Book Review: Carte Blanche

Carte Blanche: The New James Bond Novel by Jeffery Deaver (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011. 432 pp)

Born outside Chicago, Jeffery Deaver earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and a law degree from Fordham University. Prior to becoming a bestselling author, Deaver was a journalist, folksinger and attorney. Having written thirty books, Deaver has won numerous awards. For The Bodies Left Behind, he won Novel of the Year from the International Thriller Writers Association; The Cold Moon was named Book of the Year by the Mystery Writers Association of Japan and the Grand Prix Award. Additionally, he has received the Steel Dagger and Short Story Dagger from the British Crime Writers’ Association and the Nero Wolfe Award.

Old History and New Beginnings

When James Bond first stepped onto the pop-culture stage, the Cold War was in full effect. Ian Flemming created the character in 1953, and 007 stopped a speeding Serbian train loaded with hazardous chemicals. No tricky gadgets, no iphone app. Bond was a man’s man and a predecessor to MacGyver, without the cheesy mullet.

However, as the Cold War drew to an end, James Bond’s enemies fell from view. With no clear enemy in sight, the Bond series fell into disrepair. But, with the dawn of the insurmountable enemy that is global terrorism, James Bond came upon the scene again. Jeffrey Deaver, an American, tells a new tale of the technically supreme James Bond.

Homage

Perhaps in homage to the 1953 James Bond, Deaver starts the novel by having James Bond stop a train with hazardous chemicals on board.  

“His hand on the dead-man throttle, the driver of the Serbian Rail diesel felt the thrill he always did on this particular stretch of railway, heading north from Belgrade and approaching Novi Sad...his imagination told him the noise was the metal containers of the deadly chemical in car number three, jostling against one another, at risk of spewing forth their poison. Nonsense, he told himself and concentrated on keeping the speed steady. Then, for no reason at all, except that it made him feel better, he tugged at the air horn” (3-4).

With trains hauling deadly chemicals, this novel starts the way every other bond tome begins. Not until later in the novel do we meet the new James Bond.

The Villain

Severan Hydt (Severan seems to always be a name indicative of evil – Harry Potter’s Severan Snape certainly alludes to this fact as well) is not your typical villain – he’s concerned about the environment, and also has a penchant for photographing dead bodies. Hydt is also responsible for spreading fear by threatening to inflict the Gehenna attacks, an unknown event that will place thousands of British lives in danger. The trick is that this threat is unknown; Bond and MI5 are trying to find both the details and the location of the attack.

“Estimated initial casualties in the thousands, British interests adversely affected, funds transfers as discussed” (156).

As the novel unfolds, the message becomes clearer,

“Confirm incident friday night, 20th, estimated initial casualties in the thousands” (366).

Using a typical spy cover as an arms dealer, Bond is able to infiltrate Hydt’s base of operations in South Africa in order to ascertain more about the scenario. While undercover, he forms a relationship with a policewoman named Bheka Jordaan in order to try to investigate the work of Hydt.

Knighthood

James Bond is a knight – simply driven by the knight’s code of right versus wrong and honor versus dishonor. He is willing to sacrifice himself, and to exercise his “carte blanche” when he needs to. “Carte blanche”, or the ability to operate outside of the law is something that Bond always struggles with in light of his knightly values. He always is curious:  “at what point do I become just like the enemy if I continue operating outside of the law?”

Fast Food

All in all, Carte Blanche is a good book. I’ll liken it to fast food; it’s amazing, and you know it. But, you really don’t want (or at the very least shouldn’t want) a quarter pounder with cheese every day. If you do, I strongly urge you to seek medical attention soon, as your heart may have already stopped several times. 


So, read it. Aside from the current global events that provide an intriguing setting for our hero, don’t expect any life changing revelations, or some moralistic platitudes. But, you can expect a novel that delivers James Bond, and with the lack of Double-Oh-Seven films lately, no one can really blame you. If some good, indulgent fast food interests you, read Carte Blanche.

Verdict: 3 out of 5

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Andrew Jacobson is the director of Choral Studies at Bellevue Christian School in Bellevue, WA. He holds an M.M. in Music Education from Boston University, as well as a B.M. in Music Education from the University of Washington. He loves wine, food, reading, music, and movies. You can reach him via email at arjacobson@gmail.com.

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Book Review: Cradle to Cradle

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart (New York: North Point Press, 2002. 208 pp)

Known best for his work in sustainable architecture and design, William McDonough is a world leader in sustainable business practices. Winner of the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development, the National Design Award, and the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, McDonough’s philosophies on sustainability find popularity amongst companies desiring to go green. Additionally, McDonough is the founder of William McDonough + Partners, an international architecture firm, and co-founder with this book’s co-author of McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC).

Michal Braungart is a German chemist who, in addition to co-founding MBDC, founded EPEA International Umweltforschung GmbH. Braungart holds the Cradle-to-Cradle chair at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands and is employed as a professor of process engineering at the University of Applied Sciences in Suderberg. In partnership with William McDonough, Braungart is best known for the engineering philosophies presented in Cradle to Cradle.

Eco-Partisan

Sadly, environmentalism seemingly exists only in the far reaches of the liberal spectrum. As an increasingly volatile political debate, these ideas are a source of contention for countries, counties, cities, and families.

Some might say, “Al Gore thinks the world is going to end? I disagree with him politically so he must be wrong.” Others contend, “Why do conservatives fight science? We are empirically ruining our world and they just dismiss these arguments as if they are merely political rhetoric?”

Taking extreme positions on either side of the political aisle carries certain financial incentives. The more thrilling the premise of your book, the more likely it will receive media attention and higher book sales.

Remaking Business

While William McDonough and Michael Braungart might personally hold an extreme environmental position, the premise of Cradle to Cradle suggests a rethinking of business practice. Without heavily relying on the doom-and-gloom game that many environmentalists maintain, these authors advocate for remaking business manufacturing.

Currently, companies manage a product from supply chain to the retail floor. Under such practices, the company cares little about the danger a product might exhibit at the end of its life. Therefore, waste overflows landfills with decaying products that emit toxic chemicals as garbage is either incinerated or left to rot in the open air.

Almost as bad, the potent mixing of biological and technical nutrients in most products makes recycling nearly as hazardous as throwing objects away. Under extreme amounts of energy, recycled products become capable of reuse. Sadly, recycled products never contain the same amount of quality as a new product.

Waste Equals Food

What if products were manufactured with an end in mind? Observing the patterns of nature, McDonough and Braungart assert that business must manufacture products in a similar way.

As it stands, business produces goods under the old manufacturing forms concocted during the industrial revolution. Labeled “cradle-to-grave” manufacturing, this form considers the earth an endless resource worth exploiting. Logically, however, such thoughts are invalid as it is not only entirely possible but also documented that humanity contains the means by which they can outstrip resources.

Mimicking the environment, the authors make a case for “cradle-to-cradle” manufacturing. In nature, a fallen tree becomes the source of nutrients for new foliage. In other words, nature’s waste equals nature’s food. If business operated with the understanding that waste equals the supply chain for new products, it would close the loop of exploitation we see in the world.

McDonough and Braungart write,

“Ultimately, we want to be designing processes and products that not only return the biological and technical nutrients they use, but [also] pay back with interest the energy they consume” (138).

Interestingly, Cradle to Cradle not only preaches this message chapter by chapter, it acts this message from page to page. The book itself is made from DuraBook technology making the pages highly durable and waterproof.

Let’s Walk on the Moon

On the whole, Cradle to Cradle urges its readers to dream. Just as a 1950s mindset considered walking on the moon an impossibility, business of today thinks that any action contrary to the norm is a fruitless endeavor. The authors believe that sustainable innovation is not only possible, but also profitable. Whether or not you think that environmental degradation is a real problem or an idea concocted by the radical fringe, this book contains pertinent ideas. If you are interested in business, the environment, or sustainability, I highly recommend this book. 

Book Review: Ecological Intelligence

Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything, by Daniel Goleman (New York: Broadway Books, 2009. 288 pp)

As a psychologist, Daniel Goleman writes and lectures to students and working professionals on brain and behavioral sciences. Born in California in 1946, Goleman split his time as an undergraduate between Amherst College and the University of California at Berkeley, receiving a B.A. from Amherst in anthropology. Through a scholarship from the Ford Foundation, Goleman attended the clinical psychology program at Harvard and pursued doctoral research on meditation as an intervention in stress arousal. Goleman’s post-doctoral grant from the Social Science Research Council later became his first book, The Meditative Mind. Taking a job with Psychology Today, Goleman became interested in full-time writing, publishing articles with The New York Times and writing books, including the widely popular Emotional Intelligence. Goleman lives with his wife in Massachusetts.

90%

Money, the most awkward subject in church. Some pastors decide to forgo any mention of it for fear of molding the sermon into a money grab; others discuss money constantly, reminding their parishioners of tithing as a duty to God. In both instances, the debate resides around the tithe, typically understood as a charitable contribution of 10% of all income.

But what about the other 90%?

Setting aside debates about whether a tithe ought to be the standard or a minimum, Christians all too often utilize the remaining funds in the marketplace without much thought about the biological, ecological, and social ramifications of their purchases.

Naturally, many Christian leaders would shy away from exerting control over a congregation’s finances. But I am not proposing that a pastor give his or her flock a list of what to buy. Instead, I believe it is important that Christians be reminded that what they purchase counts. Each item in the shopping cart represents a vote for that product.

Whether or not we want to admit it, Christians buy products from some pretty nasty companies. Luckily, though, many virtuous companies do exist — companies that are selling good products for health, society, and the globe that have been produced in humane ways. If Christians consider purchasing in this manner, it is possible that they can add further change to the world in addition to charitable donations.

Hidden Impacts

With these ideas in mind, Daniel Goleman’s book Ecological Intelligence discusses the importance of knowing the effects concerning the things we buy. If you realized that buying the cheaper pair of shoes not only meant that you continue to promote child slavery but also that you are wearing a product that leaks toxic chemicals into the air, wouldn’t you think twice about purchasing the product?

Of course, Ecological Intelligence focuses primarily on the environmental side effects of the things we buy. Yet Goleman also expands his spotlight to uncover the hidden impacts on health, the environment, and society as a whole.

Radical Transparency

Goleman suggests that consumers demand radical transparency in the market place. As it stands, a disconnect lies between consumer and producer. We don’t know exactly where food, clothing, and toys come from. With subsidies imparted through big-business lobbying, the open market is not actually open. Thus, business finds means by which to hide certain health, environmental, and societal costs.

Source: Roadside Pictures

Radical transparency, on the other hand, suggests that business lifts the veil off its operations and supply chain. Under this scenario, a consumer is capable of rationally deciding the best product, based on open information. Goleman adds,

For companies, radical transparency can create a vibrant new competitive playing ground, one where doing the right thing also means doing better (82).

The current cultural climate around the globe offers a ripe scenario for this sort of transparency. More specifically, social networking allows almost instantaneous communication between extensive populations. If a business ethically falters in this environment, word will spread quickly. Moreover, websites such as www.goodguide.com supply customers with a smart-phone application, providing power in the hands of consumers to obtain a better sense of companies and products.

It seems to me that most Christians would seek to do good in the world when presented an opportunity to do so. Ecological Intelligence offers practical ways in which people can navigate the health, environmental, and societal factors of purchasing products. The Christian Church is a beacon for the poor and disinherited. Many Christians give generously to charity and mission organizations. But we can do so much more! Our groceries, clothing suppliers, and houses give us further opportunities to choose the best products for our own health, the environment, and society.