Does this happen to you?

3rbrown · July 2007

I'm currently am reading the books from CR to MR and also DN and in the first few chapters I picture the Bond as the Bond in the film of the book but after a will I see him as just Bond as Flemming descrided hi does this happen to you?

DAWUSS · July 2007

When I first read CR a couple of years back, I kept trying to put film Bond into the novel, but it felt like putting a square block into a round hole...

Loeffelholz · July 2007

Well, this is interesting to me...Fleming's Bond, as I've always read him, was pretty much Sean Connery in my mind, more or less, with intangible variations.

When, in October 2005, the first shots of the Craig Wars were fired, I picked up the CR novel---and purposefully, consciously, projected Daniel Craig into the piece (naturally disregarding the 'comma of black hair carelessly combed so that it hung over the right eye' stuff)---and therefore, for some crazy reason, convinced myself that he could play the part. Not logical, I know, but then there we are. I can be unconventional that way

After that, I spend 2006 rereading all of the Fleming novels, as a means of preparation for the CR 'reboot'...and I continued with my experiment of forcing Craig's visage onto the character in my mind's eye. Mind you, this certainly wasn't absolute, nor consistent in its execution, as I've been reading Fleming since the early-mid Seventies. Some habits are hard to break, and I'd occasionally have to give the entrenched Connery-amalgam the boot from my imagination...but, by and large, I read the Fleming canon with Craig cast as Bond.

And...it worked. This formed one of the bulwarks of my own personal belief that The New Guy^TM might just work out...

:007)

7289 · July 2007

The Bond I picture when I read the books is quite different than any of the actors who have protrayed him so far.

When I first read FRWL many years ago I pictured SC, but that image has long since faded away.

Pendragon · July 2007

what happens to me is that I take the movie guy and a version of the character I make up in my head and that's who I see when reading the books.

~Pen -{

Barbel · July 2007

I started reading Fleming in 1966, ie inbetween the films of TB and YOLT. Anyone old enough to remember that time will appreciate that Sean Connery has therefore always been the face (not to mention the voice) of Bond in my mind when reading the books.

Smoke_13 · August 2007

I'm a little more than half way through Flemings collection of Bond and I go back and forth depending on the situation.

Sometimes Connery, sometimes Moore, and sometimes a Bond that is just a Fleming described.

ToshTogo · August 2007

for some reason, whenever i read the bond novels, a version of john mcluskys bond is in my minds eye, but now and again i picture a version of an SC and TD amalgam , depending on which bond novel im reading

darenhat · August 2007

The early films are so similar to the novels that it's hard for me to picture anyone other than SC in the role. I do tend to paint a more Dalton like image otherwise, though.

00-Agent · August 2007

I usually picture myself as Bond when I am reading the novels.;) Just kidding, the Bond that I picture while reading is Dalton. He is not my favorite Bond actor but physically I think he is the closest to the Bond that Fleming describes.

Jamesbondjr · September 2007

I'm currently working through the novels. At first I pictured Sean Connery. Then after the Hoagy Carmichael comparison in the book, I looked up a picture of him as I didn't know what he looked like.

Now I picture Hoagy Carmichael with a scar

I find this better, it separates the books from the films for me, as I see the two characters as different.

superado · September 2007

Quick answer, no, never did I see any of the actors while reading the books. When I first began to read the novels, I did not go in order and bought the books in sequence of my favorite Bond films at the time, FRWL, followed by YOLT. I struggled getting over the begining of FRWL because I realized how unfamiliar it was contrary to my assumptions how it would be very similar to the movie...well, it was not. By the time I read YOLT, the contrast became starker. After those experiences, for my next book I chose CR, because at that point I decided to throw away any preconception of "seeing" the movie version in the novel. Obviously, CR was a leap into the unknown since an official adaptation did not exist then, and I had finally learned to differentiate the novels, appreciate their uniqueness and independence from the film series, and most importantly, to freely enjoy the richness of the books without the baggage I naively tried to impose onto my reading of FRWL and YOLT.

i expect u2 die · September 2007

One of the reasons I find Fleming's novels far superior to any of his successors is the fact that I don't picture a particular actor within his description. His writing has a such a sharp edge that I see a very cruel face. Its probably closest to Connery, but Craig's performance in CR has influenced my reading a little too.

However, with Gardner it was always Moore, and with Benson I got a very strong image of Brosnan.

asio · September 2007

I think it also helps when the actors' mug is printed on the cover the book (ie: the recent release of CR, and the classic editions of DN, FRWL, TB, OHMSS, and Chris Wood's James Bond TSWLM & James Bond in Moonraker).

superado · September 2007

asio wrote:

I think it also helps when the actors' mug is printed on the cover the book (ie: the recent release of CR, and the classic editions of DN, FRWL, TB, OHMSS, and Chris Wood's James Bond TSWLM & James Bond in Moonraker).

The funny thing with the Christopher Wood books is how Bond was not only described physically different from Moore in favor of the traditional Fleming portrayal, but how the texture of his writing was very unlike the flavor of those films that created a nice disassociation from the film series. The remarkable irony for me is how Wood by necessity infused the EON forumula and ba$tardized new storylines totally unrecognizable from their source novels, and yet he still managed to artistically redeem himself by restoring the Fleming touch to his novelizations.

asio · September 2007

One of the things I loved about Christopher Wood's 2 novelisations was his ability to fill out what were essential 2 dimensional characters, such as Jaws, and Stromberg. He gave them a rich history, which I felt added alot more to the stories.
I also enjoyed some new scenarios he added to the stories, which weren't included in the films. Perhaps he was working off the original movie scripts?
I thought they were great reads, both of them.

Does this happen to you?

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