Alright…finished reading all the Fleming novels
Firemass
AlaskaPosts: 1,910MI6 Agent
I've been doing a lot of traveling lately and it's been a real treat to have all the Bond novels on my Kindle and plenty of downtime to be able to read them. (Waiting in airports, long bus rides, jetlag insomnia, etc)
The last 3 to complete were Diamonds are Forever, You Only Live Twice, and The Man With The Golden Gun
DAF: Really enjoyed this one. Made me appreciate the first 1/3 of the film version for staying fairly faithful to the novel. Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd were underutilized in the novel compared to the film. One weakness of the novel might be too many henchman while lacking a strong central villain. But hey…such is life. The horse racing spying scenes seemed slightly disjointed from the main story line, but I appreciated they were put to good use in the film A View to a Kill.
I was bummed to see Felix Leiter pop up again. Here is Bond DEEP undercover following the pipeline and suddenly Felix is right there with him.
Really enjoyed the character of Tiffany Case. Jill St. John played her to perfection up until the script tried to make her into a bimbo toward the end. I also thought it was funny how Bond would often say the wrong things to her and curse himself.
The film veers way off course from the novel and then merges back towards the end with the Wint/Kidd showdown on the Queen Elizabeth.
Favorite quotes:
"American gangsters, protested Bond. They're not Americans. Mostly a lot of Italian bums with monogrammed shirts who spend the day eating spaghetti and meatballs and squirting scent over themselves."
(On an airplane) "A typical load, decided Bond, while admitting that if two of their number, himself and Tiffany Case, had their secrets, there was no reason why many of these dull people should not also be bound on strange missions."
Weird Racist quote:
"Bond had referred to Mr Big, the famous Harlem criminal, as 'that damned n****r. Leiter had picked him up. Careful now, James, he had said. People are so damn sensitive about colour around here that you can't even ask a barman for a jigger of rum. You have to ask for a jegro."
You Only Live Twice: Hmmmmm not sure quite what to make of this one. There was a lot of time spent hanging out with Tiger Tanaka and discussing the differences between Japanese and Western culture. I would be interested to do a fact-check to see how much of that is true about Japan. (No swear words, celebrating suicide, eating live lobster, etc) None of it was very positive from the perspective of my culture, especially his attitude regarding women:
Tiger hissed angrily, "First lesson, Bondo-san! Do not make way for women. Push them, trample them down. Women have no priority in this country."
I was amused to find the "turning Bond Japanese" was actually taken from the Fleming novel. It certainly looked terrible on Sean Connery. This would have been a good example of when the filmmakers should NOT to follow the novel.
Dr. Shatterhand was instantly one of my favorite villains with his garden of death and gleaming suit of armor. Listening to Wagner in his ancient castle. What a PIMP. Bond seems rather boring in comparison. I was disappointed that Shatterhand turned out to be Blofeld instead of a stand-alone-villain. By the same token, it made me respect Blofeld's genius that he could so quickly assemble another brilliant scheme after the Piz Gloria was destroyed. I felt bad for Irma, because of the constant references that she was "too ugly to live" Overall, I found myself rooting for the bad guys in this one. Tiger and Dikko were both unpleasant and obnoxious to be around.
Kissy started out as a great Bond girl, but I doubt she would be able to keep important man like Bond on the island and hidden from the authorities. Will we ever get an update on her pregnancy ? Why would Bond go to Russia of all places?
TMWTGG:
I was expecting an unpolished, unfinished, rough draft of a story and was pleasantly surprised that TMWTGG held up just fine alongside Fleming's other works. Scaramanga's backstory about the circus, making love before the kill, and the 3rd nipple all originated from Fleming. Although I prefer Christopher Lee's version compared to the novel's gangster/hoodlum Scaramanga.
Mary Goodnight was a great sidekick and it really baffles me why EON decided to make her such a ditz in the film. That, more than anything, bothers me about the film version compared to the book. Britt Ekland could have been among the best Bond girls if they gave her half a chance to be competent.
Interesting to learn that Honey Ryder married a Philadelphia doctor and has two children.
Again, disappointed that Felix Leiter just popped up and happened to be in the exact same spot as Bond deep in enemy territory. What are the chances! Maybe these two should get in contact with each other prior to starting a mission?!
Scaramanga's ongoing discussions about real-estate and hotel development with the gangsters were fairly boring. Example, "What about the 7% second mortgage put up by me and my friends only a year back?" I can see why EON re-wrote most of the story for the film version. I just wish they had left JW Pepper out and made Goodnight a more useful agent.
Anyway…I would recommend all serious Bond fans to read all the Fleming novels. Can you imagine a Lord of the Rings fan who hasn't read the books? Set aside the time and just do it. Now I'm going to start over with Casino Royale since the last time I read it was 2005.
The last 3 to complete were Diamonds are Forever, You Only Live Twice, and The Man With The Golden Gun
DAF: Really enjoyed this one. Made me appreciate the first 1/3 of the film version for staying fairly faithful to the novel. Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd were underutilized in the novel compared to the film. One weakness of the novel might be too many henchman while lacking a strong central villain. But hey…such is life. The horse racing spying scenes seemed slightly disjointed from the main story line, but I appreciated they were put to good use in the film A View to a Kill.
I was bummed to see Felix Leiter pop up again. Here is Bond DEEP undercover following the pipeline and suddenly Felix is right there with him.
Really enjoyed the character of Tiffany Case. Jill St. John played her to perfection up until the script tried to make her into a bimbo toward the end. I also thought it was funny how Bond would often say the wrong things to her and curse himself.
The film veers way off course from the novel and then merges back towards the end with the Wint/Kidd showdown on the Queen Elizabeth.
Favorite quotes:
"American gangsters, protested Bond. They're not Americans. Mostly a lot of Italian bums with monogrammed shirts who spend the day eating spaghetti and meatballs and squirting scent over themselves."
(On an airplane) "A typical load, decided Bond, while admitting that if two of their number, himself and Tiffany Case, had their secrets, there was no reason why many of these dull people should not also be bound on strange missions."
Weird Racist quote:
"Bond had referred to Mr Big, the famous Harlem criminal, as 'that damned n****r. Leiter had picked him up. Careful now, James, he had said. People are so damn sensitive about colour around here that you can't even ask a barman for a jigger of rum. You have to ask for a jegro."
You Only Live Twice: Hmmmmm not sure quite what to make of this one. There was a lot of time spent hanging out with Tiger Tanaka and discussing the differences between Japanese and Western culture. I would be interested to do a fact-check to see how much of that is true about Japan. (No swear words, celebrating suicide, eating live lobster, etc) None of it was very positive from the perspective of my culture, especially his attitude regarding women:
Tiger hissed angrily, "First lesson, Bondo-san! Do not make way for women. Push them, trample them down. Women have no priority in this country."
I was amused to find the "turning Bond Japanese" was actually taken from the Fleming novel. It certainly looked terrible on Sean Connery. This would have been a good example of when the filmmakers should NOT to follow the novel.
Dr. Shatterhand was instantly one of my favorite villains with his garden of death and gleaming suit of armor. Listening to Wagner in his ancient castle. What a PIMP. Bond seems rather boring in comparison. I was disappointed that Shatterhand turned out to be Blofeld instead of a stand-alone-villain. By the same token, it made me respect Blofeld's genius that he could so quickly assemble another brilliant scheme after the Piz Gloria was destroyed. I felt bad for Irma, because of the constant references that she was "too ugly to live" Overall, I found myself rooting for the bad guys in this one. Tiger and Dikko were both unpleasant and obnoxious to be around.
Kissy started out as a great Bond girl, but I doubt she would be able to keep important man like Bond on the island and hidden from the authorities. Will we ever get an update on her pregnancy ? Why would Bond go to Russia of all places?
TMWTGG:
I was expecting an unpolished, unfinished, rough draft of a story and was pleasantly surprised that TMWTGG held up just fine alongside Fleming's other works. Scaramanga's backstory about the circus, making love before the kill, and the 3rd nipple all originated from Fleming. Although I prefer Christopher Lee's version compared to the novel's gangster/hoodlum Scaramanga.
Mary Goodnight was a great sidekick and it really baffles me why EON decided to make her such a ditz in the film. That, more than anything, bothers me about the film version compared to the book. Britt Ekland could have been among the best Bond girls if they gave her half a chance to be competent.
Interesting to learn that Honey Ryder married a Philadelphia doctor and has two children.
Again, disappointed that Felix Leiter just popped up and happened to be in the exact same spot as Bond deep in enemy territory. What are the chances! Maybe these two should get in contact with each other prior to starting a mission?!
Scaramanga's ongoing discussions about real-estate and hotel development with the gangsters were fairly boring. Example, "What about the 7% second mortgage put up by me and my friends only a year back?" I can see why EON re-wrote most of the story for the film version. I just wish they had left JW Pepper out and made Goodnight a more useful agent.
Anyway…I would recommend all serious Bond fans to read all the Fleming novels. Can you imagine a Lord of the Rings fan who hasn't read the books? Set aside the time and just do it. Now I'm going to start over with Casino Royale since the last time I read it was 2005.
My current 10 favorite:
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
Comments
Moved on to the continuing novels. Quickly realising that Fleming
Is by far the Best. -{
Doing them in order and just started YOLT
Enjoyed On Her Majestys Secret Service. Also enjoyed Bond saying that a man to womens drink ratio should be 3:1
We rule.
I probably won't go any further with the continuation novels, although I did enjoy Christopher Wood's TSWLM and MR.
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
December " TSWLM", by C Wood and
January, Moonraker by C Wood.
It's been years since I read them, but remember I rated Chris Wood very
Highly as a writer. -{
I'm reading the Books through Bond's timeline and not as they were
Published.
Raymond Benson, "Blast From the Past" (1997), might be of interest in that matter.
You should give the Gardner Novels a go. You may like them -{
My only Problem with DAF is that the main Villains of the Spang Brothers are just not really that interesting compared to Le Chiffre, Mr Big or Hugo Drax.
I got the whole set of IF novels some 10 years ago, and when I got them I read them in the correct order, back to back, one summer. Reading all of the novels in order is something that I recommend to all Bond aficionados, it really opens up the character of Bond.
I had previously read all the novels, but not in correct order, and therefore had favourites and not so favourite of the bunch, based on the mood of a particular novel. Reading them in order brings the character development to light and you really get to "know" Bond and you feel how his soul is eroded by the trials and triumphs of his employment. The invincibility of CR changes during the novels to the mortality of TMWGG. And therefore the mood becomes relevant part of the story arc and Bond developing as someone working in the shadowy world of espionage.
To me FYEO and Octopussy collections felt lilke prequels to CR, even though they are "in the middle" of the novel series.
BR
-Mr Arlington Beech
Yep, all fourteen texts for a tenner!!!
http://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/qs_product_tbp?storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=100&productId=413569&cm_mmc=Google%20Adwords-_-PLA-_-James+Bond+007+Collection+-+14-Book+Slipcase-_--BOND&gclid=CjwKEAiA4rujBRDD7IG_wOPytXkSJACTMkgaF2jaDSwMzxfJznXY7XOdYceK09eKK20Vj2hKootQUhoCPrHw_wcB
That's one reason I enjoyed reading the novels is to pick up on all the tiny details that made it into the films.
On the other hand, it's kinda nice to momentarily forget the films and let yourself be immersed in Fleming's world of 007. I've been separated from my DVD collection for over 2 months now and my only source of Bond is on my Kindle.
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
Sadly I think Blofeld lost all that ,when his " Face" was shown.
What did you think about Bond's duel with Scaramanga at the end? While far more gruesome, I thought that was a far better ending than the film version, and I think it's a shame it didn't translate to the film.
I think Fleming is generally pretty good at writing great finishes. From Russia With Love is another novel which had a better ending than the film.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Palance
Good point, AOS - never thought of that before!
Scaramanga, although I can't remember if any attempt was made
To contact him?
Apparently it was Tom Mankiewicz's idea to ask Palance.
That what I remember is a fact, or something I'd wished had
Happened !
Or to quote a wise man, "every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain". (Homer J. Simpson)
Also heard that the Palance idea was still-born the moment a serious discussion was had about how the chemistry would work with Rog - i.e. most people expected Rog Bond to have shat at the thought of going up against a real tough guy like Palance.
Shame. Because a Bond in genuine fear for his safety has never been properly developed in the films. Even Connery's natural bigness makes all Shaw-Grant's weight-lifting to have been for nought. Other than perhaps getting a rip in his lovely Anthony Sinclair suit and maybe getting his gelled toupee knocked out place, there is no physical threat to Bond. Now had slight, slender Bros-Bond been on the Orient with Shaw-Grant, we might have got Fleming's novel version, JB bricking himself....
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
Could you please cite the Chapter/Page number for this:
"Bond had referred to Mr Big, the famous Harlem criminal, as 'that damned n****r. Leiter had picked him up. Careful now, James, he had said. People are so damn sensitive about colour around here that you can't even ask a barman for a jigger of rum. You have to ask for a jegro."
Thanks!
Bond’s Beretta
The Handguns of Ian Fleming's James Bond
That's from Diamonds Are Forever somewhere (I've no copy to hand currently).
They were referring to the events of LALD I believe and Bond recalled that Leiter said this to him once during that mission. It could also be read (I believe) as a thinly veiled critical reference to the heavy "race editing" of the original American edition of LALD by the American publishers.
See more on this on my blog here:
http://thebondologistblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/james-bond-novels-that-were-edited.html