138 replies to this topic

[DamnCoffee]

God damn it. You Only Live Twice is amazing! Beautiful book, full of flavour and some very interesting insights into 1960 Japan. Some of which I never knew. Although, I was slightly underwhelmed by the garden of death, sadly. It's been bigged up a lot on here and it kinda fell flat for me. It's an interesting concept don't get me wrong, and I loved some of the imagery. The upperclass man in the top hat drowning himself in Sulphur for one. I was expecting Bond to be thrown into it. Kind of a throwback to Dr No's obstacle course and having to use his wits to survive the thing. It's a fine read as it is. I was just expecting it to be a lot more psychedelic and challenging for Bond. Overall the novel has a beautiful build up though, I loved Bond and Tigers heated argument at the start (BALLS TIGER! AND BALLS AGAIN!). Lovely moment with M getting angry. Infact, the entire first half of the novel is flawless. I loved the idea of Bond going off the rails, sitting in the park, drinking heavily. Fantastic stuff. The best thing is, when I read it, I totally imagined George Lazenby, Telly Savalas, Tetsuro Tamba and Isle Steppat. It just pissed me off that we didn't get any closure with Bond and Tracy in the film series. Nevermind, eh?

Something that did confuse me though. Bonds obituary. Bond getting a load of books being written about him? Did I read that correctly? Or is it just a Fleming in joke, because Bond himself is based on some of the stuff he did?

Fantastic novel though, I still slightly prefer On Her Majesty's Secret Service, but it was a stunning read.



My rankings so far...

• On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
• Dr No.
• From Russia With Love
• You Only Live Twice
• Live and Let Die
• Goldfinger
• Thunderball
• Moonraker
• Casino Royale
• The Spy Who Loved Me
• Diamonds Are Forever
• For Your Eyes Only

Edited by Mharkin, 14 March 2012 - 03:34 AM.

[Vauxhall]

Something that did confuse me though. Bonds obituary. Bond getting a load of books being written about him? Did I read that correctly? Or is it just a Fleming in joke, because Bond himself is based on some of the stuff he did?

Fleming in-joke mocking his own writing.

Glad you enjoyed the novel. It's my favourite Fleming.

[AMC Hornet]

As you tackle TMWTGG, keep in mind that Fleming died before he could do any revisions, and banish from your mind all the negative reviews it's received over the years. Just read it an enjoy it.

It may not have a BIG plot, but it's always been one of my favorites, perhaps because it is a personal plot without much more at stake than Bond's life and his status with the Secret Service.

If you enjoyed Fleming's evocative travelogue writing style in LALD and Dr. No, then you'll definitely enjoy Golden Gun. Whether you liked the film of the same name or not, you will appreciate having a different literary experience.

Perhaps EON will raid this story someday for unused sequences, as they did repeatedly with LALD.

Edited by AMC Hornet, 15 March 2012 - 02:32 AM.

[DamnCoffee]

I started Golden Gun last night. It's brilliant. Just got up to the M assassination attempt. Very well written. Strange how I'm still seeing Lazenby. Not a bad thing though, I would've loved a close adaptation of this with George Lazenby and Clint Eastwood as Scaramanga, with Sergio Leone (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly) directing. I think it would be brilliant.

Edited by Mharkin, 15 March 2012 - 02:37 AM.

[AMC Hornet]

Although I try to envision Christopher Lee when I'm reading GG, Fleming's Scaramanga is so different from the screen version that the image never sticks. I end up seeing Ricardo Montalban in his prime, or Michael Richards taking a stab at serious acting (Robert Davi actually came the closest to playing Fleming's Scaramanga in his portrayal of Sanchez).

For Hendricks I always see the bald guy who calls for Achmed in the Beruit belly-dancing scene ("Getting the Bullet").

For the man himself, I almost always see Roger. His appearance just sticks with me better than any of the others, no matter which author's work I'm reading. Guess you can tell I'm a child of the 70s.

Edited by AMC Hornet, 19 March 2012 - 03:51 AM.

[DamnCoffee]

Golden Gun is brilliant so far. I'm up to the last few chapters. I just really can't stand Scaramanga. I think he's disgusting. You see, I thought Fleming would write Golden Gun with the idea of Bond and Scaramanga being equals, both having respect for eachother. Scaramanga being the mirror image of Bond. It's only the fact that he fancies him stops him from killing Bond straight away. I much prefer that idea.

Saying that though, it's a great novel. Loved Bond and Scaramangas first meeting in the bar.

Edited by Mharkin, 16 March 2012 - 10:10 PM.

[AMC Hornet]

See, I told you that you were in for a different experience from the film.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who enjoys it.

[Major Tallon]

See, I told you that you were in for a different experience from the film.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who enjoys it.

I'm another.

[Dustin]

TMWTGG is also one of my favourite books, despite a dramatic waste of fine ideas which are practically done away with in a couple of paragraphs, never to be heard of again. Scaramanga for some strange reason I always pictured as Anthony Zerbe. I remember at the time I first picked up the book HARRY O was just on the telly and I had his image in my mind when Scaramanga came down those stairs at Sav' La Mar's Love Lane 3 1/2. Also the fact I had just seen Zerbe in I AM LEGEND may have helped, I don't know. At any rate I was not a little surprised to see my own imaginary version of the killer many years later in the role of Milton Krest.

[tdalton]

I really enjoyed The Man With the Golden Gun as well. It's certainly better than it's film counterpart, to say the least. Even though it's heavily flawed, I find myself able to look past some of the issues that it has considering that it's more or less a book that was left unfinished. I love the beginning of the novel and the ending in the swamp is a definite highlight as well. Wish both of those sequences would make it into a Bond film at some point.

[DamnCoffee]

So... Octopussy and The Living Dayllights. Bar Octopussy, I actually found the last two stories a right bore If I'm being honest. I actually haven't made it through The Property of a Lady. It's nice to see little glimpses of Bonds other missions and stuff, but personally, I don't think he works well in short story form. I much prefer a whole novel based around one story. But that's just me.

Edited by Mharkin, 29 March 2012 - 01:54 AM.

[Tanger]

So... Octopussy and The Living Dayllights. Bar Octopussy, I actually found the last two stories a right bore If I'm being honest. I actually haven't made it through The Property of a Lady. It's nice to see little glimpses of Bonds other missions and stuff, but personally, I don't think he works well in short story form. I much prefer a whole novel based around one story. But that's just me.

I feel the same. I found a lot of the short stories really hard going when I first read them. I guess part of it is because the basic ideas are pretty interesting but the execution is quite flat and uninteresting. It also doesn't help that most of the scenarios provided some of the most exciting moments in the films and yet hold none of that excitement on the page.

[Major Tallon]

So... Octopussy and The Living Dayllights. Bar Octopussy, I actually found the last two stories a right bore If I'm being honest. I actually haven't made it through The Property of a Lady. It's nice to see little glimpses of Bonds other missions and stuff, but personally, I don't think he works well in short story form. I much prefer a whole novel based around one story. But that's just me.

I'm going to challenge your imagination here, Mharkin (or others who aren't so fond of "Octopussy" in short story form). Imagine if you will that Fleming had written a full-length novel called Octopussy, with a plot and characters along the lines of the film, but written in the Fleming style. Now, imagine that the story of Major Smythe and the octopus is just a chapter in that book, a flashback or backstory for the main female character. Would you find it to be more of an enjoyable digression, or more entertaining than you find it as a stand-alone short story? The story works for me either way, but I've often wondered how others might view it.

[Philosophers' Ball]

Scaramanga for some strange reason I always pictured as Anthony Zerbe.

That might be because Zerbe always plays incredibly sleazy roles, and Scaramanga is, well... in that mold. :-P

I sort of think -- though EON probably would've refused to go to such lengths to hire him -- that Toshirō Mifune would've been perfect for Tiger... that sort of feeling that he's a modern samurai restrained only by the suit he wears, "is he or isn't he an ally?", etc... and he certainly could've supported Lazenby had worse come to worse, though I suspect Lazenby would've held his own in all their scenes together. :-)

[Dustin]

Scaramanga for some strange reason I always pictured as Anthony Zerbe.

That might be because Zerbe always plays incredibly sleazy roles, and Scaramanga is, well... in that mold. :-P

I also just remember that KISS film (KISS MEETS THE PHANTOM OF THE PARK) where Zerbe was the villain. Sleazy indeed.

Good call on Mifune for Tanaka!

[Philosophers' Ball]

Thank you... not certain who'd be a period-appropriate choice for, say, Henderson, though.

[AMC Hornet]

Thank you... not certain who'd be a period-appropriate choice for, say, Henderson, though.

John Orchard
('Ugly John' the gas-passer in the first season of M*A*S*H, 'Muldoon' the MP in a later episode where the doctors had to run Rosie's bar.)

[solace]

I started Golden Gun last night. It's brilliant. Just got up to the M assassination attempt. Very well written. Strange how I'm still seeing Lazenby. Not a bad thing though, I would've loved a close adaptation of this with George Lazenby and Clint Eastwood as Scaramanga, with Sergio Leone (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly) directing. I think it would be brilliant.

That would be a film i would love to see.

[echo]

Golden Gun is brilliant so far. I'm up to the last few chapters. I just really can't stand Scaramanga. I think he's disgusting. You see, I thought Fleming would write Golden Gun with the idea of Bond and Scaramanga being equals, both having respect for eachother. Scaramanga being the mirror image of Bond. It's only the fact that he fancies him stops him from killing Bond straight away. I much prefer that idea.

Saying that though, it's a great novel. Loved Bond and Scaramangas first meeting in the bar.

The connotations are definitely there. I wouldn't mind seeing an adaptation with Scaramanga being explicitly, but not stereotypically, gay.