Fun The BOND Books!

[ant-mac]

Does anyone else on this message board actually read any of the 007 novels?

I've just finished re-reading CASINO ROYALE by Ian Fleming. I'm now ready to move on to LIVE AND LET DIE again.

I like CASINO ROYALE, but it isn't my favourite Ian Fleming novel. I think that honour goes to either FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE or OHMSS.

“The bitch is dead now.”

 

[Doctor Omega]

You have put me to shame.

I have, thinking on it, yet to actually read a James Bond novel.

I understand that MOONRAKER is virtually unrecognisable and that OHMSS is pretty faithful. Oh and I read the bit about the knife stabbing Bond in the leg from that woman's shoe and he appears to die.

Other than that, they are an undiscovered country to me. o_O

 

[ant-mac]

You're missing out, mate.

They are a great read.

There are two versions of MOONRAKER, the original by Ian Fleming and the film version by Christopher Wood.

The same applies for THE SPY WHO LOVED ME.

The incident you refer to occurs at the end of FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE.

 

[TheMajor]

I would highly recommend the books (Fleming's Moonraker is my favourite). Also, some of the post Fleming books are worth looking into. Licence Renewed, For Special Services & Icebreaker by John Gardner and High Time To Kill by Raymond Benson are my favourite ones not written by Fleming.

 

[ant-mac]

I would highly recommend the books (Fleming's Moonraker is my favourite). Also, some of the post Fleming books are worth looking into. Licence Renewed, For Special Services & Icebreaker by John Gardner and High Time To Kill by Raymond Benson are my favourite ones not written by Fleming.

I like Kingsley Amis, Christopher Wood and John Gardner, but unfortunately, I absolutely detest Raymond Benson.

 

[ant-mac]

“He disagreed with something that ate him.”

Well, I've now completed CASINO ROYALE and LIVE AND LET DIE once again. They were both simple and straightforward stories - and very enjoyable.

However, now comes MOONRAKER, with its unforgettable card game at Blades. The night James Bond literally won a small fortune. I am really looking forward to that.

 

[ant-mac]

“I should spend the money quickly, Commander Bond.”

Well, I've now completed MOONRAKER once again. I enjoyed it even more this time around. I find I appreciate the original circumstances of the Bond adventures much more than I did when I was younger. I'm more than a little tired of the high-tech, ultra-modern world of the Bond films.

However, now comes DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER. And all that I can remember of it from the last time I read it was that I thought it was much better than the film. And I thought that even though I was much younger...

 

[ant-mac]

"It reads better than it lives."

I’ve completed DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, with the diamond smuggling pipeline, the American Mafia and the sexy and sultry Tiffany Case. I don’t consider it to be amongst the best of Ian Fleming’s work, but it is still so much better than the film.

“Don’t push it in. Screw it in,” said M impatiently.

And if you want to know what happens next, you’ll have to read DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER for yourself. ;)

Now for FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE.

 

[ant-mac]

“This man died from living too much.”

I’ve finished reading FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE. Ian Fleming once remarked that he thought this was his finest 007 novel - and it’s difficult to argue with him. It is quite simply brilliant.

The evil plot that SMERSH created has been foiled. Red Grant is dead, Tatiana Romanova is safe and James Bond lies unconscious on the wine red carpet, on the brink of death… And now for DR NO, with a return visit to Jamaica and another adventure with Quarrel.

 

[Gavin]

I've read a couple and they're quite good, although obviously very dated now. But they're very little like the movies really. To be honest the books and the movies are basically completely separate entities that just happen to share some character names.

 

[ant-mac]

“Hold tight, my darling. And cry. It’s going to hurt.”

Well, once again, I’ve finished reading through DR NO. And, once again, I thoroughly enjoyed it. James Bond’s Jamaican adventure has come to a close. John Strangways’ bullet-ridden corpse lies at the bottom of a reservoir, Quarrel’s burnt and twisted remains lay in a patch of jungle next to a lake and Doctor Julius No lies dead under a twenty foot high pile of bird shit.

For the most part, the film was reasonably accurate to the novel, although there were some differences here and there.

And now for GOLDFINGER…

According to Shirley Bassey, he's the man with the Midas touch.

 

[ant-mac]

“If you touch me there again you’ll have to marry me.”

I've just finished re-reading GOLDFINGER. I'm now ready to move on to FOR YOUR EYES ONLY again.

James Bond has defeated Auric Goldfinger’s scheme, Operation Grand Slam. His plans to rob Fort Knox of all its gold bullion are in ruins and he and his faithful henchman, Oddjob are both dead. As are Jill Masterton and her sister Tiffany Masterton. Meanwhile, Pussy Galore is receiving some much needed TLC from 007.

And now it’s time to read FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, a book that is comprised of the five short stories FROM A VIEW TO A KILL, FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, QUANTUM OF SOLACE, RISICO and THE HILDEBRAND RARITY.

 

[ant-mac]

I've finished the James Bond book, FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, which differs from the preceding seven 007 novels. This time, it's a collection of short stories, that tell of five secret occasions in the life of James Bond.

FROM A VIEW TO A KILL

Bond investigates the murder of a motorcycle dispatch-rider from SHAPE - Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe - and the theft of his top-secret documents by a motorcycle-riding assassin.

“Well, thanks for picking me up. When this whirl is over, can I pick you up in exchange?”

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

After the murder of the Havelocks, who were close friends of M, by the henchmen of a former Gestapo officer who wishes to purchase their Jamaican estate, Bond is sent on a mission of vengeance.

“You know what they say in China: ‘Before you set out on revenge, you dig two graves.’”

QUANTUM OF SOLACE

After a dinner party at Government House in Nassau, when the other guests have left, the Governor tells Bond the story of a relationship between a former civil servant Philip Masters and an air hostess Rhoda Llewellyn and about the QUANTUM OF SOLACE.

“You’re not married, but I think it’s the same with all relationships between a man and a woman. They can survive anything so long as some kind of basic Humanity exists between the two people. When all kindness has gone, when one person obviously and sincerely doesn’t care if the other is alive or dead, then it’s just no good. That particular insult to the ego - worse, to the instinct of self-preservation - can never be forgiven. I’ve noticed this in hundreds of marriages. I’ve seen flagrant infidelities patched up, I’ve seen crimes and even murder forgiven by the other party, let alone bankruptcy and every other form of social crime. Incurable disease, blindness, disaster - all these can be overcome. But never the death of common Humanity in one of the partners. I’ve thought about this and I’ve invented a rather high-sounding title for this basic factor in Human relations. I have called it the Law of the Quantum of Solace.”

RISICO

Bond is sent by M to investigate a drug-smuggling operation based in Italy that is sending narcotics to England, with instructions to get in touch with a CIA informant, Kristatos, who in turn tells Bond that a man named Colombo is behind the racket.

“In this pizniss is much risico.”

THE HILDEBRAND RARITY

After completing an assignment in the Seychelles Islands, Bond meets an uncouth American millionaire named Krest, who challenges him to help in the search for a rare fish, THE HILDEBRAND RARITY.

“My friend, that is one hell of a bloody fine ship and if Mister Krest is a grand slam redoubled in bastards, who the hell cares?”

And now for THUNDERBALL, the first encounter between James Bond and SPECTRE - SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion.

 

[ant-mac]

“This is the first time I’ve eaten a woman. They’re rather good.”

I have completed reading the ninth book in the James Bond series, THUNDERBALL. it is also the first book in what is loosely known as "the Blofeld trilogy".

James Bond has successfully won the first encounter between himself and SPECTRE - SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion. He has successfully been able to thwart SPECTRE’s scheme to hold the governments of the western world to ransom with two nuclear bombs. He was aided in this accomplishment by his trusty friend, Felix Leiter and Dominetta Vitali - the mistress of the main villain, Emilio Largo.

And now it is time to move on to THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, which chronicles the love life of Vivien Michael and her brief encounter with James Bond.

 

[ant-mac]

“Now don’t burn yourself up, Mister Horowitz. No need to sing the weeps.”

I have completed reading the tenth book in the James Bond series by Ian Fleming, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME.

THE SPY WHO LOVED ME chronicles the love life of Vivien Michel, as well as her brief encounter with James Bond at The Dreamy Pines Motor Court, on a back road in the Adirondack Mountains, in the northern part of the USA. It also chronicles the deadly confrontation between her and 007 and two lethal mobsters in the form of "Sluggsy" Morant and "Horror" Horowitz.

And now it is time to move on to the first face-to-face encounter between James Bond and Ernst Stavro Blofeld, in ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Having exhausted all of the Fleming novels, should the film-makers now go back and do more accurate and faithful versions of the books?

Or keep making up original stories for Bond at this point?

 

[Gavin]

I suspect that the novels are too dated now to be faithfully adapted. Personally I'd prefer to see the series continue with all new stories. And to a fair extent a large portion of what we've seen on screen has been original material bearing little or no relation to the novel that the titles were taken from.

 

[ant-mac]

“I said, ‘no conversation’. Take off those clothes. Make love to me. You are handsome and strong. I want to remember what it can be like. Do anything you like. And tell me what you like and what you would like from me. Be rough with me. Treat me like the lowest whore in creation. Forget everything else. No questions. Take me.”

I’ve completed reading the eleventh book in the James Bond series by Ian Fleming, ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE. It is also the second book in what is known as “the Blofeld trilogy". This is easily one of my favourite - if not my favourite - 007 novel.

James Bond has finally come face-to-face with his most famous nemesis, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, high in the mountains of Switzerland. He has managed to defeat the latest criminal mastermind’s latest scheme and met, fallen in love with and married the girl of his dreams. Unfortunately, that dream did not last long before it was brutally shattered by Blofeld and his evil side-kick, Irma Bunt.

And now for the third and final book in “the Blofeld trilogy”, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE.

 

[Cloister56]

I must admit I haven't read any of the Flemming novels. I do own a few but haven't got round to them.
I'm a big fan of Jeffery Deaver, mainly for his Lincoln Rhyme series so I gave Carte Blanche a go and really enjoyed it.
Yeah the modern Bond is a bit of a pretentious dick, (Bond didnt like eating at modern pub/restaurants "more like ghastly than gastro, he once quipped" but I enjoyed the different approach.l and the story was great.
I was a bit disappointed with both Solo and Trigger Mortis, I didn't get into them at all. Some aspects like the Formula 1 race just seemed tacked on and ultimately a bit pointless.
They both went back to 60's era Bond, which is fine but I would love to see modern Bond given more outings too.
As for the older stuff, I enjoyed Licence Revoked and bits of Icebreaker. I am finding Role of Honour a real chore to get through and I've attempted Zero Minus Ten about 3 times.
I really would love to find a great Bond book but I don't like starting series halfway through. Maybe Fleming is the way to go.

 

[ant-mac]

Of the 007 authors that I'm familiar with - apart from Ian Fleming - I like Kingsley Amis, Christopher Wood and John Gardner, but unfortunately, I absolutely detest Raymond Benson. In fact, I simply consider Raymond Benson to be one of the worst authors I've ever had the misfortune to come across.

I look forward to reading the novel by Anthony Horowitz, because I am a huge fan of his work on the TV program FOYLE'S WAR. I have always considered that TV series to be the perfect blueprint for a 007 TV show set in the era in which it was originally written. A TV series that might possibly do proper justice to its source material.

Just a daydream I have...