10 replies to this topic

[supernova]

Its been a while since I read the book 'Casino Royale' so perhaps someone could help answer whether or not we are told in the book how Bond got a scarred face? Also how old is James Bond in the book? Is it in anyway relevant that Craig doesn't have a scar in the movie Casino Royale?

[JCRendle]

He already had the face scar I believe, and I don't remember it giving his age, though I think it hints at it in Moonraker.

[Loomis]

Funny how Fleming was consistently very specific about two things: Bond's comma of hair and his scar, yet neither has ever been seen on any of the actors!

Not that it matters, though.

Presumably Higson will explain the scar (I don't believe Fleming ever did), or has he done so already?

[sharpshooter]

When I first read SilverFin I presumed the scar was made by Hellebore's horse whip. Not sure if it was though.

[Double-0-7]

I also assumed the horse whip across the face caused the scar that Fleming consistently mentions in every book.

I collected an impressive scar myself in my youth. There was no horse whip, but 400+ horsepower was involved!

[TheSaint]

Pearson explained how Bond got the scar in his Bond biography. Should I spill?

[dinovelvet]

Funny how Fleming was consistently very specific about two things: Bond's comma of hair and his scar, yet neither has ever been seen on any of the actors!

Not that it matters, though.

Presumably Higson will explain the scar (I don't believe Fleming ever did), or has he done so already?

The only one to offer an origin of the scar was John Pearson in his Authorized Biography - Bond gets the scar

Spoiler

in his late teens in a car crash

[Turn]

Speaking of scars, my brother was surprised they didn't repeat the novel's incident of carving an identifying mark on Bond's hand after LeChiffre is offed in the film version. It wasn't the same case, but it could have led to one of my favorite lines from a novel.

Sadly, I can't remember which one, but one of his female companions asks Bond about it he turns cold and says "It's where somebody tried to be clever a very long time ago," which could have made a great line in a future film. I can hear that line in Craig's voice.

[JCRendle]

There's still his arm where the tracer was cut out...

[Single-O-Seven]

The horse whip in Higson's novel couldn't have done it. In FRWL, Fleming has Bond recalling his teen years, when he was mountaineering in the Alps, and mentions that if that teenage Bond saw the adult Bond with his scarred-face and all, he probably wouldn't recognise his future self. So Bond obviously got the scar in his late teens or onward, which fits in with Pearon's explanation. Higson may eventually come up with something of his own though, as Pearon's timeline and history have been largely ignored anyway.

[Blonde Bond]

Sadly, I can't remember which one, but one of his female companions asks Bond about it he turns cold and says "It's where somebody tried to be clever a very long time ago," which could have made a great line in a future film. I can hear that line in Craig's voice.

It was Ann Reilly aka Q'ute, in John Gardner's first James Bond novel.
Just read that part of the book few days ago.

Edited by Blonde Bond, 14 February 2007 - 10:52 AM.