36 replies to this topic

[spynovelfan]

I got in touch with the guy who writes the blog Permission To Kill a few months ago, because I saw among some old spy thriller covers he had posted he included the English-language cover of the rare unofficial Bond novel that Glidrose tried to suppress, Avakoum Zahov Versus 07. The English translation of this book is extremely rare, and seems to be available mainly in Australia and New Zealand, for rather a lot of money. He hadn't actually read the book, but promised to. Well, now he has, and he's posted a very interesting review of it here.

[HildebrandRarity]

Seems it was cheaply written for the few behind the iron curtain who had any inkling of the Eon (as opposed to the Fleming) Bond phenomenon occuring in the outside world during the later 1960s.

I wouldnt pay a thing to own it which likely reflects my perceived value of the manuscript. If there are no copies out there it means that there was little interest in it.

[spynovelfan]

I find it very interesting, and partly for the reasons you give HildebrandRarity! I wouldn't be expecting a great thriller, but I'd still love to read it. I'm fascinated by other views of Bond, and Soviet bloc views in particular. Perhaps it's just me.

Anyway, I think this chap - David Foster is his name - deserves some credit for a bit of a scoop. Okay, it's not a huge scoop, but I don't think there's any other review of the English version of this book anywhere, and he's gone into a lot of detail (though I'd have loved more!). Okay, it's a footnote about an unofficial book of dubious quality, but it's quite a cool one, and is the sort of thing I like reading articles about.

Just my take.

[HildebrandRarity]

Yes. The chap's review is a fun read given that said product's been a footnote in Bond literature circles for years. I suppose it would be more than a curiosity for someone such as your kind self...but for a mere literary peasant as myself (i've yet to finish Benson's 'Red Tattoo which has been collecting dust for, what, 5~ish years in my library now) it's not something that get's my juices flowing.

[spynovelfan]

Why are you a literary peasant? Surely not! And I've not even read that novel of Benson's yet.

I don't know why it interests me - but James Bond being killed off in Antarctica in an opportunistic Bulgarian spy thriller from the 60s just... does. It's a shame the novel doesn't sound much cop, but as a historical artfefact it is interesting to... um... me, anyway.

[HildebrandRarity]

Perhaps Guildrose should purchase the rights from the author's family (if he's deceased), polish it up via a proper English language writer, keep the "07" instead of having direct references to James Bond or "007" and publish a limited addition for the completist crowd.

[spynovelfan]

I very much doubt IFP would be interested in that (especially as the Bond character dies!). A new translation of the book would be an option for anyone who could put up the funds for it, I suspect - but I doubt they'd recoup.

So yes, it's a curio - but it would be interesting to explore some more of its background and context. In his 1985 biography of one-time C Sir Maurice Oldfield, Richard Deacon (Donald McCormick) claimed that Gulyashki's book was a KGB propaganda operation. I suspect this was an invention out of whole cloth on McCormick's part, as several of his other claims seem to be, but it's nevertheless an intriguing and plausible possibility (which is why he used it, I suppose!) and he may have hit on the truth accidentally. That would make for a curious parallel with John Pearson's fun and games in his Bond 'biography' regarding the 'real reasons' for Ian Fleming creating 007.

At any rate, I think there's a very interesting thesis waiting to be written on the Soviet and Iron Curtain reaction to Bond - I don't have the languages for it, unfortunately!

[doublenoughtspy]

Thanks for the link, SNF.

I actually "broke" the news about the existence of the story to the Bond fan community back in 1992, in the debut issue of my fan magazine, Spies: The Secret Agent's Magazine.

In issue 2 (Oct 92) I even reprinted a 67 interview with Gulyashki, complete with a picture of him.

Not satisfied with that mind you, I went to the Library of Congress and copied the many parts of the serialization of the story (it first appeared in Komsomolskaya Pravda).

When I helped the IFP archive Fleming's papers I asked Peter Janson-Smith about it - he did recall the battle and said they were quite concerned - especially because there hadn't been a continuation novel printed yet.

[zencat]

Thanks, Spy. I never knew there was an English edition of this book. Now I need to get it.

[HildebrandRarity]

How many US$s are you willing to pay for this footnote/curio, zencat?

[spynovelfan]

Thanks for the link, SNF.

I actually "broke" the news about the existence of the story to the Bond fan community back in 1992, in the debut issue of my fan magazine, Spies: The Secret Agent's Magazine.

In issue 2 (Oct 92) I even reprinted a 67 interview with Gulyashki, complete with a picture of him.

Not satisfied with that mind you, I went to the Library of Congress and copied the many parts of the serialization of the story (it first appeared in Komsomolskaya Pravda).

When I helped the IFP archive Fleming's papers I asked Peter Janson-Smith about it - he did recall the battle and said they were quite concerned - especially because there hadn't been a continuation novel printed yet.

Cool scoop there, Doublenoughtspy! You've been around this game much longer than I. I must try to get hold of some back issues of that magazine of yours - sounds like you had a few gems. I'd love to read that interview with Gulyashki. Do you have a bibliography somewhere of your issues, along the lines of the ones done by Zencat for OO7 and BONDAGE? Would it not be suitable to have a CBN article on the history of your magazine? (I'm a bit shocked fans weren't aware of Gulyashki's book until '92, incidentally - Duff Hart-Davis discussed it in some detail in his 1974 biography of Peter Fleming, which I think is a must for anyone interested in Ian Fleming and James Bond. According to Hart-Davis, it was the threat of Cassell publishing Gulyashki's book in English that led to Glidrose considering the launch of an official continuation.)

This is the first review of the English translation of this book I've seen anywhere - I like that it ties up a few loose ends.

[Mr Twilight]

Damn it. Just as you think you have anything this drops in your lap...Me want...now...sniff sniff...where can i find one copy!

[d_j_foster]

Thanks for the kind words SNF (and others). I wouldn't really call it a 'scoop' as the book has been out for 40 years.

If you're after a copy, I suggest you simply search the net regularly. A couple of months ago, a online store in Adelaide had a copy for $20 (Aust). It's gone now.

The copy I picked up cost less than a glass of beer at your local pub (I won't say how much or you'll hate me). Most second hand book shops don't know what 'the book' is, so it isn't marked up.

The hard bit is finding a copy. If I find any other copies, I'll let you all know.

Once again, thanks for the interest.

Cheers
David

[Mark_Hazard]

Don't know if I still have the news cutting (scrap-books boxed up) but I remember reading about this book in the 60s and that it was supposed to be (as spynovelfan mentioned) a KGB authorised novel. I searched for that book for well over 20 years before chancing on it, going for a song - well almost - couldn't tell you much about it now, I read it when I bought it and then consigned it to my bookshelf.

Although HildebrandRarity suggests that as "there are no copies out there it means that there was little interest in it." I think that it was more likely that Glidrose suppressed its publication with probable threats of legal action that restricted availability. My copy (paperback published by Scripts Pty Ltd and the same cover as on the link) was printed in Australia although there is mention of a London address (but none given), remember an Australian publisher brought out Peter Wright's Spy Catcher when no one else would touch it. I think HR is probably correct in assuming that Gulyashki is no longer with us, being born in 1914 the odds aren't in his favour.

[zencat]

How many US$s are you willing to pay for this footnote/curio, zencat?

Oh, probably not enough. I'd like to have one. But I don't NEED to have one. Maybe I'll get lucky.

[spynovelfan]

Nice to see you here, David! The book has indeed been out for 40 years - you're nevertheless the first I'm aware of to have read the whole thing in English and to offer such a full review (unless dsn did it in his magazine!), which I enjoyed. However clunky it may be and however many cheap shots it might take at Fleming's character, I thought the plot sounded rather good. I suppose I'm intrigued by how the other side saw Bond - so was Fleming, of course, and in FRWL we got that, with Bond's dossier describing him as a terrorist and so on.

Don't know if I still have the news cutting (scrap-books boxed up) but I remember reading about this book in the 60s and that it was supposed to be (as spynovelfan mentioned) a KGB authorised novel...

'Mark', I think it was only published in Australia. Cassell did publish at least one other Gulyashki novel, though. And yes, it was covered pretty extensively in the press at the time. It seems Gulyashhki announced that he would write the book in an interview in the Moscow Literary Gazette in October 1965. In late January 1966, Gulyashki visited London to get a sense of where Bond lived (and publicise the book, I suppose). That trip was mentioned in an article in the New York Times on January 27 and in TIME magazine's issue of February 4 1966:

'I say, mused M. Who would that baggy Bulgarian be, prowling up Bond Street, slipping into pubs all over town and quietly haunting the men's clubs? A job for 007? Quite. Sofia Author Andrei Gulyashki, 51, celebrated behind the Iron Curtain as Communism's answer to Ian Fleming, was in London to do a little spying on "James Bond's town" and gather background for his new counterespionage epic, Avvakum Zakhov Meets James Bond. Chunky Gulyashki made it no secret that Communist Superagent Zakhov, armed mainly with "strict logic and a superior mind," will try to defeat the capitalist lout in a "struggle to create a society of free and dignified people."'

The book was also translated into (at least), Swedish, Finnish and Hungarian:



Zahov was not the only Iron Curtain equivalent of Bond, of course - Poland had Captain Kloss and the USSR had Semyonov's Stirlitz. I've read the Stirlitz novel SEVENTEEN MOMENTS OF SPRING in English, and would highly recommend it. Less good (and not featuring Stirlitz) is Semyonov's later spy novel TASS IS AUTHORISED TO ANNOUNCE. But it does feature the following speech by a Soviet secret agent:

'"You know, if I was a director, I would make a film. Or not so much make as finish one off. Take From Russia With Love - all I would add is just one more shot! I would put it in just after Bond carried off the coding girl in triumph to London. Just a single line on the screen: "Operation Implant successful. Over to you, Katya Ivanova..."'

I think that would have been a stunning twist to the film.

[d_j_foster]

Those cover foreign covers are fantastic. I once found on the net a review of the Italian version (I can't find the link any more). Now I may be wrong, but I think the reviewer there, said that the villain was changed from 07, to the rather uninspired Mister X.

The plot is okay, but it is rather thin. The book is only 194 pages long. I know Casino Royale is not much longer, but it has so much more atmosphere. Zahov fails to create a 'universe' that the characters live in. But this may just be the translation.

Earlier in the thread, someone suggested that the book be re-translated and re-released. I like the idea, but then, in effect, you've created a new book. And as this book would only really appeal to the Bond completists, well then you'd probably have to read both!

Dumb question (probably too difficult to answer here): But what happens to book rights? Obviously Scripts Publishing is gone. Gulyashki is no longer with us. What happens to the publishing rights? Who owns them? Would they be expensive? And after struggling through, what I'd see as that legal nightmare, would it be the type of thing, that could be set up as a 'print on demand' type novel through Amazon's 'Book Surge' or Random House's 'Xlibris'....okay, I have floated off with the pixies a bit there...but who knows, maybe one of the readers out there has an idea!

Cheers
D.

[spynovelfan]

Yes, I've also read about the Italian version somewhere.

Regarding your other questions, I suppose you would have to get in touch with Gulyashki's estate (perhaps they're called Gulyrose, or something? ) and negotiate the rights. Might be tricky if you don't speak or read Bulgarian, though. Would it really be another book? It would simplybe a new translation of a Bulgarian book. There are several translations of foreign thrillers around, done at different times, just as there are of Fleming's books in other languages. Some are better than others. If it was a better translation, I don't see it would be less interesting, only more so. I suppose a real completist might want the 60s Australian version, but as that isn't a real first edition in that it's a translation, it's a pretty moot point, I think.

I'm surprised there haven't been more '07'-style books like this one, incidentally. I can't really see how you could stop them - there's surely no copyright on the idea of a handsome and ruthless British secret agent?

[Mr Twilight]

The book was also translated into (at least), Swedish, Finnish and Hungarian:

Can't believe what i see! But you're right - that seems to be a swedish edition (to the left). Now I really have to be looking for one! Thanks!!!

Edited by Mr Twilight, 27 February 2008 - 08:42 PM.

[Mr Twilight]

You were absolutely right! It didn't take long to find out. There is two books out with Avvakum Zachov in Swedish: Avvakum Zachov m

[doublenoughtspy]

The other book was published in English - it's called the Zakhov Mission - and it does not have 07 or any other pseudo Bond in it.

[spynovelfan]

Mr Twilight, I found that image here: http://www.sunkit.co...are/index.shtml

ISBN details here: http://bookinfo.se/9...drei_gulyashki/

(I now live in Sweden, so if I see one I'll send it your way - I picked up a Swedish copy of Jenkins' A TWIST OF SAND for free the other day! )

EDIT - Think I'll start a new thread!

[Mr Twilight]

Thanks SNF. That would be great About Jenkins' I have picked up all swedish translations except River of diamonds. I think there are only five of them translated....not 100% sure.

[Mr Twilight]

I must say I'm a lucky bastard. Found Avvakum Zachov m

[bpetta1]

This is my first post, and I don't know how easy this would be as it seems most of you haven't read the English translation yet, but wouldn't it be a great fan-fiction story to re-write the plot of Avakoum Zahov versus 07 from Bond's point of view? That seems like it would be a pretty hot topic and get a lot of people interested in reading.

[bpetta1]

Just to be sure, though I'm fairly positive this isn't a possibility, does anyone know of any site on the internet to download Avakoum Zahov Versus 07 in English... hell, or even in French?

I downloaded it in Russian and then used translation software to translate it into English and this is what I got:

Nine months ago, when 07 recently [vozvra][tilsya] from the Philippines, the chief of division

[Mark_Hazard]

Just to be sure, though I'm fairly positive this isn't a possibility, does anyone know of any site on the internet to download Avakoum Zahov Versus 07 in English... hell, or even in French?

I downloaded it in Russian and then used translation software to translate it into English and this is what I got:

Nine months ago, when 07 recently [vozvra][tilsya] from the Philippines, the chief of division "A" of the secret service invited it into its club on Saint-James- Street [poobe]to give. In the bar they saw whisky, they had dinner in the large hall almost silently, if we do not consider two-three words, by which they exchanged between the hot and the dessert relatively the mare Of [surabayya], that engaged on the yesterday's contests prize place. Then, after rising to the second floor, they they secluded in one of the small drawing rooms. Here TsA[ril] shade, in the fireplace weakly crackled burning by gentle flame logs. They sat before the fireplace into the deep armchairs of Carl's times VII, which also shaft in this club and, possibly, even sat in these very armchairs with the velvety fringe. Waiter gave by coffee and liqueur immediately disappeared.

- Quite muddy, indeed.

For those that don't have a copy of the book in English:

"London, July, 196-

That day nine months ago when 07 had just returned from the Philippines, the Chief of Department A. had asked him to lunch at his St. James' Street club. After lunch, during which nothing of importance was said, they went up to the second floor and into one of the smaller rooms which was half-lit by a small fire burning in the grate. Opposite the fireplace they sat in a pair of deep velvet armchairs that dated from the time of Charles the Seventh. The waiter brought in some port and coffee and disappeared. It was November, a strong gale was blowing in from the Thames and the rain came down hard and unrelenting."

Muddy? Just makes me wonder what was missed in the original translation into English, there's no mention of whiskey or logs in the fire in my copy.

[ACE]

Yes, I remember first hearing about this in

[SAWfinger]

Thank you, ACE. Yes, you are correct. This news was not 'broke' to the fan community in 1992, but during the 1980s e.g. in March, 1989, in issue no.6 of the JB Collector's Club News. Here's a quote from the actual article: "I once picked up an unusual 1967 Australian paperback called 'Avakoum Zahov versus 07', by Andre Grulyashki. This author was one of Bulgaria's top literary writers and he was given the job of writing an Eastern Bloc 'answer' to Bond, where the hero - Zahov of Dept 'B' - defeats the West's top agent 07. The story is the Russians were very worried about the popularity of Bond in the West and wanted to create an alternative Communist hero. The English language version was published in the West via Australia".

And, as you say, there was already some awareness of the Avakoum Zahov creation because of the Peter Fleming autobiography.

Interestingly, there is also some evidence that the Russian Intelligence Services took the gadgets in the Fleming Bond books and EON films very seriously, and devoted some resources to trying to create their own real versions!

By the way, there is also a fascinating story that the Bond producers were asked to show 'The Man With the Golden Gun' to an audience of KGB officers in the Kremlin, who were not best pleased when Scaramanga (trained by the KGB) was shot. When the lights went up, one officer broke the ice by joking 'Then we did not train him very well then!'. Wonder how much truth there is to this episode?

[spynovelfan]

Welcome, SAWfinger.

I don't think we should get too carried away by a passing comment. Anybody who read the newspapers in 1966 could have known about this, of course - and could even have bought the book when it came out and read it! But I guess it was always an obscure footnote in the Bond world, and over time was all but forgotten. Still, at least one person in the online community knew about it in 1986: http://groups.google...a84efaf4b1ca0e2 Someone should email that guy! Here's his website: http://www.kypris.co...ut.html#Contact

By the way, there is also a fascinating story that the Bond producers were asked to show 'The Man With the Golden Gun' to an audience of KGB officers in the Kremlin, who were not best pleased when Scaramanga (trained by the KGB) was shot. When the lights went up, one officer broke the ice by joking 'Then we did not train him very well then!'. Wonder how much truth there is to this episode?

It's an amusing story, but very implausible, I think. By that time, I suspect they would have known what to expect from a James Bond film, and if they weren't best pleased at a KGB-trained assassin being shot, what did they make of, for instance, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE? That they watched it and someone made that comment seems plausible, though.

A warm welcome to CBN.