I’ve recently been re-reading from the beginning. I’m currently up to Goldfinger. Three things that strike me are 1) Bond’s very subtle character arc is something for which Fleming doesn’t get enough credit, 2) Moonraker is absolute brilliance, and 3) Diamonds are Forever is well-researched but is not very much fun.
1. Doctor No
2. You Only Live Twice
3. Casino Royale
4. From Russia With Love
5. Live and Let Die
6. Thunderball
7. Moonraker
8. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
9. Goldfinger
10. The Man With the Golden Gun
11. The Spy Who Loved Me
12. Diamonds are Forever
It's been about a year since I first read them and would probably need to read them again to be able to confidently rank them. I do know that there were a couple that I wasn't expecting that much out of which turned out to be my favorites: Moonraker and Dr. No. Some that I had high expectations for, like Goldfinger and FRWL I found disappointing. The latter was still good but I've seen the movie so many times, and it followed the book somewhat closely, that I was just kind of bored reading it. And maybe I'm an idiot but I thought the movie made some improvements such as SPECTRE playing the two sides against each other. It may be the best written book in the series but it just so happened to not do much for me. TSWLM was the one I was least looking forward to but it wasn't as bad as I feared. Many years ago when I was a kid I bought a bunch of old Bond paperbacks at a garage sale and since that was my favorite Bond film back then I started with it. I had no idea the films were often completely un-related and I got maybe halfway through the book before the boredom, confusion and lack of submarines caused me to give up on the book and Bond books for 20 years.
It's been about a year since I first read them and would probably need to read them again to be able to confidently rank them. I do know that there were a couple that I wasn't expecting that much out of which turned out to be my favorites: Moonraker and Dr. No. Some that I had high expectations for, like Goldfinger and FRWL I found disappointing. The latter was still good but I've seen the movie so many times, and it followed the book somewhat closely, that I was just kind of bored reading it. And maybe I'm an idiot but I thought the movie made some improvements such as SPECTRE playing the two sides against each other. It may be the best written book in the series but it just so happened to not do much for me. TSWLM was the one I was least looking forward to but it wasn't as bad as I feared. Many years ago when I was a kid I bought a bunch of old Bond paperbacks at a garage sale and since that was my favorite Bond film back then I started with it. I had no idea the films were often completely un-related and I got maybe halfway through the book before the boredom, confusion and lack of submarines caused me to give up on the book and Bond books for 20 years.
Moonraker, Dr No and Thunderball are three of my favorite Bond novels. I don't think it's a coincidence that each of those three started off as a screenplay.
The Spy Who Loved Me is probably the weakest IMHO.
What comes to the others, I really like to think the individual novels a chapters in a one very long novel. The character arch of James Bond is very interesting and when the novels are viewed in a "big picture", the fatigue that Bond feels can really be felt towards the end of the series.
The biggest mistake, I feel, one can make with the novels is to try to look at them as individual stories and to read them out of order!
"I mean, she almost kills bond...with her ass."
-Mr Arlington Beech
BBC doing a Moonraker adoptation on the Radio this weekend with Toby Stephens playing Bond again. I highly recommend listening to it, the previous ones were very enjoyable.
BBC doing a Moonraker adoptation on the Radio this weekend with Toby Stephens playing Bond again. I highly recommend listening to it, the previous ones were very enjoyable.
Hello. Do you know what time this will be on the BBC? and on which radio staton.
I ham listening to audobooks of Ian Fleming James Bond books. I have not finished them yet but my favourite book to now has been Dr No and Live and Let Die.
I did listen to the radio play today. I enjoyed it very much. It was different to the films of course but close to the Ian Fleming book. I do hope that more of these plays are to be made.
BBC doing a Moonraker adoptation on the Radio this weekend with Toby Stephens playing Bond again. I highly recommend listening to it, the previous ones were very enjoyable.
Thanks for mentioning this! Just last week I was checking to see if the BBC had done another Bond, as it's been over a year since their Thunderball adaptation. But I couldn't find anything! Seems like these radio plays just abruptly appear with little fanfare. Every several months I re-listen to the dramas they've done, in the order of the novels, and I really enjoy them. Doctor No is probably my favorite, if only because I like that book so much.
I had a suspicion they'd do an early Bond next; I was really hoping for LALD. I bet that one would make for a fun audio drama. But I figured it would only be a matter of time until they did Moonraker (or Casino Royale), as fans rate it so highly. At this rate it looks like they might actually do all of them -- I wonder if they'll remake YOLT, which received its own adaptation back in 1991 or so? (That one's good, too, I think, though Bond's voice suddenly sounds "old" if you've grown familiar with Toby Stephens's performance!)
I haven't gotten a chance to listen to Moonraker but will soon -- you can usually find these online, for those like me who aren't in the UK. As a matter of fact, Moonraker is already up on archive.org. But you can also listen to it on the BBC site for the next 30 days or so.
Moonraker
On Her Majsesty's Secret Service
Thunderball
Casino Royale
Doctor No
From Russia, With Love
Live and Let Die
You Only Live Twice
Goldfinger
The Man With the Golden Gun
Diamond Are Forever
The Spy Who Loved Me
Comments
2. You Only Live Twice
3. Casino Royale
4. From Russia With Love
5. Live and Let Die
6. Thunderball
7. Moonraker
8. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
9. Goldfinger
10. The Man With the Golden Gun
11. The Spy Who Loved Me
12. Diamonds are Forever
My favorites:
Casino Royale
Moonraker
Dr No
Thunderball
My least favorites:
Diamonds Are Forever
Goldfinger (the story that I think the film-makers improved on the Fleming source material)
The Spy Who Loved Me
All three of my least favorites are still worth reading.
Moonraker, Dr No and Thunderball are three of my favorite Bond novels. I don't think it's a coincidence that each of those three started off as a screenplay.
What comes to the others, I really like to think the individual novels a chapters in a one very long novel. The character arch of James Bond is very interesting and when the novels are viewed in a "big picture", the fatigue that Bond feels can really be felt towards the end of the series.
The biggest mistake, I feel, one can make with the novels is to try to look at them as individual stories and to read them out of order!
-Mr Arlington Beech
1. Connery 2. Craig 3. Brosnan 4. Dalton 5. Lazenby 6. Moore
Hello. Do you know what time this will be on the BBC? and on which radio staton.
I ham listening to audobooks of Ian Fleming James Bond books. I have not finished them yet but my favourite book to now has been Dr No and Live and Let Die.
Thanks for mentioning this! Just last week I was checking to see if the BBC had done another Bond, as it's been over a year since their Thunderball adaptation. But I couldn't find anything! Seems like these radio plays just abruptly appear with little fanfare. Every several months I re-listen to the dramas they've done, in the order of the novels, and I really enjoy them. Doctor No is probably my favorite, if only because I like that book so much.
I had a suspicion they'd do an early Bond next; I was really hoping for LALD. I bet that one would make for a fun audio drama. But I figured it would only be a matter of time until they did Moonraker (or Casino Royale), as fans rate it so highly. At this rate it looks like they might actually do all of them -- I wonder if they'll remake YOLT, which received its own adaptation back in 1991 or so? (That one's good, too, I think, though Bond's voice suddenly sounds "old" if you've grown familiar with Toby Stephens's performance!)
I haven't gotten a chance to listen to Moonraker but will soon -- you can usually find these online, for those like me who aren't in the UK. As a matter of fact, Moonraker is already up on archive.org. But you can also listen to it on the BBC site for the next 30 days or so.
Moonraker
On Her Majsesty's Secret Service
Thunderball
Casino Royale
Doctor No
From Russia, With Love
Live and Let Die
You Only Live Twice
Goldfinger
The Man With the Golden Gun
Diamond Are Forever
The Spy Who Loved Me