23 replies to this topic

[Mr Trump]

I have only actually read one James Bond book by Ian Fleming which was casino royale and although I prefer Brosnans movies but when reading the book I always pictured connery in my head.
So who do you picture in your head when reading one of flemings books.

[General Koskov]

Yes, those are the next two, respectively. And they're faster than CR. Not that CR is slow or anything, but Bond moves around a lot in Live and Let Die, and Moonraker is...well, it's pretty much nonstop--unless you are ignorant of bridge, like I. But Fleming has a knack for making the unknown and rather boring come alive to people who don't know what he's saying.

[Hardyboy]

When I first started reading Bond novels, waaaay back in the early 1980s, I initially saw Sean Connery (it didn't help that I decided to read the books in the order they were filmed instead of the order they were published). Later on, though, as I became more of a Bond geek--err, expert--and learned more about the man who wrote the books, I started to see the face of Bond as Ian Fleming's.

[007luvchild]

Pierce Brosnan I picture more in the Benson's Novels, however, when reading a Fleming's novel I picture Sean Connery.

[MicroGlobe One]

To be honest, I can't bring myself to picture any one of the actors who have portrayed James Bond on the silver screen while reading an Ian Fleming novel. The Bond of the Fleming books is a construct all his own... somewhat less glamorous than what we've seen in the films. He's simply... something different.

In fact, the only time I really catch myself picturing an actor while reading a Bond novel is when reading one of Raymond Benson's books. I immediately associate Pierce Brosnan with Raymond Benson's Bond, and perhaps that says a great deal about his writing.

When it comes to Fleming, though, there is a literary 007 distinctly separate from what I've seen on the screen.

[Mouse]

If I am perfectly honest, I do not see Bond's face. I hear his voice and it is Timothy Dalton's voice. I always try when starting to read the books, I always try to picture an actor but afterwards, as the book takes its course I cannot make out Bond's face.

[Jim]

First Bond book I read was Nobody Lives Forever, started the day after seeing and greatly enjoying The Living Daylights at the cinema. Only natural then that the mind's eye Bond was, and remains, Sean Connery.

Just can't see any of the other runners.

[MLW]

I see Dalton, always. Whether you liked him in the films or not he had the LOOK. He just looks EXACTLY how I always pictured Bond.

[Double-Oh-Zero]

Well, I usually picture Brosnan when reading the novels, Fleming or otherwise. Except that a scar is more prominent. Sometimes connery will come into my head, but that's pretty rare.

[General Koskov]

When I think of the lines Fleming writes for Bond--Sean Connery has the voice for it.

[General Koskov]

I once tried to read--I think it was Moonraker--envisioning Sean Connery, Bernard Lee, et al in their respective roles...didn't go to far. I think I heard Lee or Moore narrating.

Now you all think I'm nuts...

[ohmss007]

If you look at the comic strip artwork done in the 1950's (when Fleming was still alive), done by John McKlusky and Yuslav Horak, the looks of the Bond character are an exact description to Fleming's. I picture those when reading Fleming.... check them out at www.artof jamesbond.com

[RITZ]

When reading Fleming, I ALWAYS see Connery. When reading Gardner AND Benson I only see Brosnan. Strange eh?

[Hardyboy]

I can easily understand how people can see Brosnan as Bond in Benson's books, since they really have a lot in common with the films. There's the female M (I believe EON and Glidrose dictated this, since the old M retires in the last Gardner book and "Barbara Mawdsley" takes over); the banter between Bond and Moneypenny, which wasn't in the Fleming books; and Benson's Major Boothroyd is clearly just Desmond Llewelyn's Q, right down to the "Pay attention, 007" dialogue. Heck, the first couple of Benson novels even have opening chapters that climax on a big stunt like the precredits sequences in recent movies.

[General Koskov]

Well, fist of all, let me say: keep on reading them! Fleming's an excellent writer (better than that Shakespear bloke) and even films like From Russia With Love or On Her Majesty

[Mr Trump]

I am going to carry on reading them but I not quite sure of the order they come in. I have live and let die and moonraker which I believe is the next two. But I still haven't got round to reading them.

[Bondpurist]

Two words. Timothy Dalton.

[Carver]

I only own three books (TB,ZMT,TND) and I only plan to get a few more, LALD, and some Gardener ones. I don't have that much money, so forgive me for not buying ALL the books. With Fleming, I imagine the man, Sir Sean Connery, and with Benson, I imagine Brosnan (I read ZMT first, I've only just started reading TND). I expect that with Gardener, I'll imagine Moore or Connery and NOT Dalton, when I think of Bond in general, its Connery or Brozzy, not Dalton.

[PaulZ108]

For Fleming, it's either a seperate person that I've thought up based on descriptions or Connery, depending on the scene.

For Benson, it's always Brosnan for some reason.

[Dmitri Mishkin]

I envision a separate man who has elements of Dalton -- voice, style of hair, shape of face, for instance. But the man is different from Dalton and is even more different from any of the screen actors. Dalton, in this regard, is the actor I feel is best cast as Ian Fleming's character.

But the man I envision is someone who is, in fact, much more ordinary in appearance and demeanour. He is a normal, typical English gentleman with a calm, determined countenance but a mostly average appearance, neatly groomed, elegant and refined, but lacking the 'polish' and lavish portrayal of the screen actors (e.g. Pierce Brosnan). In short, when I read Fleming, I see an ordinary man, intelligent, loyal, but really just another citizen caught in some extreme circumstances, and forced to make sense of them in order to save his life.

[mccartney007]

I don't visualize any of the Bond actors when I read the books (Although there are sometimes where I think something is particularly Brosnan-ish or Connery-esque or Lazenby-ish, etc). I've got my own mental picture of the literary James Bond and for the most part it's not one of the actors who've portrayed the character on screen.

[zencat]

Originally posted by mccartney007
I don't visualize any of the Bond actors when I read the books....I've got my own mental picture of the literary James Bond and for the most part it's not one of the actors who've portrayed the character on screen.

Ditto.

[boeserzwilling]

Originally posted by ohmss007
If you look at the comic strip artwork done in the 1950's (when Fleming was still alive), done by John McKlusky and Yuslav Horak, the looks of the Bond character are an exact description to Fleming's. I picture those when reading Fleming.... check them out at www.artof jamesbond.com

Yeah. That's what I see, too. And Bernard Lee or Judi Dench are "M" in my mind. They just fit perfectly for the role.

[Kronsteen]

In Ian Flemings books I think of Sean Connery or none. I don