29 replies to this topic

[Loomis]

Along with Kinglsey Amis' "Colonel Sun", Ian Fleming's "You Only Live Twice" is far and away my favourite James Bond novel. It's beautifully written, suspenseful and deeply moving, with the feel of a melancholy-infused travelogue. Above all, it's radically different to all the other Fleming novels. Of course, each Bond adventure is unique, but some are more unique than others, and YOLT seems to be the most individualistic of the whole bunch.

From http://shatterhand00.../NOVELYOLT.html:

The darkest and most atmospheric of all the Fleming novels. Ian Fleming wrote this book several years after his first heart attack and the themes of life and death echo throughout. Many critics complained that the book has very little action and that the real meat of the adventure does not begin until the last third of the story. I personally enjoyed this book on two levels - the first being the Japanese culture and the second was how Fleming uses many structural styles that make this story standout from the others for example:

One of the most ironic parts in this novel is towards the end when Bond has lost his memory. Bond is considered dead after Blofeld's castle blows up and Kissy keeps him hidden on her island. She makes love to Bond who thinks he is a local fisherman. Later, Kissy becomes pregnant. It is the only time a Bond girl is with child because of OO7. But the real irony is that Bond does not know who he is, therefore it is the complete absence of Bond's personality that causes him to help conceive a child. Bond, the conquering hero, would have claimed his prize by having sex with Kissy and nothing else. Bond, the fisherman, is only a common man and not St. George who destroyed the dragon. It also emphasizes the title of the book. Bond, like a phoenix, has been reborn out of fire and ash of Blofeld's castle, he will slowly regain his memory back as well as his life. However, it is the memories of Russia, Bond's enemies, that he begins to remember and thus decides to travel and find out who he is.

Fleming's writing is at an all-time high. All is brilliantly observed, and the descriptions are vivid, but there is a discipline, an economy with words, often absent in his other Bond novels; and no trace of the excesses, the flowery prose or the digressions that, for me at least, bring tedium to many of his books. Consider the following excerpt (from http://www.commander...cerpts/gi11.htm):

CHAPTER 13

(Of Kissy Suzuki, seeing her among other Ama girls )

To Bond, they all seemed beautiful and gay in the soft evening light -- The proud, rather coarse-nippled breasts, the gleaming muscled buttocks, cleft by the black cord that held in place the frontal triangle of black cotton, the powerful thong round the waist with its string of oval lead weights, through which was stuck an angular steel pick, the white rag round the rumbled hair, and, below the laughing dark eyes and lips that were happy with the luck of the day. At that moment, it all seemed to Bond as the world, as life, should be, and he felt ashamed of his city-slicker appearance, let alone the black designs it concealed.

Bond is a seasoned traveller, but in YOLT he finds himself in a more exotic and stranger land than ever before, and one in which being British (as opposed to American) doesn't seem to carry any particular clout. As a gaijin (literally: "outside person") he is, as never before, an outsider. Even prior to his amnesia and his stay on the island of Kuro after completing his mission, he finds himself re-learning all the rules of behaviour in a land of arcane customs where time has stood still. Fleming's Japan is, to all intents and purposes, feudal Japan.

I find Bond's loss of Kissy Suzuki far more heartbreaking than his loss of Tracy. Tracy comes to Bond as a patient to be cured, whereas Kissy comes to him as a complete person, motivated more by love than need. It is this love that allows her to let Bond go without question, even after she learns she is pregnant with his child. Of course, it is tragic that Bond becomes a father without knowing it, but perhaps an even greater tragedy is the glimpse of the sort of man he could have been and the kind of life he might have led.

[ChandlerBing]

This is my favorite title of all the Bonds. It is the title that I can most relate to, having managed to dodge the shadow of death on several occasions and be seemingly reborn...
Bond's obituary is nice, as handled by M. There is a good movie to be made out of this book.

[DLibrasnow]

I really do enjoy the novel YOLT, it ranks with "Moonraker" and "Goldfinger" as my favorite Fleming novel. The way the novel ended was especially intriguing. It has been a long time since I read it so I can't speak at length about it, but I remember it as suspenseful and exciting.

[zencat]

No sure I can put my finger right on it, but YOLT is also one of my favorite Fleming novels. It's a real Heart of Darkness journey for James Bond.

[Loomis]

Originally posted by ChandlerBing

There is a good movie to be made out of this book.  

Absolutely. The novel is a lot more "filmable" than one might suppose - a steady buildup of suspense and mystery, against a backdrop of travel and Japanese exotica, then a detour into romance with Kissy three-quarters or so of the way through, and then BAM!: the violent confrontation at the castle of death. Terrific. Ah, if only they'd made ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE first (with either Connery or Lazenby, but with Peter Hunt directing), and then adapted YOLT with Hunt continuing the adult style and fidelty to Fleming.

I'm glad you all love this book, too.

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by ChandlerBing
There is a good movie to be made out of this book.

Yes, absolutely. I know they couldn't find a castle to match the one in the book but there was still a lot of great stuff in this book that would have made a good movie.

[Loomis]

Originally posted by DLibrasnow

there was still a lot of great stuff in this book that would have made a good movie.  

Yes, but I suppose it's no surprise that the filmmakers didn't want to show Bond visiting brothels, eating Kobe beef or going cormorant fishing. I'm not saying it wouldn't have worked onscreen (in the hands of people sympathetic to the material it would have done), merely that for obvious reasons that sort of thing wasn't Eon's "bag".

While we're on the subject, I find it amusing that the Henderson of the novel is a rough, foul-mouthed, hard-drinking and macho working class Aussie, while the Henderson of the film is an effeminate, exquisitely mannered upper class Englishman of seemingly delicate sensibilities who may well "bat for the other team". I wonder if the change was someone's idea of a little joke (Roald Dahl's, perhaps)?

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by Loomis


Yes, but I suppose it's no surprise that the filmmakers didn't want to show Bond visiting brothels, eating Kobe beef or going cormorant fishing. I'm not saying it wouldn't have worked onscreen (in the hands of people sympathetic to the material it would have done), merely that for obvious reasons that sort of thing wasn't Eon's "bag".

While we're on the subject, I find it amusing that the Henderson of the novel is a rough, foul-mouthed, hard-drinking and macho working class Aussie, while the Henderson of the film is an effeminate, exquisitely mannered upper class Englishman of seemingly delicate sensibilities who may well "bat for the other team". I wonder if the change was someone's idea of a little joke (Roald Dahl's, perhaps)?

Given Dahl's other work I am not surprised that the movie YOLT went further into the realm of fantasy than the novel...I always thought he was a very unusual choice to have pen a 007 script.

[Triton]

I don't think that it's very surprising that the producers, or Dahl himself, jettisoned the "garden of death" story line and tried to cash in on the "space madness" of the 1960s. At the time, the space programs of the United States and USSR were cutting edge and exciting to most people and the press. Today it seems like it's only interesting to a few space enthuisiasts because of the poor press coverage that are given to the latest launches. We only seem to hear that there is a NASA in the United States if there is a loss of a space craft or a space craft and crew.

[Loomis]

Originally posted by DLibrasnow

Given Dahl's other work I am not surprised that the movie YOLT went further into the realm of fantasy than the novel...I always thought he was a very unusual choice to have pen a 007 script.

Me too, but only because he'd never written a feature film screenplay before. A little like asking J.K. Rowling to script a STAR WARS film, I suppose. OTOH, Dahl really shared Fleming's feel for and love of "the bizarre". He'd have been a natural choice as a continuation novelist for the Bonds after Fleming's death. I'm sure he would have come up with twisted villains, eccentric characters, ingenious schemes, secuctive women, snobbery, sadism, globetrotting and so on.... and he'd definitely have written stunning final twists. But I venture to suggest that a Dahl Bond novel would most likely have been more lighthearted and tongue-in-cheek than anything by Fleming.

As far as I know, Dahl only wrote one novel for adults: "My Uncle Oswald". In many ways the protagonist, a snobbish English playboy and seducer who has various audacious exploits in various parts of the world, is reminiscent of Bond. Gives an idea of what a Dahl-penned Bond novel might have been like.

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by Triton
I don't think that it's very surprising that the producers, or Dahl himself, jettisoned the "garden of death" story line and tried to cash in on the "space madness" of the 1960s. At the time, the space programs of the United States and USSR were cutting edge and exciting to most people and the press. Today it seems like it's only interesting to a few space enthuisiasts because of the poor press coverage that are given to the latest launches. We only seem to hear that there is a NASA in the United States if there is a loss of a space craft or a space craft and crew.

Thats very true, the US and USSR were in a race to make it to the moon at that point.

[Loomis]

Originally posted by Loomis

While we're on the subject, I find it amusing that the Henderson of the novel is a rough, foul-mouthed, hard-drinking and macho working class Aussie, while the Henderson of the film is an effeminate, exquisitely mannered upper class Englishman of seemingly delicate sensibilities who may well "bat for the other team". I wonder if the change was someone's idea of a little joke (Roald Dahl's, perhaps)?  

I've thought of another interesting alteration: in the book, James Bond "dies" at the end; in the film, he "dies" at the beginning.

Originally posted by Loomis

I don't think that it's very surprising that the producers, or Dahl himself, jettisoned the "garden of death" story line and tried to cash in on the "space madness" of the 1960s. At the time, the space programs of the United States and USSR were cutting edge and exciting to most people and the press. Today it seems like it's only interesting to a few space enthuisiasts because of the poor press coverage that are given to the latest launches. We only seem to hear that there is a NASA in the United States if there is a loss of a space craft or a space craft and crew.

I've always loved the film of "You Only Live Twice", even though it makes so many changes to my favourite Fleming book (well, I'd seen YOLT several times before I got around to reading the novel). The humour is sophisticated and doesn't run riot (if only the same were true of DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER), the casting is terrific, the score is arguably Barry's best, and the film is beautifully shot. Great exotic locations and travelogue feel, and escapist hokum at its best.

For me, YOLT is one of the best Bond films, and it's one that I feel is strangely underrated by critics and fans alike.

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by Loomis

I've always loved the film of "You Only Live Twice", even though it makes so many changes to my favourite Fleming book (well, I'd seen YOLT several times before I got around to reading the novel). The humour is sophisticated and doesn't run riot (if only the same were true of DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER), the casting is terrific, the score is arguably Barry's best, and the film is beautifully shot. Great exotic locations and travelogue feel, and escapist hokum at its best.

For me, YOLT is one of the best Bond films, and it's one that I feel is strangely underrated by critics and fans alike.

When I was younger YOLT was probably one of my favorite James Bond movies for many of the same reasons you cited Loomis.

[Jaelle]

Originally posted by Loomis
I find Bond's loss of Kissy Suzuki far more heartbreaking than his loss of Tracy. Tracy comes to Bond as a patient to be cured, whereas Kissy comes to him as a complete person, motivated more by love than need. It is this love that allows her to let Bond go without question, even after she learns she is pregnant with his child. Of course, it is tragic that Bond becomes a father without knowing it, but perhaps an even greater tragedy is the glimpse of the sort of man he could have been and the kind of life he might have led.

This above all explains why I love this novel. Unlike most here, I have not read all of Fleming. But among the novels that I have read, this is the one that I devoured in record time and read AGAIN immediately after the first time. I keep coming back to it. At the time it was a revelation. I had only known the Bond *films* and my then boyfriend kept urging me to pick up the Fleming stories. I had been so used to the cinematic Bond that this glimpse of him in such a distinctly different role, not so sure of himself, a beautifully painted view of the man James Bond might've become in different circumstances was a shock. It had me all chocked up and weepy (ok, I'm a cryer). After reading this novel, I had such an overwhelming desire to see this Bond on screen (TV or film) -- I have always found it so sad that the rigid restrictions of the Bond cinematic formula won't allow it.

[Loomis]

Originally posted by Jaelle

I keep coming back to it.  At the time it was a revelation. ... I had been so used to the cinematic Bond that this glimpse of him in such a distinctly different role, not so sure of himself, a beautifully painted view of the man James Bond might've become in different circumstances was a shock.  It had me all chocked up and weepy (ok, I'm a cryer).  

Same here, Jaelle, 100%. "You Only Live Twice" chokes me up as well - I find its ending far sadder than that of its predecessor, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".

I guess the reason why YOLT packs such an emotional punch, apart from 007's doomed relationship with Kissy and his becoming a father without being aware of it, is that Bond is a much more sympathetic character throughout the novel than he seems to be in any other Fleming book. At the beginning, grieving over Tracy, he is like a bird with a broken wing. In Japan, he displays little of the snobbery, prejudices or coldness of old - in short, he seems much more human, introspective and three-dimensional than before. He even contemplates trying to stop a man committing suicide at the garden of death.

It really is an extraordinarily moving - and extraordinary - book. It may be all smoke and mirrors, but there's the sense of profundity.... I've read all the Flemings, but I wouldn't consider myself a tremendous admirer of the man and his writing in general. Some of his Bond novels I find merely okay, and others just plain tedious. But, boy, does he hit the spot for me with YOLT!

Have you read "Colonel Sun", Jaelle? If not, I recommend you try and get hold of a copy. I've a strong feeling you'd like it a lot.

[Loomis]

I also feel that Fleming brings location to life much more vividly in "You Only Live Twice" than in any of his other novels, almost to the point that the nominal backdrop, Japan, becomes the star. Anyone agree?

[Jaelle]

Originally posted by Loomis
I guess the reason why YOLT packs such an emotional punch, apart from 007's doomed relationship with Kissy and his becoming a father without being aware of it, is that Bond is a much more sympathetic character throughout the novel than he seems to be in any other Fleming book. At the beginning, grieving over Tracy, he is like a bird with a broken wing.

I have always loved this Fleming description. Tears away all the stereotypes people have about him. And yes, it was this novel that made me sit up and think of Bond as a complex man, much more interesting than the guy I'd read in other Fleming stories.

Have you read "Colonel Sun", Jaelle? If not, I recommend you try and get hold of a copy. I've a strong feeling you'd like it a lot. [/B]

Yeah, everyone tells me that. I just ordered it.

[Loomis]

Originally posted by Jaelle

Yeah, everyone tells me that.  I just ordered it.    

Cool. You're in for a treat. Another beautifully-written novel with a much more complex Bond than usual, as well as plenty of local colour and edge-of-seat suspense. It would have been a wonderful choice for a third Dalton outing.

[Jaelle]

Originally posted by Loomis
It would have been a wonderful choice for a third Dalton outing.

That's what I've been told by my friend who lives down the street. He's the Bond fan (a busy traveling journalist) whose Bond dvds I borrow all the time. He's terribly tolerant of me (I also begged to see that 1987 issue of Playboy with Maryam D'abo that he guards religiously). He told me that novel would've been perfect for Dalton. Plus there's the terrific French artist (forget the name) whose website has some fantastic poster artwork with some of the Bond actors and his (or her) ideas for potential films for them based on Fleming titles. There's a Colonel Sun poster on that site with Dalton, it got my interest immediately. So yeah, I look forward to reading it.

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by Loomis
I also feel that Fleming brings location to life much more vividly in "You Only Live Twice" than in any of his other novels, almost to the point that the nominal backdrop, Japan, becomes the star. Anyone agree?

Yes, I remember upon reading YOLT that I really wanted to go and visit Japan.

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by Loomis


Cool. You're in for a treat. Another beautifully-written novel with a much more complex Bond than usual, as well as plenty of local colour and edge-of-seat suspense. It would have been a wonderful choice for a third Dalton outing.

I read an article in the British magazine "TV Times" in the early 1990s that "Colonel Sun" would be the next James Bond movie with Timothy Dalton playing the part of James Bond 007.

[Jaelle]

Originally posted by DLibrasnow
I read an article in the British magazine "TV Times" in the early 1990s that "Colonel Sun" would be the next James Bond movie with Timothy Dalton playing the part of James Bond 007.

Really??? Wow, that's a new one on me!

[Loomis]

Originally posted by DLibrasnow

I read an article in the British magazine "TV Times" in the early 1990s that "Colonel Sun" would be the next James Bond movie with Timothy Dalton playing the part of James Bond 007.  

Wow. That's news to me, too.

I wonder whether it would have turned out something like this:

On another thread, Your Bond Sequels (http://forums.comman...&threadid=10732), I tried to imagine what COLONEL SUN might have been like if it had been released in 1991, starring Dalton:

COLONEL SUN (1991)
Directed by John Frankenheimer.

Produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. Written by Michael G. Wilson and Bruce Fierstein. Director of Photography: Jost Vacano. Music by Basil Poledouris. Production Designer: Peter Lamont. Editor: Stuart Baird.

Starring:
Timothy Dalton as James Bond
Anne Parillaud as Ariadne Alexandrou
John Lone as Colonel Sun Liangtan
Joan Chen as Jenny Li
J

[Jaelle]

Originally posted by Loomis
Wow. That's news to me, too.
I wonder whether it would have turned out something like this:
On another thread, Your Bond Sequels (http://forums.comman...&threadid=10732), I tried to imagine what COLONEL SUN might have been like if it had been released in 1991, starring Dalton:
[b]COLONEL SUN (1991)
Directed by John Frankenheimer.
Produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. Written by Michael G. Wilson and Bruce Fierstein. Director of Photography: Jost Vacano. Music by Basil Poledouris. Production Designer: Peter Lamont. Editor: Stuart Baird.

[

[snip rest of Loomis' glorious post]

Ooooooooooh, *shiver*, just thinking of this makes me crazy!! Brilliant, Loomie!! And thanks for the link to that thread. I haven't read the whole thing yet but I picked up immediately on Tarl's post:

<>

Ahhh, Timmy in Brazil!!

I also loved that Moore idea from Terminus re Silvermoon. Great stuff!!

[Loomis]

Originally posted by Jaelle

I picked up immediately on Tarl's post:

<>

Yes, Tarl's thought of a very interesting idea: what if, at the end of LICENCE TO KILL, M hadn't welcomed Bond back into the British secret service? What would Bond have done? Stayed where he was and landed some kind of mercenary work with which to support himself - precisely the kind of work he'd presented himself to Sanchez for? Would he have stayed with Pam for a while? What would ultimately happen to her? And I like the idea of Pushkin being a regular ally during the Dalton era - what would his role be in bringing about Bond's eventual reconciliation with M and the recovery of his Double-O status?

Grrr.... all of a sudden I'm feeling very sad and angry that we never got a third Dalton film.:mad:

[Jaelle]

BTW, Loomis, I loved your idea of Jurgen Prochnow. Fantastic choice. Dalton worked with him on Lie Down with Lions ("Red Eagle" in the UK).

Your inclusion of Marcello Mastroianni is interesting. That would be a reunion him and Dalton, tho I don't know if it would be a good one. Tim did a film in Italy in the 70s called Le Voyeur (he plays the third figure in a triangle and winds up raping the beautiful Italian actress Virna Lisi), and he's been quoted many times saying how much he hated the experience. I don't have the exact quote but he called the Italians "pompous" because they "want to put their souls on screen."

[Jaelle]

Originally posted by Loomis
Yes, Tarl's thought of a very interesting idea: what if, at the end of LICENCE TO KILL, M hadn't welcomed Bond back into the British secret service? What would Bond have done? Stayed where he was and landed some kind of mercenary work with which to support himself - precisely the kind of work he'd presented himself to Sanchez for? Would he have stayed with Pam for a while? What would ultimately happen to her? And I like the idea of Pushkin being a regular ally during the Dalton era - what would his role be in bringing about Bond's eventual reconciliation with M and the recovery of his Double-O status?  
Grrr.... all of a sudden I'm feeling very sad and angry that we never got a third Dalton film.:mad:

I have an article from Starlog interviewing John Rhys Davies around 1989. He's quoted as saying that he was approached by EON to appear briefly in LTK, and that he was very interested in continuing his role from TLD. But he thought that what he was offered to do in LTK was just too meaningless and paltry, and just wasn't interested. He was very busy at the time, he didn't feel it was worth taking the time away from other meatier projects he was being offered.

I have always wanted to do a bit of fanfiction sequel to LTK, I even wrote an outline (no, he's not automatically welcomed back into the fold as was suggested at the end of the film). I've written some fanfic in the past (including a Remington Steele story back in college, pairing Steele with Tim's Bondian character Damian Roth from an episode of Charlie's Angels he did -- his character was actually referred to as "James Bondian" by Charlie in that episode) but I've never tackled Bond. Bond intimidates me. But a sequel to LTK has always tempted me.

[Loomis]

Originally posted by Jaelle

BTW, Loomis, I loved your idea of Jurgen Prochnow.  Fantastic choice.  Dalton worked with him on Lie Down with Lions ("Red Eagle" in the UK).

Your inclusion of Marcello Mastroianni is interesting.  That would be a reunion him and Dalton, tho I don't know if it would be a good one.  

I didn't know that Dalton had worked with either Prochnow or Mastroianni. Not sure why I thought of Mastroianni, who's not even Greek, for Litsas - just came to me like a bolt from the blue.

Originally posted by Jaelle

Tim did a film in Italy in the 70s called Le Voyeur (he plays the third figure in a triangle and winds up raping the beautiful Italian actress Virna Lisi), and he's been quoted many times saying how much he hated the experience.  I don't have the exact quote but he called the Italians "pompous" because they "want to put their souls on screen."  

Hmmm.... now, I find that interesting because, for some strange reason, I can picture Dalton really liking Italy. Maybe he does - maybe it's just certain Italian actors/directors he doesn't care for.

Originally posted by Jaelle

I have an article from Starlog interviewing John Rhys Davies around 1989. He's quoted as saying that he was approached by EON to appear briefly in LTK, and that he was very interested in continuing his role from TLD. But he thought that what he was offered to do in LTK was just too meaningless and paltry, and just wasn't interested.  

Thanks, Jaelle. I never knew that Rhys-Davies was asked to appear in LICENCE TO KILL. (Where would they have fitted him in, I wonder? Would he have been a guest at Leiter's wedding? Or were they planning on squeezing him into Isthmus City somehow?) But I'm not surprised - the people who make the Bond films seem to enjoy bringing Bond's allies back when they can (look at Jack Wade and Valentin Zukovsky, for instance).

[Loomis]

Originally posted by DLibrasnow

Yes, I remember upon reading YOLT that I really wanted to go and visit Japan.  

Me too. In fact, both the book and the film really had an enormous influence on me when I was a small boy (even though I didn't read the novel properly until I was in my teens). YOLT was one of the things that got me interested in Japan/East Asia, so I guess I've got Fleming partly to thank for some of the directions I ended up taking.

Presumably Fleming was in Japan for only a short time? In that case, his achievement in bringing that country and its culture to such vivid and accurate life is all the more remarkable. I'm curious to know where he went in Japan and what he got up to. Anyone know if his Japan visit is described in any biographies or articles?

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by Jaelle


Really???  Wow, that's a new one on me!

Yes, I was taken aback reading that at the time...