Blofeld/Crowley in Somerset Maugham book?

Napoleon Plural

Bit obscure this, but I'm reading The Magician, an early Somerset Maugham book set in belle epoque Paris (ie 1900 or so).

The lead is an obese, bald fella with a boastful nature, the disconcerting thing being that many of his boasts are certainly true. His name is Oliver Haddo, and he is based on Alestair Crowley, the notorious master of the dark arts and occultist, which no one should really delve into too much without leaving a trail of breadcrumbs behind them.

Anyway it is said that Fleming has some interest in Crowley, another one of those areas which makes you doubt the author and all he stands for. Certainly the description matches that of Blofeld in Thunderball, but it must be said Fleming's 'hero' is a quiet, watchful type or hardly needs to appear sinister and is certainly not flamboyant, unlike Haddo or Crowley.

Anyway, The Magician is worth getting out of the library, it's only 200 pages or so and after a tricky slog of an opening, is well worth the effort. It is a bit like those Devil Rides Out yarns, where an innocent and somewhat prudish couple fall foul of some charistmatic devil, possibly easier to do when society was more Christian in nature, and sex tended to be kept under wraps.

barracuda

Fleming met Crowley during WW2 according to Andrew Lycett's biography, although I don't recall the reasons behind doing so, but I'm sure it was in his role as assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence. I've seen it suggested that he based Le Chiffre of Crowley rather than Blofeld, although perhaps his appearance is similar.

Napoleon Plural

Thank you for making my threads less lonely, barracuda!

Gala Brand

From Wikipedia:

During the Second World War, future James Bond author Ian Fleming (then a Navy intelligence officer) along with other colleagues proposed a disinformation plot in which Crowley would have helped an MI5 agent supply Nazi official Rudolf Hess with faked horoscopes. They could then pass along false information about an alleged pro-German circle in Britain. The government abandoned this plan when Hess flew to Scotland, crashing his plane on the moors near Eaglesham, and was captured. Fleming then suggested using Crowley as an interrogator to determine the influence of astrology on other Nazi leaders, but his superiors rejected this plan. At some point, Fleming also suggested that Britain could use Enochian as a code in order to plant evidence.[129]

Silhouette Man

Yes, the connections between authors is all very interesting indeed. I'm very interested in this type of subject-matter at the moment - I love all the esoterica of the occult - I don't practce it mind, but it's damned well interesting!