Of course we all enjoy 007's exploits and adventures in the novels, but what about running across a real-life version of him? Knowing what you know about his personality, character, habits, etc. would you (for example - if he moved in next door) actually like him as a neighbor, acquaintance, or even a friend?
I'm not so sure I'd like him in real life and certainly wouldn't want him as a neighbor. Although his personality traits make him a more entertaining character to read, I imagine him to be a brooding and aloof neighbor who would be out drinking and gambling until all hours of the night. Or, if he stayed home during the evening, he be next door getting plastered and playing the Ink Spots waay too loud on his stereo in a futile effort to drown out the screams of the women he failed to protect that echo throughout his liquor-pickled mind. Also, you'd have to deal with either (A) him having various women (imagine living next-door to brassy ex-gangster Tiffany Case. Yikes!) staying with him for a few months until their relationship devolved into a rancorous, never-ending argument or ( B) dealing with a revolving cavalcade of disgruntled cheating housewives popping in an out of his house at all hours of the day and night. Not to mention that, unless you were prepared to talk about golf, gambling, underwater sports, liquor, or cars, any attempt to have a neighborly chat with him would be doomed from the start.
Thoughts?