35 replies to this topic

[Tybre]

Why am I making this thread? Bored, I guess. Curious is more like. Anyways, why did you? Was it because of the films? Did you just happen upon them and decide they were interesting? Did the novels come first for you and then the films? I could rack off theories all day, but you get the gist, and I suppose the title itself asks the only question that really merits asking. As for me, well, I'll either edit or post to this later, when I've done some things I need to attend to.

[jrcjohnny99]

I had seen Moonraker at the theatre and the Goldfinger on ITV Christmas Day 1979;
I'd gotten some book vouchers for Christmas so a few days later I went out and got Goldfinger and the film tie in of Moonraker...over the next year or so I ended up buying most of the books from used book stores (couldnt afford to buy em new), thankfully there were plenty of the 60s Pan editions floating around; and ended up reading all the books to get my fix as I couldn wait for the movies to be on TV and this was pre VCR....I cant remember what order I originally read them in but I do remember all the covers of the first versions I read.
That first Golfinger I bought, was one of the last 70s British issues with the scantily dressed gals and the huge guns...how they corrupted a 10 year old mind....

[Bucky]

I started reading the novels because of the films. My first was Casino Royale which I had read while Brosnan was James Bond and I slowly worked my way through the Fleming novels finally finishing a few months ago after picking up the pace. Reading the novels has made me more of a fan of the movies i think, although it has probably caused me to not like some films even more for not being very similar to the books.

[Mr. Blofeld]

Same reason as Bucky; I bought a couple of them (Casino Royale, From Russia with Love, On Her Majesty's Secret Service), along with Devil May Care, before going on a Canadian vacation with my family last summer. As it's to be expected, I couldn't get enough of them.

[Tybre]

As for myself,

Around August of last year, maybe early September, I got it in my head that it might be fun to write a novel about an American counter-intelligence agent. Well I kept putting the idea off, because I'd never written anything involving espionage before and frankly I wasn't much looking forward to sifting through Borders looking for what I thought would be suitable examples. Then some time in January, early-to-mid if I recall correctly, it dawned on me that James Bond was more than just a film character. I'd enjoyed the 007 films when I got the chance to see them on TV or, in the case of QoS, in the theatre, so I told myself I would read the Bond books to give myself an idea. Here I am six months later, addicted to James Bond and looking for an agent to publish my first book

[Mark_Hazard]

Why did I start reading 007? Because they were there - well, three of them were.

As a kid I read anything I could get my hands on, and one day decided to try my dads books. Couldn't get into Sherlock Holmes but James Bond had an effect on this 9 year old lad. Read my dads three books (CR, FRWL & DN) and was hooked, I then went about borrowing the rest from the local library, this was about 1962. Didn't notice DN & FRWL at the cinema but as a 12 year old noticed the hype for Goldfinger and got my dad to take me and a friend to see it.

[Brian Flagg]

Although I had read the first three Gardner novels at age ten (around 1981-82), I didn't get started on the Fleming until after TND was released. I wanted to see for myself how the original novels compared to the films. Prior to that, I hadn't even thought about Bond since 1985. When I started high school, I drifted away from 007 and all of the great things I loved as a child; incredibly stupid, and I still have pangs of regret. That said, my teenage years were horrible...

Reading the Fleming books helped me get back into Bond, as well as the fun stuff of my youth, but also to enjoy the literary 007 through an adult perspective. Anyway, I think that not reading the Fleming until my late twenties turned out to be a good thing, because I would not have appreciated their brilliance had I read them previously.

[Qwerty]

I had always seen a few copies of the Signet paperbacks lying around at an aunt's house when I was much, much younger. I believe they were Casino Royale, Goldfinger and The Man With The Golden Gun.

Having seen some of the films at this point, I remember flipping through Goldfinger and wondering why the book seemed somewhat different than the film. Looking though Casino Royale, I had no idea what was going on.

Intrigued, I eventually ended up buying a used copy of You Only Live Twice at a nearby bookstore and that became my first Bond book (not the best one to begin with!). Nonetheless, I was hooked. Everything else pretty much followed after that.

[Bryce (003)]

My babysitter read FRWL to me when I was five. She then gave me a worn copy of LALD and I began reading it. Once I found a used bookstore, I picked up the others along the way.

I'd take it to school to read during reading time after lunch recess. My teacher got a kick out of seeing a seven year old reading Fleming and comprehending it.

I was a voracious reader as a child and continue to be. I was always a solid B+ student in elementary school, but I got one of my first A+ grades for reading because of Bond.

36 years later, the rest is history and the legend continues.

The "legend" part of that applies to both Bond and myself.

[Double-Oh Agent]

I'd always liked the Bond films but didn't become a true "fan" until I was about 15. Anyway, my sister, knowing how much I liked mystery novels and James Bond got me the latest John Gardner novel No Deals, Mr. Bond for my 16th birthday. The rest as they say is history. I, of course, enjoyed the book and began collecting the remaining Bond novels (Fleming, Amis, Pearson, Wood, and Gardner) right away. Needless to say, I haven't stopped.

[DAN LIGHTER]

Me?.....Where do I start?

I got Casino Royale and liked it so read them all. That was in 2007 around the same time I joined this fine Establishment.

[OmarB]

Bond for me was something I shared with my father. He's a huge fan and had all the Fleming books as well as Amis and at the time Gardner. I read anything and everything (hell, still do) so I started reading them when I was about 10 or 11 and have reread the whole series every couple of years since.

[jaguar007]

I grew up watching the films. at 13 years old in 1981 when Gardner's License Renewed came out, it was the first Bond book I bought. I decided I should read the Fleming novels, I started with Casino Royale and to this day, it is still my favorite.

[Byron]

Why did I start reading 007? Because they were there - well, three of them were.

As a kid I read anything I could get my hands on, and one day decided to try my dads books. Couldn't get into Sherlock Holmes but James Bond had an effect on this 9 year old lad. Read my dads three books (CR, FRWL & DN) and was hooked, I then went about borrowing the rest from the local library, this was about 1962. Didn't notice DN & FRWL at the cinema but as a 12 year old noticed the hype for Goldfinger and got my dad to take me and a friend to see it.

Mark, did your dad have the first editions back then? What happened to his books?

Great stories everyone! I've taken the day off work and think i may go and watch Dr No.

Reading the Fleming books helped me get back into Bond, as well as the fun stuff of my youth, but also to enjoy the literary 007 through an adult perspective. Anyway, I think that not reading the Fleming until my late twenties turned out to be a good thing, because I would not have appreciated their brilliance had I read them previously.

Similar story with me Brian. A lot would have gone over our heads, had we read them when young.

[Professor Dent]

I grew up watching the movies & started with the Fleming novels back in the mid-80's as a way to fill the gap in between movie releases. Not sure on the first one I read - it was either On Her Majesty's Secret Service or Moonraker. I read all the Benson novels as they were released. Recently, I've slowly started adding the Fleming novels to my Amazon Kindle so I'll be re-reading them for the first time in years. Gonna go in order this time around, though.

[havok_007]

My dad used to read me the Hardy Boys and James Bond novels as a child, although I didn't understand them fully, I enjoyed them.
Then I got into the movies and games after watching all the documentary's I decided to start reading them again and only recently read Casino Royale, Dr. No and Thunderball again.
They are my three 1st editions

Edited by havok_007, 07 July 2009 - 12:12 AM.

[MattofSteel]

Got hooked on the brand with GoldenEye for the Nintendo 64. The movies logically started to follow, and finally I just felt that I needed to read the books, if only to expand my knowledge further. Plus, they're just fun reads!

Rereading YOLT at the moment. Not much happens, but it's a damned colorful book.

[sharpshooter]

Rereading YOLT at the moment. Not much happens, but it's a damned colorful book.

Sure is. It's the most atmospheric, haunting and symbolic Bond book of the lot. A fine piece of literature indeed.

[David_M]

My babysitter read FRWL to me when I was five.

Why does that sound like testimony from a deposition?

I can't imagine reading Fleming to a five-year-old, but I'm glad it worked out for you.

I started with a Signet paperback of Dr No back in 1977 (still one of my faves). Then I moved on to library copies of the other books, and second-hand Signets when I found them at flea markets, etc. Soon I was so hooked I bought a new copy of "Goldfinger" in German despite not being able to read a word of it. (Well maybe two words...Goldfinger and Bond).

But you asked why, didn't you? Easily it was the films that got me into the books. Not only would I never have found them without the films to spark my interest, I often had a devil of a time finding them in stores even when I looked!

Edited by David_M, 07 July 2009 - 02:04 PM.

[Brian Flagg]

My babysitter read FRWL to me when I was five.

That's better than my babysitter did for me, which was regale me for hours on end with her--this will give you an idea of the year--Bay City Rollers photos, posters, magazines, and records.

[Tybre]

My babysitter read FRWL to me when I was five.

Somehow I'm more concerned by this than happy for you

[Mark_Hazard]

Why did I start reading 007? Because they were there - well, three of them were.

As a kid I read anything I could get my hands on, and one day decided to try my dads books. Couldn't get into Sherlock Holmes but James Bond had an effect on this 9 year old lad. Read my dads three books (CR, FRWL & DN) and was hooked, I then went about borrowing the rest from the local library, this was about 1962. Didn't notice DN & FRWL at the cinema but as a 12 year old noticed the hype for Goldfinger and got my dad to take me and a friend to see it.

Mark, did your dad have the first editions back then? What happened to his books?

Casino Royale and FRWL were both first edition Pan paperbacks, can't remember which edition Dr No was, although I still have FRWL & DN. Unfortunately I was a kid when I acquired them, when I bought a later CR I decided to put the jacket of (my 1st edition) CR into a scrap book (I blame it on my youth), I later disposed of it when thinning same scrap books out to make room for film related cuttings. Something I've learnt to regret - and never managed to replace, although I do have the same cover on a 2nd edition.

[Judo chop]

Was it because of the films?

Yes. I definitely felt a sense of obligation to read Fleming after having enjoyed so much of his cinematic spawn. Not that I didn't enjoy myself once I got started.

[Ambler]

I was sheltering from the rain in a second hand bookshop when a cover caught my eye. It featured a card shoe, wicker carpetbeater and a set of false teeth ...

[jwheels]

Started after watching a VHS tape of Goldfinger with my dad. I like it and wanted to see some more. So we went to see TND at the theater. after that I wanted to read some of the books. My dad had some copies of TMWTGG and TB in an old box. after I read them, I was hooked. Every chance we got, my dad and I would stop at every used book store, and every thrift shop we could find, hunting down all the books.

[Kangch]

I really started to read the novels with Casino Royale, although I've bought some other, FRWL, OHMSS and TMWTGG, before. It was the new translation that released with the movie in 2006, and I've bought the book with the dvd for my father's birthday (in fact, the two was for me, but there was still the "plaisir d'offrir" ).

[Harry Potter]

REad Casino Royale after mate had said it was nothing like the film.

loved the old cover on the books

[DAN LIGHTER]

Good luck with your new film Harry.

[Peckinpah1976]

Having loved the films since I was a small child the books were just a natural progression for me when I reached my early teens. Though I grew up on the Roger Moore films, reading Fleming not only changed me into a Connery fan overnight but also made me re-assess OHMSS (which my Dad had always told me was rubbish) and the then recently released LTK (which I only really "got" once I'd read LALD).

I also acquired a taste for tobacco and casual snobbery from them too - I've still got the bruises I received from my Mum when I told her that her scrambled eggs were and no I wouldn't be drinking tea anymore as "it was the reason for the fall of the British Empire.........."

Edited by Peckinpah1976, 09 July 2009 - 12:55 AM.

[Professor Pi]

In an effort to get me to read, and knowing I had been a fan of the movies since TSWLM, mom bought me License Renewed in 1982, I think. Gardner's Bond occasionally reminisces about the Fleming missions and women, so in the summer of 1984, I read a Fleming Omnibus starting with FRWL. Then read the rest pretty much in order. That fall, my junior year English teacher commented on my improved vocabulary and asked me what I had read over the summer! Finished OHMSS and YOLT in November, then proceeded on to Colonel Sun. Although, I do remember reading TMWTGG in the fourth grade because that was the one movie I hadn't seen yet. Read all the subsequent Gardner & Benson novels and novelisations as they were released. I remember sharing Icebreaker with my dad. Re-read CR the week before the 2006 release, and the QoS short story two years later. Have Young Bond and Sebastian Faulks book, but haven't picked 'em up yet. I plan to re-read Fleming in order. It definitely made me a fan of Timothy Dalton.