Would Fleming have ended the series ?

Christmas Tounes

Do you reckon Fleming had planned to end the 007 series ? Like to coincide with his expected time of death ?... I do myself...

JLMuench

Probably....but if he knew that there would be Amis, Gardner, and Benson....he probably would have been happy.

Hardyboy

This is a tough one to answer. As reported in Andrew Lycett's biography of Fleming, at the time he was working on The Man with the Golden Gun, Fleming complained of being burned out and he said that this would be his last book--which, of course, it was. However, his notebook contained story ideas, character descriptions, and quite possibly a sketch for a new novel--so Fleming might have been expressing his dissatisfaction with TMWTGG as well as his own morbidity. For more info on this subject (sorry if I sound like a librarian), see two other threads in this forum: "What Might Have Been" and "Fleming's Notebook."

ABurgess

He talked about ending the series before he wrote TMWTGG, that's why FRWL ends the way it does. I don't think that TMWTGG was going to be his last Bond novel. In his writing notebook he has plot outlines for future Bond novels and short stories.

Willie Garvin

I don't think Ian Fleming would have wanted James Bond's adventures to be continued by additional novelists.Most writers don't care to have their creations fall into the hands of others, regardless of their qualifications and talent.

Christmas Tounes

No, I agree WG. Say JK Rolwing got killed after the last book, she certainly wouldn't want some git to make Harry Potter 8 would she ?...

Red Grant

well the fleming books like the connery films are classics, no one after them has dupliucated or succeeded there awsome success. however, i do think TMWTGG was one of the weaker bond novels. Also don't remember Fleming had the intention of killing bond off after FRWL.

Sir Miles

Yes Red, Fleming probably was trying to kill Bond off in FRWL.

Hardyboy

FRWL ends with a cliffhanger--Rosa Klebb stabs Bond with the poison-tipped blade hidden in her shoe, and the last scene of the novel has Bond crashing to the "wine red floor" while Rene Mathis is desperately getting on the phone. According to Andrew Lycett, Fleming kept the fate of Bond up in the air because he was both experiencing doubts about his own abilities as a novelist and suffering a mid-life crisis (p. 293, American edition). When the book was published, a few reviewers picked up on the fact Bond might be dead, but by this time Fleming had regained his old confidence and he issued a letter to his readers explaining that Bond was being treated for Fugu poisoning and was making a definite recovery (p. 314).

Sweepy the Cat

He was going to kill him of in From Russia with Love but brought him back. I'm sure he intended to kill him but not for a while and his death was quite sudden. I think bond would have got liver cancer, comitted suicide, got shot saving someone else or doing a mission or my favourite, settling down with a beautiful girl in Jamaica