Did Ian Fleming ever give his views on bull fighting?
Silhouette Man
The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
I'm researching about Raymond Benson's Doubleshot (2000) at the moment and I was wondering whether or not Ian Fleming had ever given his thoughts on the blood sport of bullfighting in Spain. I don't think that he ever did, mind, but I'd still be very iinterested to see if our literary Bond experts here on AJB can come up with anything on this one. I have a feeling that Fleming would have been against it as he was anti-hunting in general, when it came to shooting and fox hunting. It's interesting that a bullfight does appear in the film version of OHMSS, though it does not feature in the original novel version by Fleming.
I'd really love to hear your views on this subject matter.
-{
I'd really love to hear your views on this subject matter.
-{ "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Comments
Kingley Amis once commented that Bond’s compassion towards animals (i.e. ‘The Hildebrand Rarity’) was an overlooked part of his character.
A Gent in Training.... A blog about my continuing efforts to be improve myself, be a better person, and lead a good life. It incorporates such far flung topics as fitness, self defense, music, style, food and drink, and personal philosophy.
Agent In Training
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=funbVdulVlA
The bull fight sequence features near the very end of the film.
P.S. Bull fighting and its code of honour also featured in the Columbo episode 'A Matter of Honor', from the Fifth Season.
Yes, I saw that on the Internet on the Google book myself. It came up when I was researching this. I have a hard copy of this book also. It is a very great resource.It might have referred to the introduction of Domino Vital in Thunderball possibly, but I'd need to check the novel again to make sure. Thanks anyway, superado. Could you also provide us with your thoughts on Ian Fleming, James Bond and bull fighting? I'd really love to hear your views, superado.
Well, I have to be honest that I never really noticed how much a conservationist Fleming was, though I don't doubt it. I do recall his very vivid depiction of nature as in the opening scenes of FYEO and of course the underwater scenery of LALD, OP, TB and YOLT. In some of those, he did show the survival of the fittest, predatory world of animals, but I would understand if some of us or Fleming himself made a significant distinction about humans inflicting harm to animals, which he might or might not have approved of. I just assumed that Fleming, being a product of his times, would not have minded Spanish bullfighting, since he indulged in a violent girl-fight in FRWL, since inflicted pain as sex play was a fetish of his.
Stop the presses! While composing this post, I picked up Andrew Lycett's Fleming biography and it seems that Fleming did indulge in different kinds of hunting, including shooting a stag, shark hunting and spearing a barracuda that he deemed too unruly. He even made a comment about liking hunting more than fishing. Not quite the conservationist some thought he was!
As for bullfighting, I don't know if Fleming ever visited any country where that's a sport, but it would be neat to read about in a Bond story in my opinion, very Hemingway!
At the risk of going too far off topic, I much prefer Richard Wright's take on bullfighting in his book 'Pagan Spain' over Hemingway. Wright has none of Hemingway's ridiculous macho bluster and bloodlust.
A Gent in Training.... A blog about my continuing efforts to be improve myself, be a better person, and lead a good life. It incorporates such far flung topics as fitness, self defense, music, style, food and drink, and personal philosophy.
Agent In Training
I've seen a novel called The Matador that I intend buying from a second hand book shop. I will have to look that book out now too, though, Le Samourai. I already have the Hemingway one somewhere.
P.S. Join me in my revolt against BaB - stick with AJB and MI6 Community like me! Join the revolution, comrade.
I first learned about the Wright book from a great US literary magazine called "Oxford American". Here's a link to the article:
http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2012/aug/27/new-south-journalism-pagan-spain-richard-wright/
And count me in as a fellow traveller.... BaB is nothing to me but a bad memory!
A Gent in Training.... A blog about my continuing efforts to be improve myself, be a better person, and lead a good life. It incorporates such far flung topics as fitness, self defense, music, style, food and drink, and personal philosophy.
Agent In Training
Yes, thank you for that link - never heard of that magazine before. Sounds very interesting indeed!
On BaB, I've been banned from there until the year 2038, but there was no danger of me ever going back after the soft-touch moderation allows members to attack other members' posts and blogs.
Yes, and like the potential use of other controversial blood sports such as fox huntiing or pheasant shooting (already used in Moonraker) it would have to be done in an alternative sense as a so-called "human hunt" a la The Most Dangerous Game. It's all very Bondian when you come to think of it!
http://fiskeharrison.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/from-bond-to-bullfighting/