10 replies to this topic

[JAWS]

Not in any real order:
-The first time I read the 3 or 4 chapter baccarat game with Le Chiffre, I was so involved that my folks almost left the resturaunt we were eating at without me and I didn't even notice. Quite absorbing is that bit.

-The card game with Drax was also quite absorbing. That's the difference between books and films. Certain things are better on screen and others are far better in books.

-The KGB scene in FRWL

-The scorpian crawling up Bond leg chapter in Dr. No. I ended up thinking about it every time I went to bed for about a week!

-Dr. No's crazy obstacle course! You gotta love it!

-The ski chase in OHMSS! Man, you can almost FEEL the snow and the air rushing past you!

-YOLT's suicide garden death scenes. Haunting, aren't they?

-The first three chapters of TMWTGG. Odd choice, I soppose, but I really like them. Especially the part about M being pissed off and saying "If the KGB is going to send our best man against me, I'm going to send him right back at them!" (that's close. I don't have the book next to me)

[Mister Asterix]

Just of the top of my head in the order I think of them:
[unorder][#]'He disagreed with something that ate him.'
[#]The climax of The Living Daylights
[#]Most of the ones JAWS listed above.
[#]The golf game in Goldfinger
[#]The end of From Russia, With Love (Oh my god, was that fantastic and surprising!)
[#]Red Grant's history[/unorder]
And too many more to list now

[JAWS]

[quote]scaramanga (08 Feb, 2002 02:06 p.m.):
[quote]JAWS (05 Feb, 2002 08:05 a.m.):

It was a centipede and not a scorpion (I don't think you find scorpions in Jamaica - I could be wrong). Just thought that I'd point that out.


You're absolutly right! It WAS a centipede. I didn't realize it had been that many years since I had read it!

I had to re-read the chapter and it's just as good as ever! 80

[RossMan]

For me, the single greatest Fleming moment is when Bond battles Blofeld in the Castle of Death and finally gets his revenge. That was great, Bond's hands around Blofeld's throat, saying "Die, BLofeld, die!" I wish we'd see something like that in the movies, Bond killing a man with his bare hands.

[JAWS]

True, White Persian. The later writers just could not hild my attention quite like Fleming could. The only instance I can think of when one did was in Benson's Zero Minus Ten, when Bond plays Mah Jong (If I remember correctly) with the villain.

-Also I forgot to mention that I love Fleming's underwater scenes!

[Bon-san]

-Bond's swim out to Bloody Morgan's Cave in LALD was very eerie, creepy and cool.
-Bond walking around Manhattan in DAF was oddly otherworldly. I liked it.
-Tatiana Romanova's background in FRWL was classic literature, as was the entire 1st half of that book.
-The setting, mood and narrative of the title story from FYEO was first rate Fleming.
-Ditto for Risico, also from FYEO.
-Everything about OHMSS.
There've already been bunches of great moments mentioned in this thread so far. Bravo!

[scaramanga]

JAWS (05 Feb, 2002 08:05 a.m.):
-The scorpian crawling up Bond leg chapter in Dr. No. I ended up thinking about it every time I went to bed for about a week!

It was a centipede and not a scorpion (I don't think you find scorpions in Jamaica - I could be wrong). Just thought that I'd point that out.

Anyway, I have so many favourite moments from Fleming's books, far too many to post here. Instead, I'll comment the moments from his books which really shook me up:
Casino Royale - the carpet beater torture. My balls ached just reading it. It was so vivid.

Doctor No - The centipede scene is so beautifully described, so chilling that when I read it my hairs stood on end.

Thunderball - The eerie scene where Bond is investigating the sunken Vindicator plane and stumbles across the dead crew members and all those octopusses, with their little red-eyes. Creepy.

The Man With The Golden Gun - The scene in which Mary Goodnight is tied to the train tracks and run over by the train. My heart sank until it is revealed to be a trick with a mannequin. This also fools Bond into breaking his cover.

[rafterman]

my absolute favorite is where Bond kills Blofeld, fitting, intense, just bloody awesome...

[Jay]

I agree with each and every one of these but you guys have left out one of the more defining Fleming moments for Bond, the one where we see how he can be cold hearted and how the job always comes first. That moment, ta da, is the ending of Casino Royale (the best Fleming monent) "Yes, that's right I said was! THE BITCH IS DEAD!" Wow, that is so awesome especially considering a few minutes prior he was going to propose marriage to Vesper!

[White Persian]

Jaws's list demonstrates one of Ian Fleming's great strengths as a writer. Whether its a game of Baccarat or a ski chase, Fleming has the ability to put the reader inside Bond's skin, so that we experience what Bond's going through.

Neither Gardner nor Benson seem able to do this, which is why I always come away feeling disappointed, no matter how clever the plot or spectacular the action.

[RossMan]

Bond's torture and shooting of Le Chiffre.

Bond, tied to Solitare being dragged behind Mr. Big's boat in Live and Let Die.

From Russia With Love, there's a whole lot here; SMERSH planning, Bond's confrontation with Grant, final chapter.

Doctor No's maze in Dr. No.

Thunderball-final battle

You Only Live Twice-castle of death, Bond's fight with Blofeld.

TMWTGG-brainwashed Bond trying to assinate M.