Posted on 03/20/2010 11:05:06 AM PDT by Perdogg
The name was Fleming, Valentine Fleming. But to his four young boys, Bond creator Ian Fleming among them, he was “Mokie” — a baby-talk bastardization of “Smokie,” so called because he always had a pipe dangling from his lips, the same way Sean Connery would one day sport a cigarette in his debut appearance as James Bond in Dr. No. Curiously, no one in turn-of-the-century England thought to arrest Mr. Fleming for smoking in the presence of his children, nor did social services batter down his door to cart the poor cancer-threatened kids away. He was their Pop, and they adored him, smoke and all.
(Excerpt) Read more at bighollywood.breitbart.com ...
A great rule of thumb is that literary heroes are defined by their villains.
The villains do all the hard work. The scheming, planning, building, the recruitment and training of henchmen, and the execution of their schemes. All the hero has to do is thwart the villain.
There is unconcealed disappointment in Dr. No’s voice, when he says, “Unfortunately I overestimated you, you are just a stupid policeman...whose luck has run out.” He truly hoped that Bond could appreciate what he had done.
But other than technical gimmickry, that is Bond’s biggest forte. Good luck and timing.
A most fascinating individual. Personally, I thought his writing sparkled. I read every one of his novels in paperback at the time the movies first came out. The writing is dated now, but can still be appreciated as having started a trend.
007 bump.
I agree. The stuff still a rip-roaring read sixty years after it was written.
James Bond: [discovers Goldfinger cheating at golf] You play a Slazinger 1, don't you?
Auric Goldfinger: Yes, why?
James Bond: This is a Slazinger 7. [indicating his own golf ball]
James Bond: Here's my Penfold Hearts. You must have played the wrong ball somewhere on the 18th fairway. We are playing strict rules, so I'm afraid you lose the hole and the match.
[Goldfinger throws the golf ball to the ground in disgust]
I really like these articles originally i thought they would be about Goldfinger but they have morphed into a nice direction..
:’)
Bond’s look, when OddJob crushed the golf ball for ‘im just following Goldfinger paying Bond off for the match loss, was great.
Fleming's books are great, especially the last four.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action." -- Ian Fleming
I have never read any of his books.
Will be on the road in a couple of weeks, may have to check one out.
Parents killed in climbing accident...
If you want to get the flavor before you read the two best, you could start with the book just before those, "The Spy Who Loved Me." The last book written by Fleming, but completed after his death, was "The Man With the Golden Gun," which followed "You Only Live Twice." It's great, too.
So the order is...
"The Spy Who Loved Me"
"On Her Majesty's Secret Service"
"You Only Live Twice".
"The Man With The Golden Gun"
Here's Bond's fictitious obituary written for "You Only Live Twice"
And here's a great website that gives a lot of information such as a quick synopsis of each book along with the great cover art of the early books.
From that same site you can get a lot of good information on Fleming himself and his books.
Thanks Doc.
I’ll check them out.
I love James Bond. I told my family that when I retire I want to take up being an international spy with a license to kill. In fact we were just talking about this at dinner tonight. If I had a license to kill, I bet I could convince some of my project managers to get me their budgets a bit faster.
“Casino Royale”
“Live and Let Die”
“Moonraker” †
“Diamonds Are Forever” †
“From Russia with Love”
“Dr No”
“Goldfinger”
“For Your Eyes Only”
“Thunderball”
“The Spy Who Loved Me” †
“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”
“You Only Live Twice”
“The Man With The Golden Gun” †
“Octopussy” †
† - Books that differ significantly from the movie.
To: Dr. Eckleburg
“Casino Royale”
“Live and Let Die”
“Moonraker” †
“Diamonds Are Forever” †
“From Russia with Love”
“Dr No”
“Goldfinger”
“For Your Eyes Only”
“Thunderball”
“The Spy Who Loved Me” †
“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”
“You Only Live Twice” †
“The Man With The Golden Gun” †
“Octopussy” †
† - Books that differ significantly from the movie
“I love James Bond. I told my family that when I retire I want to take up being an international spy with a license to kill”
Sultry Shirley Bassey singing the Goldfinger theme messed up my whole plan to be a secret agent. K and I went to see the movie and before I could say anything, she said “forget it”. A while later she said if I really wanted to be a secret agent I should use Maxwell Smart or Jacques Clouseau as role models, that way the change would not be so drastic.
Casino Royale stayed close to the book,kinda!..
The Spy who loved me whoa,a stay at a motel and being rescued by a British agent from evil people who want to burn down motel,turns into Nuclear subs going to destroy the world..
BTW in The Spy who loved me the lighting in the interior of the Liparus oil tanker set was designed by Stanley Kubrick.
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