32 replies to this topic

[Loomis]

Does anyone have any pics of the covers of Japanese editions of Fleming novels (or other Bond books)?

zencat, any Japanese novel artwork on your hard drive? I'd really like to see what the Japanese have made of Bond covers.

Also interested in artwork from Taiwan, South Korea, etc. Mainland Chinese versions should have very amusing covers, since the market there is almost 100% illegitimate - for example, saw an ATTACK OF THE CLONES novelization in Shanghai last year with a tuxedoed Tim Dalton doing a Bond pose on the cover.

[zencat]

Here's a Chinese HIGH TIME TO KILL...

[zencat]

And a Japanese TWINE. Afraid that's all I have. I've seen some of the Fleming's in Japanese bookstores in LA, but the ones I've seen have been pretty underwhelming.

[zencat]

Originally posted by Loomis
...for example, saw an ATTACK OF THE CLONES novelization in Shanghai last year with a tuxedoed Tim Dalton doing a Bond pose on the cover.

!!!!!!!!

I hope you bought this! Sounds like a very interesting and strange Bond collectible.

[Loomis]

Cheers, zencat. The Chinese "High Time To Kill" looks interesting. It's definitely a People's Republic of China edition, rather than from Hong Kong or Taiwan (you can tell by the characters used on the cover). Obviously, not so long ago, anyone translating a Bond novel in the PRC would've found himself in very hot water. And the idea of the books actually being sold would have been unthinkable (although I'm pretty sure this edition won't be entirely kosher).

I'd translate the title 未日危机 (Weiri Weiji) as "Future Crisis" or "Crisis of Another Day", something like that.

No, I didn't buy the "Star Wars" book, although I bought a couple of other oddities, such as a translation of "Gone With the Wind" with Robert De Niro in a RAGING BULL still on the cover, a DVD of AUSTIN POWERS IN GOLDMEMBER with the credits of MULHOLLAND DRIVE and a list of the Oscars won by TITANIC on the cover, etc.!

[Loomis]

Scratch that translation of mine, it's actually 末日危机 (Mori Weiji), which would be "Doomsday Crisis".

[Blue Eyes]

Pirated books! Now that is fascinating. I like the fact that they're pretty bad with the covers. It would make it all the more interesting I suspect.

[rafterman]

I'll see if I can find any Bond novels here...

[Loomis]

Originally posted by zencat
Here's a Chinese HIGH TIME TO KILL...  

Hang on, zencat, are you sure that this book is "High Time To Kill"? I've just been reading an article on Bond on a Chinese site that gives 末日危机 (Mori Weiji) as the Chinese title of the film THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH (not that it would have had an official release in the People's Republic, but still it has a Chinese title - movie mags in that country being full of nothing but news on films that no one's allowed to actually watch). So perhaps the book is a translation of Benson's TWINE novelization, not HTTK.

[zencat]

Really? Let me have a closer look. Strange they would use a mountain climbing motif for the cover art if it was TWINE.

[Loomis]

I'd thought of that, but don't forget that we're talking about the country that puts Dalton on the cover of "Star Wars" novelizations!

[zencat]

Well, I have not way of knowing. Everything is in Chinese! The copyright reads 1999, but that could be either book.

[Loomis]

Curious. They've rendered Benson's name in Chinese on the cover, so we're definitely talking one of his. Maybe it is "High Time To Kill" with TWINE's (possibly better known) title cheekily slapped on it as a sales-boosting ruse on the assumption that no one would know the difference!

But, yes, it could be either book. If you want to know which one, I guess you could show your copy to a Chinese friend and get him or her to report the main thrust of the story back to you. Or if you were to scan a couple of pages and e-mail them to me, I'd be happy to take a look. I'll look for further information and get back to you if I find any.

[Loomis]

Mystery solved. The book is indeed "High Time To Kill" (details at http://www.homabooks.com/xsyg.html). It's just that the novel HTTK and the film THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH share the same Chinese title, confusingly enough.

[zencat]

Thanks for clearing that up. Loomis. Strange that they would have the same title.

[rafterman]

Chinese bootlegs of DVDs are really interesting, the covers are all a mix of other movies, I have a Spider-Man disc with just arbitrary symbols for regions and Dolby and such with a description for the X-Files movie on it...

[Blofeld's Cat]

Something similar happens in Indonesia too, but not too that extent.

I bought a bootleg VCD of Eddie Murphy's Metro a while ago and the blurb on the back was just a review from some US based newspaper. What was so funny was that it wasn't a very flattering one.

[Truman-Lodge]

This was such an interesting thread.

BUMP!

Here's some more Asian artwork:

[Truman-Lodge]

Hmm, only one attachment at a time? Very well!

[Truman-Lodge]

Actually, I think you can tweak vBulletin to allow multiple attachments at once.

[Truman-Lodge]

Last one!

[Loomis]

More Bensons from the People's Republic of China! Amazing that they're available there - even "Zero Minus Ten"!!!!!!!! And how ironic it would be if they're easier to come by in China than in the West!

[Pussfeller]

My strangest Bond collectible: a vintage copy of FRWL with a photograph of Elvis Presley on the cover.

[Loomis]

Originally posted by zencat

I've seen some of the Fleming's in Japanese bookstores in LA, but the ones I've seen have been pretty underwhelming.  

Like these ones?





And here's some very, very odd-looking Japanese Benson artwork. What the heck were they thinking? Certainly the most bizarre Bond novel cover art I've ever seen.

[zencat]

I'm really liking these Asian Benson editions. Would love to get that TMWTRT. Thanks for posting these.

Originally posted by Pussfeller
My strangest Bond collectible: a vintage copy of FRWL with a photograph of Elvis Presley on the cover.

Now that's wild.

[DLibrasnow]

A very interesting thread....Hey zencat is there any books out there that do a good job of covering the cover art of the Bond books?!

[zencat]

No, there isn't, and that would be a GREAT book! Maybe that's the book I'll do one day.

John Cork's Bond Girls Are Forever does feature some of the Pan paperback art.

[Triton]

Perhaps "Red Grant" could someday open a gallery of non-US and UK edition cover art on his site Art of James Bond?

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by zencat
No, there isn't, and that would be a GREAT book! Maybe that's the book I'll do one day.

John Cork's Bond Girls Are Forever does feature some of the Pan paperback art.

I think that would make a great book...It is certainly one that I would pick up.

[zencat]

I would do it like the offical poster book; a chapter per book showing all the different covers with info on each (and maybe a little summery of the book). I already own all the books that I would need (except maybe some non-english language ones -- and I know a collector I could turn to for those).

I wonder if IFP would be open to this idea? Of course, they'd probably like me to just do Fleming, but I would want to do all the books CR to TMWTRT.