25 replies to this topic

[Xenobia]

Having never read the novels, and having no desire to buy three or four books just to figure this out, I have one question:

Is James' aunt Charmain dead? If she is dead, when did she die? If she is still alive when, if ever, does James see her?

I know in AVTAK, Bond tells Zorin that he was left a horse farm by his aunt, but that was just a cover, right?

If anyone can help me out, I would appreciate it.

Thanks!

-- Xenobia

[Xenobia]

Jim (27 Feb, 2002 01:24 p.m.):
...alternatively, it's such an antiquated idea that it just wouldn't work very well.

Fleming wrote a letter to CBS once, and I'm paraphrasing here; if I can find the quote I'll put it up, because it's not a very pleasant one, but it's along the lines of his books being written for an "A" readership, and his surprise that they were read by "Bs" and Cs" because they couldn't possibly understand what was going on, oh no.

Hence housekeepers, bridge and Bentleys. A little more exclusive than Martinis, girls and guns, to paraphrase the blessed Sheryl.

Bit of a whacked out old snob, was Ian.

Oh really now Jim...is that how Mr. Fleming played it. Well, if I was CBS I would have told Mr. Fleming the following:

James Bond just became an A/B conversation -- C your way out of it!

-- Xen

[Jim]

Ian Fleming to CBS, 1957

"In hard covers my books are written for and appeal principally to an "A" readership, but the have all been reprinted in paperbacks, both in England and America and it appears that the "B" and "C" classes find them equally readable, although one might have thought that the sophistication of the background and detail would be outside their experience and in part incomprehensible"

Charming fella.

However, sets the mind racing. Fleming was arguably more interested in the style over adventure. Gardner and Benson; superficially more "Exciting" plots, but the style...nah. It would appear that the whole point of Fleming is to portray his social milieu. For JG and RB, it's to tell an adventure, to greater or lesser success. This is why (some of) Gardner and Benson's books are jolly adventures. But are they James Bond, on the Fleming model?

Probably not.

[Roebuck]

That surprises me. Flemings books seem to play very much on the lack of sophistication of his post war readership.

Can you imagine a modern author trying to convince you his hero was a man of the world because he ate Avocados?
Thats only going to work on an audience that have only recently rediscovered bananas!

[Xenobia]

I think it is OK that Gardner and Benson dropped the Fleming model.

Let's try to remember here that Fleming's Bond was (and some folks might want to sit down before reading on) an alcoholic, drug addict, racist. Not the kind of guy I would want to sleep with, let alone read about!

It's a good thing things have changed.

[Mister Asterix]

Back to the original question. In On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Bond tells Griffon Or that he has no relatives or children. This could mean Miss Charmain Bond is truly dead by this point, or of course, Bond may have just said that to get the twit to shut up.

[RossMan]

Xenobia (28 Feb, 2002 10:21 p.m.):
I think it is OK that Gardner and Benson dropped the Fleming model.

Let's try to remember here that Fleming's Bond was (and some folks might want to sit down before reading on) an alcoholic, drug addict, racist.  Not the kind of guy I would want to sleep with, let alone read about!

It's a good thing things have changed.

A drug addict? That one's news to me. I also wouldn't say that he's racist, not very PC but not racist.

I quite prefer the politcally incorrect, hard smoker/drinker, mean and cruel Bond of the books (thankfully Benson captures him perfectly, more successfully than Gardner's slightly older Bond) as oppose to the perfect, invulnerable, unstoppable superhero the movies have made him.

Maybe why DN, FRWL, LTK, and TLD are amongst are my fav. Bond films.

Sorry to stray off topic here.

[Xenobia]

I am sorry to break it to you Rossman, but yes, the Bond of the novels was a drug addict and was a racist, or at least that is the impression I got from "The Bedside Companion" by Benson. (Written before Benson started doing the novels)

Evidently for a while there Bond needed lots of Benezine (sp?) to get through his days and nights.

He was also a racist -- see the novel version of "Goldfinger" for how Bond refers to Oddjob for more details.

-- Xen

[RossMan]

Yep, Benezrdine, I think there's two or three books making a reference to it. Bond actually takes some before going to Blofeld's castle in YOLT. You're right about that one, I'd overlooked the benezdrine. (when you mentioned drug addict I had an image of Bond snorting a pouch of crack or somethin')

As for Bond being an alcoholic, in FRWL, it even states that Bond enjoys drinking but not to exess.

Bond has directed a few racial slurs to the villains sometimes (people he has a strong disliking for, usually while under pressure or angered). I even think he said somethings to Doctor No or Colonel Sun. But also in Dr. No and Live and Let Die, Bond befriends Quarrel, with no ill-feelings at all about his race or ethnicity.(he's amused at Quarral's superstititous beleifs at times but that's about it.)

Anyhow, it's probably not very necessary to get into a big arguement here over Bond's personal habits.

[Blue Eyes]

RossMan (01 Mar, 2002 03:17 a.m.):
I even think he said somethings to Doctor No or Colonel Sun.

I don't think he said anything to Colonel Sun along the lines of racism. All in all he was fairly 'nice' to him (it was more two-faced, and nice doesn't include stabbing him a few times).

Actually in Colonel Sun it's M who's the most racist. He continually calls Sun 'yellow' etc...

[Mister Asterix]

From Goldfinger Chapter 16:
Those terms  included putting Oddjob and any other Korean firmly in his place, which, in Bond's estimation, was rather lower than apes in the mammalian hierarchy.

Sorry, Rossman, but the man was a racist. And at the time this was politically correct. Bond's attitudes reflected the time in which he lived. This is not to say that Gardner and Benson are doing the character injustice by not having Bond still maintaining these bigoted views. I, for one, have no problem with the character's opinions growing over fifty years--just as the rest of the world did.

[scaramanga]

On the subject of racism and drugs, in Moonraker Bond mixes benzedrine and champagne as a confidence booster for his epic bridge game against Drax and when Drax reveals his true identity, Bond teases him by calling him a Kraut.
On the subject of alcoholism, Bond puts away a fair bit of drink one night at the gambling tables in Casino Royale.
On the subject of smoking, Bond smokes around sixty a day, but after his experience at Shrublands during Thunderball he reduces to about twenty to twenty-five a day.
On the subject of sex, Bond contemplates visiting a brothel whilst in Berlin during The Living Daylights.

Let's just say that James Bond is a man of many vices.

[General Koskov]

Calling a bloke, who's tied you to a chair in a room across from a rocket that will--in twelve hours--destroy your home city and the capitol of the empire for which you work and who is about to torture you with a blowtorch, a Kraut is hardly racist considering the above!

As for the Korean thing, it wasn't very nice. I always read that Oddjob was lower than an ape in the mammilian heirarchy, try it sometime, .

And remember that back in the '50s, drugs like Benzedrine were somewhat socially acceptable and perscribed by doctors for calming nerves or what have you.

Bond only drank half a bottle of spirts a day (I'm paraphrasing from Amis in 'The James Bond Dossier' here) which is a good quantity, but not too much that you'd be a chronic alcoholic.

As for the actual point of this string: yes, Aunt Charmain is dead (if she's the one mentioned in YOLT's obit.). From old age just after Bond joined the Navy.

'In the Navy, yes you can sail the Seven Seas!
'In the Navy, yes you can put you mind at ease!....

[RossMan]

I'm with the good General.

[Xenobia]

OK....color me confused! :-(

According to the "Unauthorized Biography" by John Pearson, Aunt Charmain is alive after Bond enters the Navy. Bond makes a point of telling Pearson that one of the few times he ever played tour guide was when he was with his aunt in Monte Carlo, and he was already 007 at that point.

This is just getting weird. Forget Bond having nine lives -- I think his aunt stole a couple from him!

-- Xen

[General Koskov]

Well when I read 'The Unauthorised Biography of James Bond' that Un tells me something about the reputation of the author.

Is Pearson the one who said Bond grew up (for a some time) in Cairo, or someplace like that and his mother cheated on her husband and hated James? And Bond had a bother? ???

I think having his parents dead when he's 11 is bad enough without making the Bond family dysfunctional!

[Xenobia]

I think the "un" in Unauthorized was meant to add a sort of seriousness to the book -- that Pearson was supposed to write it to cheer Bond up, and then Bond went back into active duty and all bets were off. But Pearson still wanted to write it, hence why it is unauthorized.

That being said, I wasn't too thrilled with the idea of having the Bond family dysfunctional, and I was particularly peeved at the way poor Monique Bond was portrayed in that book. What really steamed me was that her behavior was used to somehow explain why Bond was a womanizer....as if there weren't enough reasons!

I think I am now going to make a public plea to Raymond Benson: Mr. Benson, if you would please be as so kind as to answer the question that got this topic started: Do you believe Aunt Charmain to be dead? Do you count her as dead in the novels, or will she someday show up in one of your novels? (PS: The bedside companion is awesome, and you really should update it, even if it means having someone else discuss your novels, if you feel that bad about it.)

-- Xen

[Blofeld's Cat]

Mister Asterix (01 Mar, 2002 02:55 p.m.):

From Goldfinger Chapter 16:
Those terms  included putting Oddjob and any other Korean firmly in his place, which, in Bond's estimation, was rather lower than apes in the mammalian hierarchy.

Sorry, Rossman, but the man was a racist. And at the time this was politically correct. Bond's attitudes reflected the time in which he lived. This is not to say that Gardner and Benson are doing the character injustice by not having Bond still maintaining these bigoted views. I, for one, have no problem with the character's opinions growing over fifty years--just as the rest of the world did.

I posted this link before in these forums but I felt it pertinent to this post.

Ian Fleming's "Goldfinger" and anti-Korean racism is a forum thread about the review of a book titled "Korea's Place In The Sun: A Modern History.

Just thought it would be interesting.

[Felix]

Whether or not his aunt is still alive has never been referenced that I can recall. She was first mentioned in the obituary in YOLT and is given a lot of background in Pearson's biography of Bond, but I don't recall if she was ever even mentioned in the Gardner books.

[Roebuck]

I seem to recall an aged relative dying in Role of Honour and leaving Bond the cash to buy a new Bentley. That may have been his aunt but I cant be certain.

Anyhow - since Benson ignores a lot of the Gardner cannon she may not be dead in his books.

[RossMan]

Roebuck (26 Feb, 2002 08:24 p.m.):
I seem to recall an aged relative dying in Role of Honour and leaving Bond the cash to buy a new Bentley. That may have been his aunt but I cant be certain.

It was an Uncle, Bruce I think, that died and had Bond in his will. No mention of any aunt in his or Benson's books though.

[Xenobia]

Thank you for clearing that up. OK, one more question....May the housekeeper is still alive, correct?

Why hasn't May made it into the movies yet?

-- Xen

[JReber007]

Mister Asterix (28 Feb, 2002 10:50 p.m.):
Back to the original question. In On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Bond tells Griffon Or that he has no relatives or children. This could mean Miss Charmain Bond is truly dead by this point, or of course, Bond may have just said that to get the twit to shut up.

Hmm, this should help ot a bit. (This is back on topic too...it's taken some time, eh?) In Role of Honour it is Bond's Uncle Bruce that has died and left him money. His Aunt Charmain is left unharmed - but is mentioned in Zero Minus Ten. I was reading it the other day and I swore I say an aunt comment. I'll have to go back and take a look, but if I read what Bond said correctly she is still quite alive.

[scaramanga]

Xenobia (27 Feb, 2002 02:53 a.m.):
Thank you for clearing that up.  OK, one more question....May the housekeeper is still alive, correct?

Why hasn't May made it into the movies yet?

-- Xen

Yes, May, Bond's housekeeper is still alive. The reason that she hasn't made an appearance in the films is a mystery. The most logical reason would be that we never see Bond at his apartment (apart from Dr No and LALD), so it seems that there is no point in casting someone to play his housekeeper.

[Xenobia]

So at least through Gardner she is alive.

Thank you for that.

-- Xenobia

[Jim]

...alternatively, it's such an antiquated idea that it just wouldn't work very well.

Fleming wrote a letter to CBS once, and I'm paraphrasing here; if I can find the quote I'll put it up, because it's not a very pleasant one, but it's along the lines of his books being written for an "A" readership, and his surprise that they were read by "Bs" and Cs" because they couldn't possibly understand what was going on, oh no.

Hence housekeepers, bridge and Bentleys. A little more exclusive than Martinis, girls and guns, to paraphrase the blessed Sheryl.

Bit of a whacked out old snob, was Ian.