17 replies to this topic

[Rich Douglas]

I haven't really read any of the flemming books (mainly b/c of the lack of time), so while on vacation a month ago I saw OHMSS in a book store and picked it up. Once I started, I couldnt put it down. The main reason being that I was sitting in a concrete cabana on elbow beach on the island of burmuda while reading. For those of you who may not know (or remember), OHMSS starts out with bond smoking a cigarette, sitting in a cabana on a beach in france... which was almost exactly what i was doing. When i got to that sentence the smile on my face was huge as I looked around to check out my surroundings, took a puff of my own cigarette, checked out some girls on the beach and continued reading. I REALLY enjoyed the book to be honest, I love flemmings attention to detail. I just wish the film had elaborated a bit more on bonds time at and escape from piz gloria ( the combo of his rolex and a razor for weapons to aid his escape was genious). Needless to say, after reading that book for a good portion of the day, I was in a bondian mood, which was inevidable given the environment i was in. I went back up to my room, put my nicest suit on and went down to the club right on the beach called "The Deep" at dusk to be greeted by the owner of the club (whom i got to know the night before).. handed him my resort card, he checked it, looked up and said to the bouncer "Mr Douglas' credit is good, have a wonderful time Mr. Douglas." It was the best possible place to read a bond book, and OHMSS was a wonderful choice to start with.

Rich

[kevrichardson]

OHMSS is the first Bond novel i ever read . It is a great Bond novel. It just recently brought a use paperback copy in a second hand bookstore in NYC. The original 1963 , it starts to read easy after the first chapter and one cannot put it down. The whole romance of Tracy and the search for Blofeld is superior . The whole idea of Bond falling in love and getting marry seemed strange . I was only a teenager , when i first read the book . And was introduced to Bond through the films . As i read on i began to realize that it is one of Fleming's best.

[Johnson Galore]

Originally posted by Rich Douglas
The main reason being that I was sitting in a concrete cabana on elbow beach on the island of burmuda while reading.  For those of you who may not know (or remember), OHMSS starts out with bond smoking a cigarette, sitting in a cabana on a beach in france... which was almost exactly what i was doing.  
Rich

The first time that I read Thunderball I was in the Bahamas. You can't beat reading the books in the locations that they take place in!

[KMHPaladin]

I took Casino Royale, Goldfinger, and OHMSS to France with me this summer on my family's vacation. It was not a see-the-Louvre type of vacation, so there was plenty of time to read, and I enjoyed rereading some of my favorite Bond books. OHMSS is probably my favorite, and the immersion Fleming creates is really amazing.

[Red Grant]

What an interesting thread! Such a refreshing change from the usual what is the best this or that type post....
You first encounter with a Bond novel is such a personal thing as opposed to seeing a movie which you share with so many others in the cinema. My first introduction to the literary 007 came with THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN - not the best place to start but it was 1974 when the film came out so what the hell. I quickly devoured everything else I could find on Bond at the time and remember these years as if they were last year. They bring back memories of holidays with grandparents (both long gone) and long hot summers of the late 1970's. I only have to see a paperback cover and I can tell you when I bought it and on which holiday! The still-life covers evoke so many memories for me that sometimes it is hard to look at them without my mind travelling back some 20 odd years.

[Thunderbird]

What a good story. Shame no Bonds take place in Barcelona, Prague or San Francisco / Las Vegas, which is where I'm going this year!

[kevrichardson]

Originally posted by Thunderbird
What a good story. Shame no Bonds take place in Barcelona, Prague or San Francisco / Las Vegas, which is where I'm going this year!

DAF is set in Las Vegas , AVTAK was set in San Francisco . TWINE was in some part of Spain. Perhaps Bond 21 will be in Prague . But then come to think about it wasn't the TLD there also. It has something to do with the cello?

[Thunderbird]

Wasn't that Budapest? Anyway I suppose I could allow DAF, but not much of it.

I really want to go to Jamaica......but maybe it's not the same...

[kevrichardson]

No it wasn't Budapest . That's in Hungary. It was in Bratislava , in what left of the czech republic. Kara Milovy was a czech cellist. The first "Mission Impossible" movie was set in Prague. The city of Prague is similar to Vienna. Since it was once part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. It would make a nice location for a Bond ,so you are right in many respects. Las Vegas is to cheezzy .

[Thunderbird]

Yes. I daresay you're right. Ian Fleming has a chapter on Vegas in Thrilling Cities...have you read this?

[kevrichardson]

Originally posted by Thunderbird
Yes. I daresay you're right. Ian Fleming has a chapter on Vegas in Thrilling Cities...have you read this?

No i have read DAF , and by that alone Las Vegas sounds to cheezzy. But then just look at the movie. I read a article on Ken Adams and he talk about how he want to capture that on film. example the "waterbed" for Bond and Tiffany Case. Remember that feather "thing" that she had!!!!! Plus the bed had "fish" floating inside. Also Blofeld in "Drag" .

[Thunderbird]

Er...Blofeld in Drag?

[kevrichardson]

Originally posted by Thunderbird
Er...Blofeld in Drag?

Yes !!!! as he left the Vegas Casino , with his beloved cat. On the way he "asked" Ms Tiffany Case to join him .

[Thunderbird]

You mean the film presumably, I don't know much about them.

[kevrichardson]

Originally posted by Thunderbird
You mean the film presumably, I don't know much about them.

Yes i mean the film. Blofeld is not in the novel. The novel was written after Moonraker around 1955/56.

[KMHPaladin]

Originally posted by Thunderbird
What a good story. Shame no Bonds take place in Barcelona, Prague or San Francisco / Las Vegas, which is where I'm going this year!

As others have said, Diamonds are Forever had a significant part of the book in Vegas. It's not as cheesy as the movie, either. When my family went there a few years ago, I had to take the book along for kicks. You would enjoy it .

[Thunderbird]

I will do the same. I will take Thrillng Cities too.

[Dr Noah]

I guess I was introduced to the literary Bond in a strange way.

My first Fleming book was OHMSS which I read when I was around 11 years old...however it was a very strange edition, a speciel abridged version done for schools, very slim and ran for (I think) around 100 pages.

There was several Fleming novels, including Dr No and Goldfinger, alongside abridged versions of the like of Raymond Chandler (I remember reading his "Long Goodbye" after OHMSS).

Looking back I am very suprised that these editions existed!