138 replies to this topic

[Single-O-Seven]

Finished Dr. No a few days ago. Absoloutely amazing. I thought From Russia With Love was great, but Dr. No has got to be the best one so far in my opinion. Fleming writes about Jamaica in such detail that it's just an absoloute pleasure to read. I loved the assault course, too. Wouldn't mind seeing that properly adapted for a future movie.

Dr. No was the first Fleming I read at the tender age of nine back in the late 60's. I remember my Mum was horrified when I bought home this tatty paperback copy (it was the film tie-in) which a friends father gave me. I can't pretend then I could understand everything but it was an amazing experience. By my mid teens I had read them all but Dr. No still remains my favourite book. There is such sense of nostalgia attached to it for me.

Doctor No is definitely in the top tier of Fleming's books for me, too. I was in my early teens when I began to read the Fleming books (and I started the films at the same time). I'm generally a slow reader but I recall how DN (and LALD) seemed to fly by! I think I may have reread DN the most times out of all of them as well. It's so evocative and the action scenes and characters are wild. There's nothing to dislike, IMO.

[Miles Miservy]

I first read Live and Let Die before it was a film! I am so envious of you. I read the books so many years ago and have read them many times since but that first read is so exciting. You have some great times ahead.

I don't think anyone in this PC world today would have the grapes to write LALD in the context that Fleming wrote it. Even within the social climate of the early 70's when the film was made, it didn't quite capture the mood Ian Fleming envisioned.

[Orion]

Finished Dr. No a few days ago. Absoloutely amazing. I thought From Russia With Love was great, but Dr. No has got to be the best one so far in my opinion. Fleming writes about Jamaica in such detail that it's just an absoloute pleasure to read. I loved the assault course, too. Wouldn't mind seeing that properly adapted for a future movie.

Dr. No was the first Fleming I read at the tender age of nine back in the late 60's. I remember my Mum was horrified when I bought home this tatty paperback copy (it was the film tie-in) which a friends father gave me. I can't pretend then I could understand everything but it was an amazing experience. By my mid teens I had read them all but Dr. No still remains my favourite book. There is such sense of nostalgia attached to it for me.

Doctor No is definitely in the top tier of Fleming's books for me, too. I was in my early teens when I began to read the Fleming books (and I started the films at the same time). I'm generally a slow reader but I recall how DN (and LALD) seemed to fly by! I think I may have reread DN the most times out of all of them as well. It's so evocative and the action scenes and characters are wild. There's nothing to dislike, IMO.

I always preferred FRWL and Goldfinger, there's a depth to both Bond and the respective villains in those books that I think is somewhat unmatched in the other books. Saying that, Dr No is probably the one where my enjoyment of it has increased on repeat reads.

[DamnCoffee]

I'm up to the golf game in Goldfinger, so I don't really know what happens in the rest of it. But, why did the film versions of Dr. No and Goldfinger decide to include Felix?

[MarkA]

I'm up to the golf game in Goldfinger, so I don't really know what happens in the rest of it. But, why did the film versions of Dr. No and Goldfinger decide to include Felix?

I won't spoil it for you but it will come apparent why Felix appears in the GOLDFINGER film version. As for Dr. No, I think being the first film they wanted to establish a group of regular characters so Felix was written in. Littile did they know he would never be continously played by the same person for years, so the public never latched on to him.

[David Schofield]

I'm up to the golf game in Goldfinger, so I don't really know what happens in the rest of it. But, why did the film versions of Dr. No and Goldfinger decide to include Felix?

I won't spoil it for you but it will come apparent why Felix appears in the GOLDFINGER film version. As for Dr. No, I think being the first film they wanted to establish a group of regular characters so Felix was written in. Littile did they know he would never be continously played by the same person for years, so the public never latched on to him.

I suspect Leiter appearing in DN might have been a sop to the US Box Office; a new, very British hero needs a little help in being maketed Stateside, and its a bit of a comfort, I'd suggest, the Americans seeing Leiter as their version of Bond - young, handsome, fashionable, etc.

Obviously, the Leiter-as-Bond's-equal would never play out successfully in the films. Just as, largely due to Leiter's incompetence, it hadn't in the novels.

[Mr. Blofeld]

Also, I'm imagining Connery felt a bit threatened by Lord's effortless cool, and when Lord demanded above-the-title billing on Goldfinger, the producers found a way to assuage Connery's unease -- they simply didn't rehire Lord.

[David Schofield]

Also, I'm imagining Connery felt a bit threatened by Lord's effortless cool, and when Lord demanded above-the-title billing on Goldfinger, the producers found a way to assuage Connery's unease -- they simply didn't rehire Lord.

Riiiiiiiight....

[Safari Suit]

Also, I'm imagining Connery felt a bit threatened by Lord's effortless cool, and when Lord demanded above-the-title billing on Goldfinger, the producers found a way to assuage Connery's unease -- they simply didn't rehire Lord.

Not everything is "cloak and dagger" you know.

[Keir]

Just finished From Russia with Love; terrific book. Only one I have left is Spy who Loved Me. As I listen to the books on my ipod whilst making the hour-long cycle to work, I'm not sure I can manage the last book, read as it is by a Yank. Not sure why; I know Blackstone audio is an American company (hence lieutenant is pronounced for American ears), but it doesn't have an American read the other books whilst I understand the protagonist of SWLM is a British woman.

[Major Tallon]

Just finished From Russia with Love; terrific book. Only one I have left is Spy who Loved Me. As I listen to the books on my ipod whilst making the hour-long cycle to work, I'm not sure I can manage the last book, read as it is by a Yank. Not sure why; I know Blackstone audio is an American company (hence lieutenant is pronounced for American ears), but it doesn't have an American read the other books whilst I understand the protagonist of SWLM is a British woman.

She's French Canadian. The villains are Americans, and Fleming has them speak in a Damon Runyonesque patois that borders on the hilarious. I've read the original Fleming manuscript, and at least Fleming cut one villain's line that would have had American readers (and, presumably everyone else) scratching their heads: "I don't let no muzzlers hit me in face with no chirps."

For the record, I don't either.

[DamnCoffee]

Finished Goldfinger last night. BRILLIANT novel. Took me a while, but I kept falling asleep during the golf game for a good week or so. Not because it was boring. Just because I was tired.

The only thing I didn't like was the characterisation of Pussy. Just found it truly stunning how Bond just turned her. She didn't have that much page time, either. So it was hard to care about her. Would've preffered Tilly as the main Bond girl. Overall though, a fantastic and thrilling read.


9/10.

[SecretAgentFan]

So, you´re off to THUNDERBALL then!

I´m currently re-reading DR.NO. Terrific fun.

[Major Tallon]

So, you´re off to THUNDERBALL then!

I´m currently re-reading DR.NO. Terrific fun.

I think he ought first to read FYEO, a wonderful compilation of five terrific short stories.

[SecretAgentFan]

Oh, yes - sorry, I forgot that the short stories were published in between!

[Revelator]

But, why did the film versions of Dr. No and Goldfinger decide to include Felix?

Broccoli and Saltzman had originally intended for Thunderball to be the first Bond film, and Richard Maibaum wrote a screenplay for the production. Kevin McClory and his lawsuit intervened, so Dr. No was chosen instead. Since Leiter was in Thunderball, perhaps Maibaum and company, having gotten acquainted with the character, decided he'd also be a good fit for Dr. No.

The only thing I didn't like was the characterization of Pussy. Just found it truly stunning how Bond just turned her. She didn't have that much page time, either. So it was hard to care about her. Would've preffered Tilly as the main Bond girl.

Pussy is definitely a problem. As you note, she's introduced very late in the book, at the point when Bond (and Fleming) lose interest in Tilly. The sexual differences between the two characters are also perplexing. It's made clear that Tilly has no sexual interest in Bond--unlike Pussy, she cannot be turned. Bond concludes that Tilly has her hormones mixed up and is an unhappy sexual misfit. Pussy on the other hand come off less as a sexual misfit than someone too traumatized to seek heterosexual intercourse, thanks to her experience with her uncle. Once she meets the right man, she can go heterosexual, unlike Tilly. To some extent, Fleming prepares for her conversion by having Pussy take immediate interest in Bond. Still, modern readers are apt to find the whole thing unbelievable, and somewhat offensive as well.

[DamnCoffee]

Nearly finished 'For Your Eyes Only'. Not Flemings best work, far from it, but it does have it's moments. I adore the Quantum of Solace short story though, very different and unexpected from him. Highly enjoyable. From A View To A Kill, For Your Eyes Only and Risico are average I would say. The Hildebrand Rarity isn't bad, but it's not particuarly that good either. Have a feeling that Mrs Krest is going to off her husband.

Loved the whole thing with Bond having no trouble killing men, but the fact that a few meaningless fish are going to die, really gets to him. I thought that was genuinely a nice touch.

Edited by Mharkin, 08 February 2012 - 03:06 PM.

[Major Tallon]

For Bond, the senseless killing of animals is often a mark of evil that spurs him to action, sooner or later. There's "The Death of a Pelican" in LALD, Grant's background as a slaughterer of animals in FRWL, the killings of animals and birds by von Hammerstein's men in "FYEO" and the killing of fish in "The Hildebrand Rarity." You'll see it again in TMWTGG. Bond can be quite a sentimental man, and he hates senseless cruelty.

[DamnCoffee]

Indeed. Finished The Hildebrand Rarity. The ending really did bring it up a few notches. Can easily imagine the whole death of Krest scene in a future Bond movie.

Started Thunderball, too. I'm half way through chapter 2. Fantastic stuff.

"They have their own herb garden, you know." - "I KNOW ALL ABOUT THEIR BLOODY HERB GARDEN!!!!!!!"

Edited by Mharkin, 26 February 2012 - 05:18 PM.

[DamnCoffee]

Finished Thunderball last night. Thought it was great, truly. Dr No still remains my favourite Fleming so far. I was totally surprised that Fiona Volpe wasn't in the novel. Seems like a true Fleming name. Also, I may have mssed it, but did we ever find out who saved Bonds life in London? Loved Domino, Largo I thought was a rather weak villian. Though I enjoyed the underwater stuff and the card game. Actually I enjoyed the whole thing. Just would've liked a bit more action, but nevermind. A good novel overall. Although I feel Live and Let Die, and Dr No are much more cinematic than this novel. I remember reading before that it has a rather cinematic feel to it, didn't really think so personally, but it was enjoyable all the same.

Started The Spy Who Loved Me last night. Hmmmm. I don't really know what to think of it. It bored the hell out of me for a while. but when Vivienne and Dereck(?) had the cinema incident, it started to get a little bit more interesting. Far from the best, and I'm not expecting much from it.

[Dustin]

Also, I may have mssed it, but did we ever find out who saved Bonds life in London?

SPECTRE No 6, an agent of SPECTRE's German section, made up of former Gestapo men. No 6 also used to be a former DKW test driver after the war. Briefly one suspects.

Lippe missed his assignment to post the letter - due to his entanglement with Bond - and was deemed unreliable, therefore to be executed. No 6 wasn't aware why Lippe followed the Bentley or what he had in mind for Bond, it was purely coincidence that Bond was rescued here.

[Major Tallon]

I thought the first section of TSWLM was rather embarrassing the first time I read it, but it's made a better impression in the years since. You can appreciate now why Fleming didn't want it filmed. I think he hoped to garner some praise for trying something different, but instead was mortified by the critical drubbing he received once the book was published. The middle section was marred by the hammy dialog he gave the mobsters, but he certainly made them frightening villains, and I actually thought the final section was quite good, with a touching little coda.

Not the best Bond book, but I read through it every couple of years and accord Fleming the praise that I think he'd hoped to garner.

[DamnCoffee]

Just finished The Spy Who Loved Me. Not one of Flemings best, but thinking about it. It's a very interesting idea. When it started off, it was rather boring, but once Vivienne got to the cafe, it really did pick up. Bonds introduction was very cool, as well. Infact, I really enjoyed the last half of the book. Thought it was brilliant. (Rula Lenska was reading it, so you know. I just imagined her in everything, but nevermind)

Shame some of this wasn't used in film form. I can imagine a really cool pre title sequence. All from the point of view of the main Bond girl. Ending up with Quantum members at a cafe. Bond turns up, dispatches them, grabs the girl and runs off into the forest with her. A forest chase would be nice in a Bond film. But yeah. I can't wait to start OHMSS.

[Revelator]

Loved Domino, Largo I thought was a rather weak villian

Largo is interesting because he's an anomaly among Fleming villains. For one thing, he's actually handsome, rather than a grotesque freakish perverted father figure (i.e., the normal Fleming villain). He's a suave playboy, making him a sort of evil James Bond, or, more accurately, what Bond might have been without any morals or decency. The fashionable dolts who insist that Fleming's Bond was a cold-hearted psychopath in a tuxedo are really talking about Largo, who posseses all the cruelty Bond lacks.

when Vivienne and Dereck(?) had the cinema incident, it started to get a little bit more interesting

It should, because it was based on real life--Fleming drew upon his own early sexual experience for the cinema scene, but, in an startlingly sympathetic reversal, portayed it from his partner's point of view, with Derek self-critically cast as a caddish young Fleming. The scene is vivid in its ghastliness because real memories are behind it. The Spy Who Loved Me is the most feminist and sexually bleak of all the Bond novels. Most feminist because it is a devastating and intentional catalog of male vanity, hypocrisy, and callousness, told directly by the only three dimensional female character Fleming ever created. Sexually bleakest because it suggests the only decent man out there for Vivienne is the eternally unavailable James Bond. Every other sexually available man, regardless of nationality and class, is no good. Fleming's own conflicted feelings about Bond--the character intended to be a cold, blunt instrument who accidentally fleshed out into a near-human--are on full display in STWLM. The kind (but sexually unavailable) police captain warns Vivienne that Bond is little different from the criminals he fights, but Vivienne knows Bond is the only man to have treated her with true affection. The other men Fleming portrays are true to real life, but there are no James Bonds in reality: the ideal man remains an unattainable fantasy.

Edited by Revelator, 29 February 2012 - 10:19 PM.

[DamnCoffee]

Nice post! Totally agreed.

'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' is just phenomenal. Might very well surpass Dr No as my favourite. I have a gut feeling about it.

[Major Tallon]

Fleming wrote some wonderful stuff, but OHMSS is a brilliant book.

[DamnCoffee]

Finished OHMSS last night. Absoloutely phenomenal. By far my favourite Bond novel so far. Fleming's writing is just perfect. Good balance of action, suspense and humour. Loved the character of Bunt, I hope she pops up in You Only Live Twice. Absoloutely adored the Piz Gloria escape. I actually got very claustrophobic reading it. Must be awful to be caught in an avalanche, and buried 50 foot deep in snow. The end totally gave me goosebumps. Fantastic.

But yes, my favourite Bond novel by far. Have a feeling that You Only Live Twice may very well surpass it.

Edited by Mharkin, 07 March 2012 - 11:50 PM.

[MarkA]

Please be careful expecting too much from You Only Live Twice. It is a strange introspective book. I get the feeling when Fleming wrote it he was becoming very aware of his own immortality. It is not a conventional Bond novel by any means. More an experiment, much like The Spy Who Loved Me, but more successful. A weird and morbid book. I always think that the Japanese director Kurosawa would have made a wonderful faithful film version of it. Not an easy book, but rewarding if you make the effort. Enjoy.

[Loomis]

It is not a conventional Bond novel by any means. More an experiment, much like The Spy Who Loved Me, but more successful.

I'll say it's more successful. Indeed, I'd go as far as to call YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE by far the best thing Fleming ever wrote. That it is not a conventional Bond novel is precisely what's so wonderful about it - Fleming unshackles himself from the formula to take James Bond into some bizarre, haunting and genuinely poignant territory, and in the process comes up with his one true literary masterpiece.

I have read all the Flemings more than once, but YOLT is the one that keeps drawing me back again and again.

[graric]

I find that the most successful works by Fleming are when he gets more experimental: (FRWL the entire opening dealing with Grant and the Smersh plot before Bond even makes an appearance, TSWLM I found to be a surprisingly good novel given its reputation and apart from the 'sweet tang of rape' line Fleming paints a very realistic character in Vivian and shows Bond in a surprisingly mundane situation and YOLT uses Bond brilliantly to analyse the notions of death, mortality and revenge...(partial spoiler) along with having a Bond Blofeld show down the films never truely gave us)