12 replies to this topic

[DavidJones]

I'm aware of how Fleming's wife Anne felt about Bond (calling it 'pornography' etc). But what about the family since? In Everything Or Nothing, his niece Lucy Fleming described Fleming as "a very, very, very, very good writer". However, they seem to a educated bunch, with many bankers among them, and not the kind of people who would read thrillers or even approve of Bond either as a cultural commodity or as a character.

 

Any thoughts?

[Jim]

£.

[agentbug]

£.

 

LOL! Most likely.

 

Although I feel compelled to add, DavidJones, that even educated people I'm sure read thrillers every now and then. I imagine it is educated people that write them. Good ones, anyway. Ian Fleming being an obvious example. I don't know much about the man but I do believe that back then, as in today, it was mostly those with the heritage and money that get to have anything published.

 

Having said that I take your point. I worked in a courtroom for several years and was appalled at how out of touch some people are. For example, one of the judges had never ever heard of Argos. I mean, how can you not have even HEARD of it?!

[DavidJones]

Yes, I suppose money would make people like something.

 

But do they continue Anne Fleming's snobby attitude, I wonder?

[Guy Haines]

Lucy Fleming actually narrates one of Ian Fleming's short stories in the James Bond Reloaded series of Audio CDs, namely that curiosity "007 In New York", which is found on the CD "Octopussy & The Living Daylights". She was the producer of those CDs, and has a background in theatre and television acting, which I suppose would explain her involvement as a narrator. I get the impression she's actually rather proud of her Uncle Ian and what he did.

 

As for Ian Fleming's wife, Anne, I think some of her attitude towards her husband's writing came from the intellectual circles she moved in. Bankers might well read Fleming or similar for diversion - I've worked in two different professions, law and teaching, and on the side I am involved in local politics,but I'm quite open about being a Bond fan and nobody looks down on me for it. (Actually friends look to me rather than down on me, when it's pub quiz time and a Bond question comes up!) Whereas some of the people Anne mingled with wouldn't have been seen dead reading Bond.

 

Incidentally, bankers may be educated, but there's a difference between that and being wise - how else to explain the 2008 banking collapse? (Unless, er, SPECTRE was behind it all. I guess we might find out this November  )

[glidrose]

Ian Fleming's nephew-in-law John Grimond (former Economist foreign editor and son of Jo) had this to say of IF:
 
"Fleming did not produce great literature; that was not his aim. But he had the gifts of a good journalist—he started his career working for Reuters—writing sharp, vivid prose, almost entirely free of clichés. Many still find the pages irresistible to turn."
 
http://www.economist.com/node/10091777
 
Shame he gets the number of continuation novels wrong, tho'.

[Guy Haines]

Absolutely. Even now I dip into the Fleming novels and I'm struck by how well written they are, as books of a particular type. Profound they are not, and some of the content would not now be acceptable by today's standards, but as an example of how to write an adventure thriller novel, even now they stand up, and would be thriller writers could do worse than examine them.

[Trevelyan 006]

In America, there are three general attitudes tied to the Bond films. They are the following:

 

1. "Oh, cool! Another big action movie!"

 

2. "You mean the silly spy movie with the guy sneaking around in a tuxedo?!"

 

3. "Those movies are too 'British' for me. They're boring."

 

*Mind you, in most cases, all three lines are uttered by people who have either never seen a Bond film or have never given them a proper chance.

Edited by Trevelyan 006, 28 March 2015 - 04:38 PM.

[jaguar007]

There is also here in the US the "It's a James Bond move"

or the

"I like the new guy"

or

"I don't like the new guy"

[AMC Hornet]

"Is that the one with the boat chase? They all run together after a while."

 

Wouldn't trust his/her testimony in court.

[glidrose]

In America, there are three general attitudes tied to the Bond films. They are the following:

 
 

There is also here in the US the "It's a James Bond move"

That's nice, but we're discussing "What the Fleming Family Think of Bond," and by Bond I assume the original poster meant Fleming's own books. Sorry if I sound crotchety, but...

[Major Tallon]

You crotchety, Glidrose?  Never!   

 

I'd stretch it a bit and extend the question to what the Fleming family think of the entire Bond phenomenon, books, movies, even the comics at a stretch.  Kate Grimmond, Fleming's neice, flew to Indiana once to attend a conference on Bond at the Lilly Library, and I had a brief, cordial email correspondence with Fergus Fleming regarding Ian Fleming:  the Bibliography.  I don't doubt that the family has a financial stake in Bond, but I doubt that their interest is purely financial.  I've never read or heard anything to suggest that they don't have have more than a bit of family pride in old Ian and appreciation for the phenomenon which he created. 

[glidrose]

You crotchety, Glidrose?  Never!

Always!

 

I'd stretch it a bit and extend the question to what the Fleming family think of the entire Bond phenomenon, books, movies, even the comics at a stretch.

Absolutely! It's just this side of Bond doesn't garner much discussion and I didn't want to see it get lost in a tangent about what Americans who've never seen a Bond film think about Bond. Even with all the will in the world I don't see how Trevelyan_006's post relates to the discussion. Perhaps it posted by accident to the wrong thread. This happens from time to time.

Kate Grimmond, Fleming's neice, flew to Indiana once to attend a conference on Bond at the Lilly Library, and I had a brief, cordial email correspondence with Fergus Fleming regarding Ian Fleming:  the Bibliography.  I don't doubt that the family has a financial stake in Bond, but I doubt that their interest is purely financial.  I've never read or heard anything to suggest that they don't have have more than a bit of family pride in old Ian and appreciation for the phenomenon which he created.

All fascinating. Of course there's another angle that doesn't get much comment: the two Fleming nieces are getting on in years. I don't think it's a coincidence that their involvement in IFP really started up around the time their children had flown the coop, i.e. the empty nest syndrome and all that. Previously, it was their late brother Nichol - himself childless - who represented the family on the IFP board of directors.