Your Basket is Empty
Born into a wealthy British banking family, Ian Lancaster Fleming (1908-64) was educated at Eton, and completed army officer training at Sandhurst. Before the war he worked as a journalist for Reuters and The Times, serving in Moscow for both organisations.
Fleming spent the war years working for Britain’s Naval Intelligence Division with the oversight of two intelligence units, 30 Assault Unit and T-Force.His wartime service and his career as a journalist provided much of the background, detail and depth of the thirteen James Bond novels, the first of which being Casino Royale in 1952.
The ‘insider’ detail and sardonic wit of these books, together with the racy adventures of the protagonist, Agent 007, made James Bond the most successful and popular secret agent in literary fiction. The parallel series of visually spectacular films turned the “licence to kill” into a licence to make billions of dollars – the longest surviving cinematic franchise in the history of filmmaking. This year is the sixtieth anniversary year of the first movie, Dr. No with Sean Connery taking the lead role, so what better time for Country House Library to take a not-so-secretive look at the author and the suave, devil-may-care hero he created.
There’s no easy answer to this one as each film is different. The early 60’s movies such as Dr. No andFrom Russia with Lovefollow the author’s original creation and plot fairly closely. Later films such as You Only Live Twice and Diamonds are Forever shared the title, some settings, themes and character names with the books. Then there are films such as Octopussyand A View to a Kill which borrowed nothing much more than the books title. Arguably, the original James Bond books and the films are of different genres.
The books have been compared to the hard-boiled/noir crime fiction that came from Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. This genre has tough guys who don't so much solve crimes as throw a monkey wrench into the works of some criminal enterprise. Bond is used by his boss ‘M’ in the novels as a wrecking ball against the enemies of Britain. He doesn't solve crimes. He blows up, sometimes literally, the apparatus of the enemies. In addition, the novels have a dark tone that noir fiction is known for.
The movies, by contrast, are firmly in the Action/Adventure genre. The idea is that the world is broken, or in terrible danger, and one man has the power and courage to put the world to rights. In our desperate hour, Bond is called for. The novel, by contrast, puts Bond's role as the main player in a small but important action against the enemy. Victory in the novel means, say, reducing communist influence in France, not saving the world. When Bond doubts himself in the movies, it is so he can overcome these doubts and demonstrate what makes him superbly appropriate for saving the world. When Bond doubts himself in the novelCasino Royale, it is to explain why this person pursues the actions he decides on. This is perfectly appropriate for noir fiction, but not so much for action/adventure stories.
The celebrated author Anthony Horowitz, writer of two successful Bond ‘continuation’ novels, said of the original Fleming work,
“the books are in their own way small masterpieces full of the most amazing scenes. They are brilliantly written, wonderful descriptions, great characters […] because the plots are so different from the films, you won't know what's going to happen […] Fleming's prose style is so enjoyable. There's always a sentence that will make you smile.”
What better recommendation to treat yourself to a vintage James Bond novel from the master himself, Ian Fleming?
ADD YOUR CHOOSEN BOOKMARK TO YOUR BASKET. DISCOUNT APPLIED WHEN YOU CHECKOUT
