20 replies to this topic

[spynovelfan]

In another thread, Loomis asked:

'This leads me to a question I imagine you'll be able to answer, spynovelfan: which writers of espionage thrillers did Fleming admire, if any? Were there any authors he viewed as rivals?'

I can't really answer that, but I'm sure others here can. I suspect Fleming had read, enjoyed and been influenced by Sapper, John Buchan, Leslie Charteris and some of the early thriller writers like Oppenheim and Le Queux. He'd probably have read some Somerset Maugham, Graham Greene and Eric Ambler (though I don't think he'd have liked the latter's politics much). Possibly the puilps. I've often wondered if he'd ever read any Dennis Wheatley, who wrote lots of gung-ho thrillers featuring dashing British agents during and after World War Two. And I have a pet theory that he was influenced by two French writers, Jean Bruce and Herg

[DavidSomerset]

Tintin and Bond? This is the first time I read anyone linking them up. The Q in the novels though is not a bumbling absent minded professor like Calculus.
Have you read "Tintin in the land of the Soviets"? Hope you dont get any FRWL thoughts after reading that
http://www.amazon.co...4122064-2086258
I personally felt that Tintin was a Young Indiana Jones kind of character...Each one to his own thoughts.
And I dont think Tintin killed anyone. Whom would you like to play Tintin in the movies?

[spynovelfan]

Well, I wasn't arguing that Q and Calculus were in any way the same character - just one of a series of similarities between these two oeuvres. Perhaps I'm reaching. But check out the submarine Calculus gives Tintin to play with, and tell me that's not Flemingesque.

Yes, I've read Land of The Soviets.

Indiana Jones came after Tintin, so Indiana is really a Tintin-like character, not the other way round. I think Indiana Jones is a result of Spielberg's love of Herg

[ComplimentsOfSharky]

Bond reads Eric Ambler's Mask of Dimitrios in FRWL and Fleming mentions that he reads Ambler's Passage Of Arms (which I just started this morning) on his plane to Hong Kong in Thrilling Cities.

[Loomis]

spynovelfan,

Cheers for this thread. Funnily enough, I've been a Tintin fan even longer than I've been a Bond fan! I can't rave enough about Herg

[spynovelfan]

Loomis, you may be interested in this article I wrote last year - though nothing seems to have come of it. Anyway, one of your favourite writers gets a look-in.

STARTS
Tintin in Hollywood

Great snakes! Steven Spielberg is planning a series of Tintin films. spynovelfan reports


It

Edited by spynovelfan, 30 December 2004 - 03:19 PM.

[Loomis]

[quote name='William Boyd']"The problem with Tintin is that he moves in a world that isn

[spynovelfan]

I agree that it's a minefield. I think what Boyd was trying to say was that Herg

[Loomis]

[quote name='spynovelfan' date='30 December 2004 - 20:06']I think what Boyd was trying to say was that Herg

[DavidSomerset]

I think the only director who can faithfully make a Tintin film is Stephen Sommers (Mummy). If you ignore his OTT things in VH, he was quite good in recreating atmosphere and his Tintin would be a cool kicking reporter. The only problem is Snowy. I hope he doesnt turn up to be CGI like Scooby.
For Tintin, I would recommend Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley from HP) when he is about 4-5 years older.

Edited by DavidSomerset, 31 December 2004 - 02:17 AM.

[spynovelfan]

[quote name='Loomis' date='30 December 2004 - 23:39']True, Herg

[Loomis]

[quote name='spynovelfan' date='2 January 2005 - 15:28']In the books, at least part of the fun is the extraordinary detail Herg

[spynovelfan]

[quote name='Loomis' date='2 January 2005 - 15:39'][quote name='spynovelfan' date='2 January 2005 - 15:28']In the books, at least part of the fun is the extraordinary detail Herg

[Loomis]

[quote name='spynovelfan' date='2 January 2005 - 16:52']I can't see any of the stuff online. But I think this is the number of G

[Blofeld's Cat]

I think I read somewhere (Pearson's biog ?) that Fleming enjoyed Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain."

[spynovelfan]

Bond reads Eric Ambler's Mask of Dimitrios in FRWL and Fleming mentions that he reads Ambler's Passage Of Arms (which I just started this morning) on his plane to Hong Kong in Thrilling Cities.

I knew, but had forgotten, the FRWL reference. Wasn't aware of the Thrilling Cities mention. Ambler does seem to me a very odd writer for Fleming to have favoured. Yes, he wrote very tight thrillers that travelled the globe. But not only were they so much grittier and more realistic than Fleming's own thrillers, they also presented a radically different world view. It's a long way from the gung-ho world of the Empire's hero, James Bond. I find it most odd. Credit to Fleming, anyway - I wouldn't have thought him so broad-minded.

Broadening it out a little, we do know a little of Kinglsey Amis' thriller reading habits. Fleming, of course, but he was also a massive fan of George Macdonald Fraser's superb Flashman series. Fraser, of course, co-wrote the screenplay of Octopussy. And the back of my copy of Peter O'Donnell's Modesty Blaise has a rave review from Amis, surprisingly enough. I wonder if either Fraser or O'Donnell were ever approached by Glidrose to writing continuations - I think they'd both have been superb.

[spynovelfan]

Oh, and I suppose Fleming had read some of Geoffrey Jenkins' stuff.

[Loomis]

I wonder if either Fraser or O'Donnell were ever approached by Glidrose to writing continuations - I think they'd both have been superb.

I'd be surprised if Anthony Burgess hadn't been approached by Glidrose. He'd have been a terrific choice.

I gather that Fleming knew Graham Greene socially. I wonder what they thought of each other's work.

[spynovelfan]

I gather that Fleming knew Graham Greene socially. I wonder what they thought of each other's work.

I suspect Fleming would have enived Greene enormously, if perhaps finding him sometimes dull. I suspect Greene secretly wanted to be Fleming, and secretly loved the Bond books, though undoubtedly finding them silly and not great literature. The Human Factor features two characters in a tiny branch of British intelligence dealing with something incredibly dull, and a running joke is one of them keeps complaining that they're not given any exploding gadgets like Bond has, James Bond never has to do this amount of paperwork, and so on. It's pretty affectionate. Greene was very boyish about espionage - I have an early compendium of short spy fiction he wrote with his brother, and it's very wide-eyed. As was his friendship with Philby, of course.

[spynovelfan]

[quote name='Loomis' date='2 January 2005 - 17:02'][quote name='spynovelfan' date='2 January 2005 - 16:52']I can't see any of the stuff online. But I think this is the number of G

[Loomis]

Sorry, Loomis, I may have done you a disservice there. I think
this might be what I was thinking of. I *think* Boyd has an essay in there, but I can't find the magazine on my desk so can't promise.

Thanks, spynovelfan.