8 replies to this topic

[JLaidlaw]

I have to admit, I'm not a fan of the continuation novels. For me, the literary Bond belongs in the fifties and sixties, to Fleming and Amis; that's a personal thing and I don't mean to criticise Gardner or Benson. So if this novel is going to be a celebration of the life of Fleming, not just of Bond, I was wondering whether IFP may consider going back to Flemings notebooks and taking some ideas out of them, that he never got round to using, perhaps even taking a title like My Enemy's Enemy.

Even more controversially, I'd love them to take straight from one particular existing Fleming work- I remember reading one review saying that 007 in New York was like an opening chapter of a Bond book (It is quite similar to Live and Let Die), and I would love them to use it as such, and finish the novel. Alternatively, descriptive pieces from Thrilling Cities or The Diamond Smugglers could be used. I'm not suggesting they should use all of these in one go, just a little bit here, a little bit there.

To be honest, unless the reviews are particularly astounding, I don't think I'll buy it unless they use Fleming in some capacity. It would just be the equivalent of buying Free as a Bird or The Salmon of Doubt, to see on the front cover of a book 'written by ____ and Ian Fleming'.

[Mr Twilight]

I like the idea. I don't know how much of the contents in Fleming's notebook that haven't been brought to daylight but I guess there are many ideas that could been used in one way or the other. I like the one with the Niagara falls, and the one were Bond been forces to shot another allied agent to not blow his cover. I hope they use it someday.

[Loomis]

Well, I'm just pleased that we'll be getting the first adult Bond novel in six years, and a piece of work that Ian Fleming Publications is presumably putting a lot of care into. In quality terms, it promises to be the CASINO ROYALE to THE MAN WITH THE RED TATTOO's DIE ANOTHER DAY. Frankly, though, that it exists at all will be enough for me.

However, I would of course welcome the exploration of any unused Fleming elements, and the idea of expanding on 007 IN NEW YORK is inspired.

[Mister Asterix]

[mra]The idea sounds good in principle, but you must realise that it could be severely limiting to the author. Forcing little trickles of Fleming in to a book may prevent the author from being able to pursue a storyline that he may otherwise been able to explore, or it may cause the text just not to flow as it would if it came from one author.

It may also limit what author is chosen. Stephen King (just to throw out a name) may not want to write a Bond novel if given this restriction.


That said, this idea should be one open to the author to choose to use or not. It is a very good idea, but it should be used to expand on what the novel

[Zorin Industries]

Well, I'm just pleased that we'll be getting the first adult Bond novel in six years, and a piece of work that Ian Fleming Publications is presumably putting a lot of care into. In quality terms, it promises to be the CASINO ROYALE to THE MAN WITH THE RED TATTOO's DIE ANOTHER DAY. Frankly, though, that it exists at all will be enough for me.

However, I would of course welcome the exploration of any unused Fleming elements, and the idea of expanding on 007 IN NEW YORK is inspired.

I'm going to show my Fleming ignorance here and ask where is OO7 IN NEW YORK to be found? I fancy a read...

Also, who is writing the 2008 book? I've heard word of someone a tad high profile, but not sure if I should divulge...

[JLaidlaw]

Mister Asterix, I agree to you to an extent, themes and events borrowed from Fleming's notebook and other writing could be restricting for an author (Though they have been successfully used in the film scripts). However, merely taking the description of places from 007 in New York or the rest of Thrilling Cities would not severely restrict a capable writer, who is already taking on long established characters. It is the author's (and IFP's) choice if they wish to go down this line of course.

As for borrowing chunks of Fleming (by the way, I didn't neccessarily mean word for word) this shouldn't really be too much of a problem, as the book should be written in Fleming's style anyway. I would insist on at least using a Fleming voice, I think it's very important. This anniversary is not for Bond, it is for Ian Fleming, it should be a reflection of his work rather than an ego-trip for whoever chooses to write it. If we were (and I take the example to extremes here) discussing a novel for an anniversary of Jane Austen or Charles Dickens, it would surely be better that an author attempted to finish Sanditon or Edwin Drood, rather than to create a new plot with the characters from Oliver Twist. I think this applies in this case, and there should be some reference in the book to the creative hand of Fleming (without being a pastiche of the past novels).

Incidentally, if we were talking about a sixtieth anniversary of Bond book five years down the line, I'd agree with your point entirely.

[edit] Zorin Industries, 007 in New York is the shortest entry in the James Bond canon, it was originally part of the US version of Fleming's book Thrilling Cities, but not in the British edition. It's now to be found worldwide in more recent editions of Octopussy and The Living Daylights, I think it's editions from 2003 onwards, but I may be wrong on that.

Edited by JLaidlaw, 08 February 2007 - 06:22 PM.

[Loomis]

I'm going to show my Fleming ignorance here and ask where is OO7 IN NEW YORK to be found? I fancy a read...

It's in OCTOPUSSY & THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS, but not sure if it's in all editions. May have been added to later ones. At any rate, it's in the 2002 UK paperback, and I imagine it's in last year's UK reissue, too.

Also, who is writing the 2008 book? I've heard word of someone a tad high profile, but not sure if I should divulge...

Oh, go on. Quid pro quo.

[Mister Asterix]

Mister Asterix, I agree to you to an extent, themes and events borrowed from Fleming's notebook and other writing could be restricting for an author (Though they have been successfully used in the film scripts). However, merely taking the description of places from 007 in New York or the rest of Thrilling Cities would not severely restrict a capable writer, who is already taking on long established characters. It is the author's (and IFP's) choice if they wish to go down this line of course.

As for borrowing chunks of Fleming (by the way, I didn't neccessarily mean word for word) this shouldn't really be too much of a problem, as the book should be written in Fleming's style anyway. I would insist on at least using a Fleming voice, I think it's very important. This anniversary is not for Bond, it is for Ian Fleming, it should be a reflection of his work rather than an ego-trip for whoever chooses to write it. If we were (and I take the example to extremes here) discussing a novel for an anniversary of Jane Austen or Charles Dickens, it would surely be better that an author attempted to finish Sanditon or Edwin Drood, rather than to create a new plot with the characters from Oliver Twist. I think this applies in this case, and there should be some reference in the book to the creative hand of Fleming (without being a pastiche of the past novels).

Incidentally, if we were talking about a sixtieth anniversary of Bond book five years down the line, I'd agree with your point entirely.

[mra]I

[Qwerty]

Well, I'm just pleased that we'll be getting the first adult Bond novel in six years, and a piece of work that Ian Fleming Publications is presumably putting a lot of care into. In quality terms, it promises to be the CASINO ROYALE to THE MAN WITH THE RED TATTOO's DIE ANOTHER DAY. Frankly, though, that it exists at all will be enough for me.

However, I would of course welcome the exploration of any unused Fleming elements, and the idea of expanding on 007 IN NEW YORK is inspired.

Ditto.