын

Really excellent analysis of the genre. I'd be interested to know what you think of Joseph Conrad's Secret Agent and how it fits into the genre's development.

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Great question! I regretted not including Conrad and several others in my discussion, but I didn't want the video to run too long, since it's just a high-level overview. His novel The Secret Agent is terrific (I love the almost O. Henry-like quality it possesses). Although it definitely qualifies as a spy novel, I'd say it has more in common with the political adventure novels I referenced in the video. It focuses more heavily on the political and emotional dimensions of the story than it does on the spycraft. Thus, I'd consider it a bridging novel along the lines of Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday (which curiously was also about stopping an anarchist revolution).

@PeculiarNotions Жыл бұрын

@@thelibraryladder Thank you for letting me know. I appreciate the reply.

@erniehernandez7162 7 ай бұрын

I love Le Carre novels I've read 3 all are fantastic

@jeanthewissen Жыл бұрын

The way you describe the gentlemen thieives and likeable spies makes me thing a lot about Sparhawk from the David Eddings novels. He's a part of what could be considered an order of "paladins" that nonetheless know when to act somewhat less than honorably, but can still be considered honorable.

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

That's a good linkage! As the fantasy genre has matured and expanded, it has borrowed a variety of elements from other genres, such as murder mysteries, psychological horror, and gentleman thieves and spies. Some other examples of noble thieves in the fantasy genre include Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastard series and Michael J Sullivan's Ryria Revelations series. The protagonists in those series are clever criminals, but they're basically good and honorable at heart. Thanks for watching and commenting!

@Robert4229 10 ай бұрын

Interesting.

@thelibraryladder 10 ай бұрын

Glad you think so! Thanks for watching!

@apebblemaster4570 Жыл бұрын

Yay for Mrs. Polifax! My sister and I love those books!

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

I agree. They’re a lot of fun, and very much a product of their time. It’s hard for me to imagine her character in today’s world.

@jamescambias9189 Жыл бұрын

What about Kipling's novel _Kim_? It's a great spy story.

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

I completely agree! I mention it around the 13:50 mark in the video. It was one of the earliest spy novels, perhaps because the main character didn't fit the typical profile of a secret agent.

@boogerie Жыл бұрын

You left out Joseph Conrad's THE SECRET AGENT. I would also argue another seminal influence was R. H. Bruce Lockhart's 1932 book "Memoirs of a British Agent"

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

I knew I was going catch flack for that omission! :) Conrad ended up on the cutting room floor along with several other early authors as I was editing the video down to a manageable length (I intended it only as a high-level overview, not an exhaustive review). As I noted in response to another commenter, I think The Secret Agent is terrific (I love its almost O. Henry-like qualities). Although it definitely qualifies as a spy novel, I'd say it has more in common with the political adventure novels I referenced in the video, because it focuses more heavily on the political and emotional dimensions of the story than it does on the spycraft. Thus, I consider it a bridging novel along the lines of Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday (which curiously was also about stopping an anarchist revolution). Thanks for the suggestion about Lockhart's autobiography and its influence on the willingness to acknowledge clandestine activities. I've never read it, but I ought to. It's been on my radar for a while.

@boogerie Жыл бұрын

@@thelibraryladder I think my larger problem with your thesis is my perception of that the literary espionage novel (Greene, Ambler) pre-dates the espionage thriller (Fleming) and I see Greene as part of a tradition stretching back to Buchan and Conrad. Le Carre' for his part never missed an opportunity to bash Fleming and his creation. Nevertheless it speaks to Fleming's achievement that he has been often imitated but never quite successfully duplicated Another curious thing about "Thursday" is that like "Agent" the villians are actually revealed to be Agent Provocateurs. Before you read Lockhart you should probably read a recent biography of the star of Lockhart's narrative, Sidney Reilly. Revolutionary. Con Man. Hustler. Womanizer. Counter-revolutionary etc. etc. A truly sketchy character who quite literally left a trail of bodies in his wake. The spiritual father to Flemings "double o's" as well as le Carre's "scalphunters" If that wasn't enough according to Lockhart he was the inspiration for the title character of Ethel Voynich's "the Gadfly"

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the clarification and further reading suggestions! I'm not sure I understand your disagreement with my thesis, though. This video is primarily focused on the evolution of spy fiction as a whole and not just spy thrillers (which blossomed post-Bond). I consider Ambler and Greene et al to be part of the earlier tradition of Buchan, Conrad and others, and I think Fleming's part of that tradition as well, although Bond has a strong measure of hard-boiled pulp fiction shaken (not stirred) in. In an upcoming video I plan to discuss how Bond was both a blessing and a curse for the spy genre, which might echo some of le Carre's criticisms.

@juanmorales9738 Жыл бұрын

I prefer the human element. In fact, I have of late realized how much I miss them. Ludlum and Forsyth were favorites.

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

I lean pretty strongly in that direction too. Older stories (and newer stories set in the past) tend to rely more on the skill and ingenuity of the characters, in my opinion.

@anthonydileonardo8156 11 ай бұрын

Len Deighton's IPCRESS FILE

@WadWizard Жыл бұрын

This makes me think of another topic i know nothing about but seems like the opposite of this in a way, what happened to swashbucklers? I have a vague romanticized image of them in my mind from probably a few movies or shows but when it comes to books, and movies shows and games for that matter, i cant think of many examples especially not recent ones. What are some good and/or classic examples of swashbucklers you might recommend reading?

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Great observation! My favorite modern swashbuckler is Dave Duncan’s King’s Blades series, which isn’t exactly recent, as it was published 20-25 years ago. It’s also a fantasy rather than historical fiction. Another more recent fantasy series is Sebastian de Castell’s Greatcoats series. And Scott Lynch’s The Lies of Locke Lamora isn’t really what I’d call a swashbuckler, but it feels like one at times. Most historical fiction in recent decades seems to focus on time periods on either side of the swashbuckling era. Looking farther back, Rafael Sabatini wrote several classic swashbucklers about a hundred years ago, including among others, Captain Blood, Scaramouche, and The Sea-Hawk (all of which were adapted into films in later decades). John Dickson Carr’s The Devil in Velvet from the 1950s blends multiple genres and is a fun read. I hope these suggestions are helpful.

@reedl2353 11 ай бұрын

I would add that it needed the more widely social acceptability of sex as a selling point. Ian Fleming needed Playboy magazine to serialize his spy novels in America, starting an association that lasted into at least the late 80's. Sexy women, and Bond as a sex symbol, were inextricably part of the movies from the very start. Bond was not alone in this, as has been lampooned in spy parodies as far back as spy parodies exist. In more serious works, the manipulation of vulnerable men by the sexually provocative femme fatales in the "honey trap" is a common trope. Also, in real life. That trap catches both sexes, but I feel like the spy novels that I have read focus more on the men. It's obviously not a rigorously scientific review of the idea. You could perhaps roll this into the concept of "desensitization to the seamier elements of life", but I think it's specific enough to warrant its own discussion. Possibly not something that you want to include on the channel; I don't know your editorial preferences.

@thelibraryladder 11 ай бұрын

Another great comment. I'm not sure spy fiction _required_ wider social acceptability of sex, but it certainly benefitted from it. My reference to "seamier elements" was intended as a catchall for behaviors not already cited that would have been widely considered morally objectionable in the past, including promiscuity.

@reedl2353 11 ай бұрын

@@thelibraryladder Reasonable.

@SolarLabyrinth Жыл бұрын

Looking forward to the Bond deep dive. I am a fan of both the films and the novels, but the characters are quite different. I also think Walter Gibson's The Shadow pulps are an underrated influence on later spy/espionage stories. They are more crime/detective stories, but some of the "tricks" The Shadow and his agents use could be right out of a later spy yarn.

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Thanks! The Bond films were both a blessing and a curse for Bond as a character, which I'll highlight in the upcoming video. Great point about Gibson's The Shadow. I have some of the original Shadow novels from the 1930s in all their pulpy goodness. It amazes me how quick many modern critics are to denigrate the pulp magazines when most of the genre fiction produced today owes much of its existence to the early pulps.

@Kjt853 Жыл бұрын

I know they’re TV rather than literary examples, but I can’t think of fictional spies without two prime examples from my youth, John Steed and Emma Peel, coming to mind. As always, I enjoyed the video.

@chocolatemonk 6 ай бұрын

Macguyver FTW

@chocolatemonk 6 ай бұрын

also, great video. you have added many to the TBR; so thorough and densely lovely

@anthonydileonardo8156 11 ай бұрын

Harry Palmer!

@BOIZADAS Жыл бұрын

I like your videos, but the way you talk...it's just to phony, can you speak in a manner not so weird all the time? You can have intensity and mystery in your tone, without the highbrow tone and face

@richardgifu Жыл бұрын

I actually think that the voice is perfect for these videos - I do not see it as phony at all. Rather, I find it calm, measured, and eloquent.

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not quite sure what to do with it, though. This is how I normally speak (and I've been speaking this way for more than 50 years). It's not fake, or an act. And as for my face, there's not much I can do to change it. I'm stuck with it for better or for worse.

@clairisaphoinix23 Жыл бұрын

That's his real voice and I actually enjoy listening to him talk. Nothing wrong with it.

@BOIZADAS Жыл бұрын

@@thelibraryladder I understand, anyway I got used to it and subscribed, so keep them coming, you get me a lot of good books to read.

@Beastlango Жыл бұрын

Part of why they had the bright colors is so that you knew who was who and you didn’t shoot your own teammates. The British also used their colors and rank and file system as intimation, making them seem like a big over bearing force. Saying it was purely about honor is also too simplistic.

@thelibraryladder Жыл бұрын

Very true, as long as their opponents shared their concept of honor and arrayed their forces in a similar manner. Military tactics at the time were heavily predicated on the assumption that opponents would abide by similar codes of honor and conduct. However, it put them at a significant disadvantage when facing opponents who fought by different rules (and with a different sense of honor). The British experience fighting against guerrilla tactics during the American revolution and a hundred years later during the Mahdi uprising in Sudan demonstrated the need to rethink both the tactics and the code of honor that had governed military engagements for the previous several hundred years. Thanks for your comment!

@Beastlango Жыл бұрын

@@thelibraryladder Absolutely, rethinking it was definitely necessary. As warfare gets more advanced we need to rethink how it’s conducted. A similar thing happened with soldiers not wearing their rank because leaders were getting targeted by sniper. Thank you for the video. I’m a new viewer and have gained a lot in my own reading and even writing. Keep up the good work and great book suggestions.

@Macy.Walton 4 ай бұрын

Wow, I loved this video! I especially appreciated how you portrayed how Bond 'worked' - the environment he was in when created and it's part in changing the public's perceptions to such characters.

@thelibraryladder 4 ай бұрын

Thank you! I really enjoyed making this video. It's one of my favorites I've made.