Post by Nalkarj on Aug 29, 2018 19:47:30 GMT
I posted this thread in the “Books” thread, but I should probably ask here as well: has anyone here read Ian Fleming’s original James Bond books? I recently finished Thunderball, which wasn’t one of my favorites but was still very good, especially the opening (it’s also one of the closest to its movie adaptation).
What struck me from the get-go is how good a writer Fleming was. He somehow manages to split the difference between the objective minimalism of Hemingway and Hammett and the evocative stylization of Chandler. Fleming’s Bond has more of a harder edge than the Connery’s (and is nothing like Moore’s or Brosnan’s)—far fewer wisecracks, for one thing—but one can definitely see how Saltzman, Broccoli, Connery, and director Terence Young got their character.
Ranking the Flemings I’ve read so far…
1. From Russia, with Love
My favorite of the Bond movies and my favorite of the books. Just a perfect spy-story—exciting, suspenseful, exceptionally paced, good dialogue and characters—with an excellent final twist.
2. Live and Let Die
Nothing like the film adaptation other than the voodoo—as far as the films go, this one is closer to Licence to Kill (which was based, in part, on this book). Voodoo, pirates, buried treasure, an excellent villain, and Bond and Felix Leiter (before Fleming developed a disliking for Americans) travelling through the Caribbean. What’s not to like?
3. Casino Royale
The first of the series and the first one I read. Much more character-driven than some of the others, and very good. (Most of my comments will just be variations on “very good.” This whole series, taken together, is first-class.)
4. Dr. No
Some more fun Jamaica-based sleuthing—and the first half is mostly sleuthing around, figuring out clues, while the second half gives us Fleming’s first real insane megalomaniac that the movies developed into a personal art-form. Close to the movie in every particular, including Bond’s characterization (Connery’s closest to Fleming’s man in Dr. No and From Russia with Love); Quarrel, Honeychile Rider, and Dr. No himself are some of the most indelible Bond characters. The only real flaw is Fleming’s most common flaw: a too-rapid and perfunctory climax. But this is still an excellent one.
5. Goldfinger
A former co-worker of mine had a theory that Goldfinger was written as Fleming’s parody of his earlier books; certainly that element comes through in the movie, though I’m not too sure that it comes across in the book. It is very good, but it takes a long time to get to the climax (and adding in the lesbianism—what, for shock value?—is rather ridiculous). But, as far as adventures go, it’s one of the best, with Goldfinger himself just as good a villain as Gert Fröbe (and Michael Collins) gave us in the movie. The movie’s screenwriter, though, did pick up on and correct (and make fun of) a major flaw in Goldfinger’s plan, though.
6. Thunderball
The whole opening is excellent. It’s still good after that, but Largo never comes across as a great villain, as Red Grant, Mr. Big, and Dr. No do, and in parts it feels more like a screenplay (as which it was originally written) than a novel. Great to see Felix, a far better character than he ever was in the movies, and pirate treasure make a reappearance, though.
7. Diamonds Are Forever
First of all, nothing like the movie. Pretty much only the names and the Las Vegas setting are the same. Unfortunately, this is the only one I read that I didn’t like—a slow-moving and rather forgettable mob story.
OK, then… I have yet to read Moonraker, The Spy who Loved Me, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, You Only Live Twice, The Man with the Golden Gun, and the short stories. But what say you?
What struck me from the get-go is how good a writer Fleming was. He somehow manages to split the difference between the objective minimalism of Hemingway and Hammett and the evocative stylization of Chandler. Fleming’s Bond has more of a harder edge than the Connery’s (and is nothing like Moore’s or Brosnan’s)—far fewer wisecracks, for one thing—but one can definitely see how Saltzman, Broccoli, Connery, and director Terence Young got their character.
Ranking the Flemings I’ve read so far…
1. From Russia, with Love
My favorite of the Bond movies and my favorite of the books. Just a perfect spy-story—exciting, suspenseful, exceptionally paced, good dialogue and characters—with an excellent final twist.
2. Live and Let Die
Nothing like the film adaptation other than the voodoo—as far as the films go, this one is closer to Licence to Kill (which was based, in part, on this book). Voodoo, pirates, buried treasure, an excellent villain, and Bond and Felix Leiter (before Fleming developed a disliking for Americans) travelling through the Caribbean. What’s not to like?
3. Casino Royale
The first of the series and the first one I read. Much more character-driven than some of the others, and very good. (Most of my comments will just be variations on “very good.” This whole series, taken together, is first-class.)
4. Dr. No
Some more fun Jamaica-based sleuthing—and the first half is mostly sleuthing around, figuring out clues, while the second half gives us Fleming’s first real insane megalomaniac that the movies developed into a personal art-form. Close to the movie in every particular, including Bond’s characterization (Connery’s closest to Fleming’s man in Dr. No and From Russia with Love); Quarrel, Honeychile Rider, and Dr. No himself are some of the most indelible Bond characters. The only real flaw is Fleming’s most common flaw: a too-rapid and perfunctory climax. But this is still an excellent one.
5. Goldfinger
A former co-worker of mine had a theory that Goldfinger was written as Fleming’s parody of his earlier books; certainly that element comes through in the movie, though I’m not too sure that it comes across in the book. It is very good, but it takes a long time to get to the climax (and adding in the lesbianism—what, for shock value?—is rather ridiculous). But, as far as adventures go, it’s one of the best, with Goldfinger himself just as good a villain as Gert Fröbe (and Michael Collins) gave us in the movie. The movie’s screenwriter, though, did pick up on and correct (and make fun of) a major flaw in Goldfinger’s plan, though.
6. Thunderball
The whole opening is excellent. It’s still good after that, but Largo never comes across as a great villain, as Red Grant, Mr. Big, and Dr. No do, and in parts it feels more like a screenplay (as which it was originally written) than a novel. Great to see Felix, a far better character than he ever was in the movies, and pirate treasure make a reappearance, though.
7. Diamonds Are Forever
First of all, nothing like the movie. Pretty much only the names and the Las Vegas setting are the same. Unfortunately, this is the only one I read that I didn’t like—a slow-moving and rather forgettable mob story.
OK, then… I have yet to read Moonraker, The Spy who Loved Me, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, You Only Live Twice, The Man with the Golden Gun, and the short stories. But what say you?