Carte Blanche
SPOILER ALERT: This post covers Jeffery Deaver's James Bond
novel, 'Carte Blanche.' If you have not read the book, but intend to
read it in the near future, please ignore today's post, as it may
contain spoilers. Jeffery Deaver is a master at twists in his thrillers
and I wouldn't want you to miss out.
Jeffery Deaver is best known for his Lincoln Rhyme series of novels, the most notable being 'The Bone Collector,' which was made into a major motion picture starring Denzel Washington. In 2004, he won the Ian Fleming Silver Dagger award for 'Garden of Beasts,' a novel outside the Lincoln Rhyme series set in pre-WWII Germany. This award started a series of events that led to the Ian Fleming Foundation asking him to contribute to the James Bond series. The result was 'Carte Blanche.'
This analysis only covers Deaver's book, and while the conclusions may hold true for other Bond novels, they may not. In 'Carte Blanche,' some of the mind, body, and spirit characters change when Bond moves to a different setting (i.e. when he goes from London to Dubai or Dubai to South Africa.) I decided to stick with the more universal characters for this post - James, M, and Saru Hirani (Q Branch).
First, we do not discover this fact right away, but James Bond is an orphan. He is introduced on a stakeout, invisible to his target. He is said to have a 'serious face' and a 'hunter's demeanor.' The area of Serbia in which he is posted is described as mountainous, but James 'guessed the adjective must have been chosen to attract tourists,' so one of his first interactions with the reader is an opinion rather than factual, as is his description.
When Bond returns from Serbia, he has a lot of questions to answer. He usually has breakfast at a hotel or cooks for himself, but this time, the situation is urgent, so he has not time for breakfast. Spirit characters are often plagued by a lack of time.
Bond's reactions to women also define him as a spirit character. He flirts with Moneypenny and believes she likes him best over the other agents in 0- section. He has a variety of hyperbolic adjectives to describe his own assistant, Mary Goodnight. She is his 'human diary' and his 'portcullis and drawbridge.' When he meets Ophelia 'Philly' Maidenstone, he notices her clothing and can't help but wonder if her hosiery is tights or stockings. A body character would also be interested in physical appearance, but would be more curious about what was beneath the hosiery. James also respects Philly for her taste in automobiles, including motorcycles, and the fact that she tunes them herself.
Bond 'believes' (a spirit term, a mind character would 'know' or 'think') his Bentley Continental GT Coupe is the finest off-the-peg vehicle in the world. When he drives, he loses himself 'in the pleasure of driving.'
When Bond goes into a hospital that has been prepared for demolition, he pauses to laugh at the sign that reads 'Mortuary,' before entering the room in which he could easily be killed.
In Dubai, he chooses a particular newspaper for its coverage of important events across the Middle East, and because it has 'excellent Formula One coverage.' When he discovers a disturbing secret about the man he is following in Dubai, the first thing he thinks is how he'd enjoy telling the story to Philly.
There's more, but this much really shows you the character without giving too much away.
M is introduced through the functionality of his office. The first thing the reader really learns about M is that he has two functional chairs in his office facing his oak desk. His first words, as he's looking over a report from Bond about his mission in Serbia, is to ask if there was a medical report that needed to be filed, as well.
M is a very 'get to the point' type of person. He does not tolerate 'muddled narrative or paddling.' When Bond makes claims based on assumption, M takes on a variety of facial expressions intended to indicate his dislike of assumptions. In a bit of irony, M does not like the use of nicknames. He corrects Bond when he refers to Ophelia Maidenstone as 'Philly.'
He also expects a certain amount of knowledge in others. He expects Bond to know about an upcoming security conference because it was communicated through a memo. M also sees ahead to the potential complications between James' mission and the security conference, in addition to the interdepartmental interactions that will be required. Bond does not bother himself with such details.
Saru Hirani's introduction is a classic introduction for a body character. It focuses on his looks (sallow complexion, luxuriant black hair, slim, mid-forties, handsome face) and his physical prowess (brilliant cricketer and a fast bowler). Only after readers know all of this do they discover he is also extremely brilliant with multiple degrees and other intellectual accomplishments.
Hirani oversees all aspects of 'tradecraft gadgetry.' The Q-Branch devices provide physical protection (weapons and camouflage) for various field agents, as well as additional eyes and ears (tracking and surveillance) and communications capability. His purpose is to build, modify, or find devices that will give an agent abilities beyond those of human capacity.
When Bond tells Hirani he may have to withhold some information from M, in direct violation of an order, Hirani is only momentarily concerned. He is too proud of his devices to let something like insubordination get in the way of showing them off.
Jeffery Deaver is best known for his Lincoln Rhyme series of novels, the most notable being 'The Bone Collector,' which was made into a major motion picture starring Denzel Washington. In 2004, he won the Ian Fleming Silver Dagger award for 'Garden of Beasts,' a novel outside the Lincoln Rhyme series set in pre-WWII Germany. This award started a series of events that led to the Ian Fleming Foundation asking him to contribute to the James Bond series. The result was 'Carte Blanche.'
This analysis only covers Deaver's book, and while the conclusions may hold true for other Bond novels, they may not. In 'Carte Blanche,' some of the mind, body, and spirit characters change when Bond moves to a different setting (i.e. when he goes from London to Dubai or Dubai to South Africa.) I decided to stick with the more universal characters for this post - James, M, and Saru Hirani (Q Branch).
The Spirit Character: Bond, James Bond
First, we do not discover this fact right away, but James Bond is an orphan. He is introduced on a stakeout, invisible to his target. He is said to have a 'serious face' and a 'hunter's demeanor.' The area of Serbia in which he is posted is described as mountainous, but James 'guessed the adjective must have been chosen to attract tourists,' so one of his first interactions with the reader is an opinion rather than factual, as is his description.
When Bond returns from Serbia, he has a lot of questions to answer. He usually has breakfast at a hotel or cooks for himself, but this time, the situation is urgent, so he has not time for breakfast. Spirit characters are often plagued by a lack of time.
Bond's reactions to women also define him as a spirit character. He flirts with Moneypenny and believes she likes him best over the other agents in 0- section. He has a variety of hyperbolic adjectives to describe his own assistant, Mary Goodnight. She is his 'human diary' and his 'portcullis and drawbridge.' When he meets Ophelia 'Philly' Maidenstone, he notices her clothing and can't help but wonder if her hosiery is tights or stockings. A body character would also be interested in physical appearance, but would be more curious about what was beneath the hosiery. James also respects Philly for her taste in automobiles, including motorcycles, and the fact that she tunes them herself.
Bond 'believes' (a spirit term, a mind character would 'know' or 'think') his Bentley Continental GT Coupe is the finest off-the-peg vehicle in the world. When he drives, he loses himself 'in the pleasure of driving.'
When Bond goes into a hospital that has been prepared for demolition, he pauses to laugh at the sign that reads 'Mortuary,' before entering the room in which he could easily be killed.
In Dubai, he chooses a particular newspaper for its coverage of important events across the Middle East, and because it has 'excellent Formula One coverage.' When he discovers a disturbing secret about the man he is following in Dubai, the first thing he thinks is how he'd enjoy telling the story to Philly.
There's more, but this much really shows you the character without giving too much away.
The Mind Character: M
M is introduced through the functionality of his office. The first thing the reader really learns about M is that he has two functional chairs in his office facing his oak desk. His first words, as he's looking over a report from Bond about his mission in Serbia, is to ask if there was a medical report that needed to be filed, as well.
M is a very 'get to the point' type of person. He does not tolerate 'muddled narrative or paddling.' When Bond makes claims based on assumption, M takes on a variety of facial expressions intended to indicate his dislike of assumptions. In a bit of irony, M does not like the use of nicknames. He corrects Bond when he refers to Ophelia Maidenstone as 'Philly.'
He also expects a certain amount of knowledge in others. He expects Bond to know about an upcoming security conference because it was communicated through a memo. M also sees ahead to the potential complications between James' mission and the security conference, in addition to the interdepartmental interactions that will be required. Bond does not bother himself with such details.
The Body Character: Saru Hirani (Head of Q-Branch)
Saru Hirani's introduction is a classic introduction for a body character. It focuses on his looks (sallow complexion, luxuriant black hair, slim, mid-forties, handsome face) and his physical prowess (brilliant cricketer and a fast bowler). Only after readers know all of this do they discover he is also extremely brilliant with multiple degrees and other intellectual accomplishments.
Hirani oversees all aspects of 'tradecraft gadgetry.' The Q-Branch devices provide physical protection (weapons and camouflage) for various field agents, as well as additional eyes and ears (tracking and surveillance) and communications capability. His purpose is to build, modify, or find devices that will give an agent abilities beyond those of human capacity.
When Bond tells Hirani he may have to withhold some information from M, in direct violation of an order, Hirani is only momentarily concerned. He is too proud of his devices to let something like insubordination get in the way of showing them off.
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