THE BOOK: YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
The Year: 1964
The Author: Ian Fleming
THE PLOT
M sends Bond to trade with the head of the Japanese secret service, Tiger Tanaka, for a Russian decoding machine. But it turns out all Bond has to trade with is his service. The service Tanaka requires is the assassination of another gaijin in Japan, one whose activities have become politically embarrassing. As Bond goes on the hunt, it turns out his target is a familiar one.
THE COMMENTARY
At the beginning of this book, Bond is falling apart — drinking too much, gambling too much, sloughing off at work — as a result of the murder of his wife in the previous book, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. M is on the verge of firing him when he's given an alternative by the neurolgist who has appeared once or twice before, Sir James Molony, who has warned that Bond was being pushed too hard. Molony's advice is to give Bond an "impossible" mission, as Bond has always been at his best when rising to a challenge. This is more than any employers would have done for you or me, of course, but none of us are Bond -- and it makes sense that M would try to re-hone this formerly valuable tool at least once before pitching it.
It is also remarkable — and welcome — to see Fleming carry on the story elements of the previous book as if no time had passed. Fleming has occasionally carried on some elements from one book to the next, although not often. There was the throwaway line explaining Pussy Galore's absence in some book or other after Goldfinger (basically "we broke up") and, of course, Blofeld carrying over from Thunderball to On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Prior to the Blofeld Trilogy, though, Fleming had mostly started Bond over at "Go" with each book, with few if any references to previous adventures. Not so this book, which is basically On Her Majesty's Secret Service Part II.
This is what happened with superhero comics, in a way. Until the 1960s, every superhero story started over at status quo, regardless of what happened in the previous issue. That changed beginning in 1961 with Marvel's ongoing soap operas, and even at DC to an extent, with two-parters like Justice League of America #21-22. It took a little while for DC to fully adopt Marvel's approach, but eventually they did. Here's Ian Fleming doing it in pretty much the same time frame as Marvel, early 1960s. Maybe it was a cultural shift.
I loved it, of course. And I think even normal people, then or now, would appreciate it. Previously, Bond's status quo had been largely static (at least after Casino Royale). But this is different. Downward progression is still progression. His alcoholic depression is not only in character, it's also characterization. It may have been the declining health of the author speaking, as some sources suggest, but Bond's collapse has the ring of harsh truth for the character — one whom we know has endured at least nine physically and psychologically brutal missions, and does not live a healthy lifestyle.
And also, he had a huge life change that blew up in his face. A man who had never found anything to live for had finally done so — only for it to be snatched away. And largely as a result of his own actions. It's only logical that suicidal depression would be a possibility — and I applaud Fleming having the courage to go there.
Getting to Bond's trip to Japan, I find it interesting that Bond offers Tiger Tanaka the fruits of MI6's "Blue Route" in exchange for the code machine Magic 44, only for Tanaka to explain that the Japanese had infiltrated Blue Route long before. Plot-wise this is important, as it leaves Bond nothing to trade — except for doing Tanaka a service. Hence the assassination mission.
But it's also one of many times that the UK takes it on the chin in this book.
During the briefing, for example, M says that the C.I.A. isn't passing along Pacific information any more. "They're worried about our security. Can't blame them."
He then goes off on a speech about how when someone in the West defects, the media makes a big deal of it, while the reverse isn't true. That's enough to get Bond musing about a recent national-security problem. "Bond knew that M. had tendered his resignation after the Prenderghast case. This had involved a Head of Station with homosexual tendencies who had recently, amidst worldwide publicity, been given 30 years for treason."
If any of that sounds familiar, it should. This book came out in 1964, after the "Cambridge Five" scandal climaxed the year before. It turns out that five upper-echelon MI6 men had been feeding information to the USSR since the 1930s. Two were homosexual, which doesn't appear to have been a factor in their recruitment, but which the British press had a field day with. The last two were caught, and confessed, in 1963. (And undoubtedly there were more men of lesser stature that were never caught.) Obviously, this was a huge black eye for MI6. It appears Fleming felt compelled to address it, at least obliquely.
M goes on to discuss Tiger Tanaka, head of Japanese espionage. "He's in fief ... to the C.I.A. Probably doesn't think much of us."
And, in fact, he doesn't.
"Bondo-san, I will now be blunt with you," Tanaka says later. "Now it is a sad fact that I, and many of us in positions of authority in Japan, have formed an unsatisfactory opinion about the British people since the war. You have not only lost a great Empire, you have seemed almost anxious to throw it away with both hands." He then goes on to describe "pitiful bungles" by Britain in the Suez crisis.
"Further," he continues, "your governments have shown themselves successively incapable of ruiling and have handed over effective control of the country to the trade unions, who appear to be dedicated to the principle of doing less work for more money. This feather-bedding, this shirking of an honest day's work, is sapping at ever-increasing speed the moral fibre of the British, a quality the world once so much admired. In its place you now see a vacuous, aimless horde of seekers-after-pleasure -- gambling at the pools and bingo, whining at the weather and the and the declining fortunes of the country, and wallowing nostalgically in gossip bout the doings of of the Royal Family and of your so-called aristocracy in the page of the most debased newspapers in the world."
Dikko Henderson, Bond's Australian contact, gives a speech blaming Britain's decline on, basically, the lower classes. "I stand for a government by an elite," he says. "You give me any more of that liberal crap and I'll have your balls for a bow tie."
The reader is expected to like both of these men, and so we must take their opinions seriously. It's possible that we're to take it as characterization, as Fleming is much better at his craft at this stage than in earlier books, where it was easy to spot him speaking through his characters. OTOH, that might be what's happening here, too, with Fleming manifesting his outrage at the Cambridge Five, disgust with Britain's notorious press, dislike of Labour Party policies, discomfort with Britain's postwar decline and disappointment with Britain's reputational damage. It's hard to say.
Bond isn't much help. "There's a certain aboriginal sense in what you say," Bond hedges with Henderson, but he doesn't commit and changes the subject. "How did we get on politics, anyway?"
Fleming is less cagey with Bond's response to Tanaka. Bond offers that Britain isn't "doing too badly," a defense that Tanaka rips thoroughly, and insultingly, to shreds. It reminded me of Casino Royale, where Bond tells René Mathis that he can no longer see any difference between the good guys and bad guys — a straw man Fleming set up for Mathis to eviscerate for the reader to have no doubt where Fleming stands on that score.
Tanaka's speech is much the same, somehow making Tanaka a fan of the British Empire (you know, the one the Japanese erased in the Pacific in World War II) and of British work ethic. This is clearly Fleming talking, not a patriotic Japanese agent, and Fleming's intent to convince us is underscored by Bond's internal response. Bond finds himself "smarting under Tiger's onslaught, and the half-truths which he knew lay behind his words."
There's more to Tanaka's speech:
"The Oriental way of life is particularly attractive," Tanaka says to Bond, "to the American who wishes to escape from a culture which, I am sure you will agree, has become, to say the least of it, more and more unattractive except to the lower grades of the human species to whom bad but plentiful food, shiny toys such as the automobile and the television, and the 'quick buck,' often dishonestly earned, or earned in exchange for minimal labour or skills, are the summum bonum (the highest goal in an ethical system)."
This time Bond doesn't demur, but quickly agrees. But points out that Japan is quickly going that way, too.
"For the time being," he replies, "we are being subjected to what I can best describe as Scuola di Coca Cola. Baseball, amusement arcades, hot dogs, hideously large bosoms, neon lighting — these are part of our payment for defeat in battle. They are the tepid tea of the way of life we know under the name of demokorasu (democracy)."
Whew! It's a good thing Tiger — and maybe Fleming — didn't live to see today's Japan, full of neon lights, baseball, and if you look at hentai and some other manga, "hideously large bosoms."
There's plenty of time for Tanaka to make these observations, as more than the first half ot he book is Tanaka and Bond whoring and drinking, presumably to immerse Bond in Japanese culture so he can effectively ape it when going undercover. Ten books in, I know better than to take anything Fleming says about a foreign culture at face value, and I read those passages for entertainment value only. But even so, I found it ironic that Tanaka complains about the poor not working hard enough, when he just spent dozens of pages being served by the poor (who were working), while he and his fellow elitist (Bond) do no work at all.
When Bond finally gets on with the job, we meet Kissy Suzuki, who has some beef with Hollywood. Is this Fleming talking again? He certainly had his problems with the entertainment industry — Thunderball leaps to mind — but he also had great success with the movies before his death (Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger). I'd understand his disdain if he'd seen any Roger Moore films, which he probably would have hated. I don't understand this bit, but maybe it's just there to facilitate the plot.
STRAY BULLETS
- Twice in the book there are allusions to Bond as St. George battling the dragon. One is explicit, where Tanaka says, "Bondo-san, does it not amuse you to think of that foolish dragon dozing all unsuspecting in his castle while St. George comes silently riding towards his lair across the waves?" The St. George comparison has been alluded to in previous books.
- Kissy names her cormorant David, "after the only man I liked in Hollywood, an Englishman as it happens. He was called David Niven. He is a famous actor and producer. You have heard of him?" Ironic, considering Niven was considered for Bond in Dr. No, and eventually did play the character — albeit tongue in cheek — in the 1967 Casino Royale.
- The obituary at the end gives the details on Bond's background, although we already knew of his Scots-Swiss ancestry thanks to On Her Majesty's Secret Service. It's weird that this famously English character isn't genetically English. He also doesn't like tea, so maybe that was a tip-off.
- Yes, I'm aware that Fleming added the Scots ancestry because he was so thrilled with Sean Connery's portrayal. I don't know where the Swiss part comes from, or why.
- The title comes from Bond's haiku about two lives (one when you're born, and another when you face death), but it also plays out with Bond having his first life in the West and his second with Kissy. I know that's pretty obvious, but I thought it should be said.
- Kissy is pregnant at the end, something Bond doesn't know. I wonder what Fleming had in mind for that. (And I have no doubt some later writer will use it.)
- The idea of a child Bond doesn't know about is used in No Time to Die, only with Madeleine Swann as the mother instead of Kissy Suzuki.
- The "Garden of Death" is also used in No Time to Die, only by Lyutsifer Safin instead of Blofeld.
- I like that in the books, when Blofeld dies he stays dead. Finally!
SUMMARY
While Fleming's characterization has much improved, and his experimentation with Bond and the form are welcome, he's still terrible at plotting and pacing. As with Goldfinger and other books, it takes too long to get to the main action. And when we do, it's not up to Fleming's usual rip-snorting standard. All those pages devoted to "Japanese culture" were a waste; it was probably rubbish then, and certainly is now. It's not terrible, but it's not great.
THE MOVIES: YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
The Year: 1967
The Director: Lewis Gilbert
The Writers: Harold Jack Bloom, Roald Dahl, Ian Fleming
The Cast: Sean Connery (James Bond), Akiko Wakabayashi (Aki), Mie Hama (Kissy), Tetsurô Tanba (Tiger Tanaka), Teru Shimada (Mr. Osato), Karin Dor (Helga Brandt), Donald Pleasence (Blofeld), Bernard Lee (M), Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny), Desmond Llewelyn (Q), Charles Gray (Henderson), Tsai Chin (Chinese Girl - Hong Kong), Peter Fanene Maivia (Car Driver), Burt Kwouk (SPECTRE 3), Michael Chow (SPECTRE 4), Ronald Rich (Blofeld's bodyguard), Jeanne Roland (Bond's Masseuse), David Toguri (Assassin in Bedroom)
The Music: The theme song, "You Only Live Twice," was composed by Bond regular John Barry and lyricist Leslie Bricusse, and sung by Nancy Sinatra. There are two Sinatra versions, one from the soundtrack and another, slightly different one, released as a record. Both were on the radio, with the soundtrack more popular, according to Wiki. The record release reached No. 44 on the Billboard charts in the U.S., and No. 11 in the UK. Wiki doesn’t say how the soundtrack fared.
I heard the song so often on the radio on 1967 that I could hum it, despite not seeing the movie until recently.
THE PLOT
James Bond and the Japanese Secret Service must find and stop the true culprit of a series of space hijackings, before war is provoked between Russia and the United States.
THE COMMENTARY
I haven't seen this movie before! And it's Sean Connery! What a surprise!
It isn't the book at all, which has Bond attempting to assassinate Blofeld. Instead, we have a SPECTRE ship swallowing smaller ships, an idea re-used in The Spy Who Loved Me (movie). Since the F/X were terrible, and I'd seen this idea before (although in a later movie), I was not enchanted.
In the movie, Bond tells Moneypenny he was "first in Oriental languages at Cambridge." Not true in the book, where he speaks no Japanese at all. In the movies, he seems to speak any language as needed — he even speaks Arabic in The Spy Who Loved Me — whereas in the books he only knew French and German.
I felt like the U.S. jumping to nuclear war-footing was a stretch. I think it would take more than a missing space capsule to take us to DefCon 1, especially since one of the Soviet capsules went missing, too. Also, the British representative at the U.N. tells the U.S. rep how wrong he is on everything (which he was), which in the real world would certainly have taken place behind closed doors.
Tiger Tanaka isn't developed at all, but I'd rather have that, than the insulting rubbish Ian Fleming put in his mouth. He has a personal subway in the movie, like he did in the book, but with a different explanation.
I love the ninjas! Who doesn't love ninjas? And Bond learns ninja stuff, which he needs to know! That was probably pretty groovy in 1967. Back then, it was still five years until Five Fingers of Death, and six until Enter the Dragon.
OK, the eye makeup was a bit cringey.
My wife complained throughout the movie that, while the ninjas all had ninja gear, the actress playing Kissy had to run around in combat in a white bikini. I noted that they might have done that so the audience could identify her in a crowd, like Lois Lane in a purple outfit in Superman: The Animated Adventures, but she wasn't buying it. Meanwhile, Bond wore his ninja outfit under his Japanese fisherman outfit -- somehow -- so he was completely clad when it was time for fighty-fight. That's not really a surprise, as back then Superman and Batman wore their action suits under their civilian outfits.
Bond was fake-killed in the movie, like in the book. But it didn't seem to serve much purpose, since Blofeld identified him right away.
Bond was fake-married in the movie, like in the book. But since he didn't stay on the island for more than one scene, it seemed unnecessary.
Donald Pleasance was a good Blofeld. Some later Blofelds were pretty good, too, but I'd have preferred they settle on one actor for consistency's sake. Pleasance would have been a good choice.
I'm not really sure what happened with Bad Bond Girl Helga. You know she's going to have sex with Bond and then get killed, because that's the formula. And she did. But what I didn't understand is why she let him go, and then tried to kill him on a prop plane with a gimmicked back seat. That seems a really elaborate and expensive way to kill someone you could have just knifed in the previous scene.
There really was no reason for Kissy to exist in the movie, because Aki could have done what she did. (Tanaka said they'd need someone the islanders knew and trusted, but they didn't spend very much time on that island.) She was Good Bond Girl No. 1, which according to formula must be killed to make room for Good Bond Girl No. 2. But the filmmakers didn't really justify it.
I've mentioned before that ever since Oddjob in Goldfinger, there's usually a henchman who is unmoved by Bond's punches. In this movie it's Hans. But when they started fighting in the piranha room, you knew how that was going to end.
I feel like every Bond villain has an army in brightly colored jumpsuits, who end up fighting some good-guy army in matching uniforms. In this case it was Blofeld's men in red, white and orange jumpsuits vs. Tanaka's men in blue ninja suits. But you can remember identical scenes in Dr. No, Goldfinger, etc. All those fights end up looking the same.
STRAY BULLETS
- As mentioned, a lot of this movie seemed to be recycled into The Spy Who Loved Me.
- You Only Live Twice was the last appearance of Blofeld in the books, but the first full view of Blofeld in the movies, You Only Live Twice is the first movie in a series of movies in which Blofeld is the central villain.
- Aki was going to be called Suki, but the actress asked for the name change. (Her IRL name is Aki.)
- Dikko Henderson wasn't Australian in the movie as he was in the book, but he was familiar: He was played by Charles Gray, who would return to the franchise as Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever.
SUMMARY
This movie felt very formulaic. Connery seemed tired, too.
THE MOVIE: NO TIME TO DIE
The Year: 2021
The Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
The Writers: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Cary Joji Fukunaga
The Cast: Daniel Craig (James Bond), Ana de Armas (Paloma), Rami Malek (Lyutsifer Safin), Léa Seydoux (Madeleine), Lashana Lynch (Nomi), Ralph Fiennes (M), Ben Whishaw (Q), Naomie Harris (Moneypenny), Rory Kinnear (Tanner), Jeffrey Wright (Felix Leiter), Billy Magnussen (Logan Ash), Christoph Waltz (Blofeld), David Dencik (Valdo Obruchev), Dali Benssalah (Primo-Cyclops), Lisa-Dorah Sonnet (Mathilde), Coline Defaud (Young Madeleine), Mathilde Bourbin (Madeleine's Mother), Hugh Dennis (Dr. Hardy)
The Music: Billie Eilish performed the film's theme song, with her brother, Finneas O'Connell, serving as co-writer as well as the track's producer. It won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.
THE PLOT
James Bond has left active service. His peace is short-lived when Felix Leiter, an old friend from the CIA, turns up asking for help, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.
THE COMMENTARY
I'm cheating by not re-watching this film in context of the book, and just going by memory. I intend to watch all the Craig movies in order after this project and don't want to spoil myself. Sorry.
As I recall, I knew this was the last Bond film in this series when they killed off Felix. Yes, I knew that Daniel Craig had publicly announced he wasn't going to do a sixth film, but Lashana Lynch or Ana de Armas were possible replacements. But if so, why kill Felix, when he could continue to be useful to the series? Once he was done, I knew there was no turning back.
I could really have used more Ana de Armas. She was terrific, but they just dropped her at the end of the scene.
When Bond says "Die, Blofeld, Die" and strangles him, it didn't feel as deserved as the same scene in the book. Especially since Blofeld was, at this point, no longer a threat.
I feel like Bond's decision to stay on the island and die was a bit forced. It was out of character for Craig's Bond, but was instead what actor Daniel Craig wanted. Real-world considerations obviously forcing plot points takes me out of a movie.
STRAY BULLETS
- This movie comes closer to adapting You Only Live Twice than the movie of that name, given the "Garden of Death" and Bond's love child.
- In You Only Live Twice the book, Mary Goodnight quotes Jack London in Bond's fake obituary with "The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." In the movie No Time to Die, M says it for Bond's real obituary.
SUMMARY
It's a good movie — all the Craig movies are — full of great action and wry humor. But it ran a little long, and I didn't care for the ending.
Replies
I remember Akiko Wakabayashi best for her role as the Princess in Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster, as well as roles in Dogora the Space Monster and King Kong vs. Godzilla. She's still alive as of this post, but she abruptly stopped acting at some point in the 1970's.
The second half of the novel You Only Live Twice, once Bond arrives at the Garden of Death leading to the final confrontation with Blofeld, is quite good. It would need major additions to the plot to fill out an entire film but the battle between Blofeld and Bond as told in the novel is a worthy climax for the two long time adversaries. I don't recall any of Fleming's successors doing anything about Bond's love child. And best as I remember the novel Man With The Golden Gun quickly resolved Bond's memory loss and disappearance in a couple of chapters and then it was back to Bond business as usual.
I didn't notice the similarities between No Time to Die and YOLT until you mentioned them - I'll have to watch it again one of these days with that in mind. I agree with your assessment of the ending of No Time to Die. I would never have imagined Bond passively submitting to his final exit.
THE BOOK:
I had intended to re-read this one in anticipation of your treatment, but I so far have neglected to do so. (I haven't been reading much lately... except comic books; I usually resolve to read more "words without pictures" in January.) Quite a few books have been piling up on my "to read" shelf; let's see if reading this thread inpires me to pick one of them up. I have read the comic strip adaptation recently, however, so the basic plot is still fresh in my mind.
There was the throwaway line explaining Pussy Galore's absence in some book or other after Goldfinger...
Trigger Mortis. The middle book in Anthony Horowitz's trilogy of James Bond novels is set immediately after Goldfinger and provides an in-depth treatment of the dissolution of their relationship (non-canon, of course, FWIW). doc phot and I discussed it elsewhere on this board.
And I think even normal people, then or now, would appreciate it.
Heh.
His alcoholic depression is not only in character, it's also characterization... we know has endured at least nine physically and psychologically brutal missions, and does not live a healthy lifestyle.
In one of the earlier novels (I forget which one), Fleming had Bond consider just how many missions he had in him. the conclusion was eerily similar to where the series stopped. It is my theory (never corroborated by anyone, anywahere) that Fleming was in the midst of putting Bond through a classic "rise, fall, redemption" cycle when he died.
The obituary at the end gives the details on Bond's background...
This is where I like to end the James Bond story. He has broken free of his self-destructive lifestyle and is on track for a simple yet happy life. Yes, he has amnesia and is missing and presumed dead, but I find this a much more satifying end than the actually non-ending necessitated by Ian Fleming's untimely death.
All those pages devoted to "Japanese culture" were a waste...
I recommended this book to Bob based on that aspect.
Back in the '90s, a friend and I learned how to play shogi, a Japanese form of chess. We learned on an "simple" set (with the various movements imprinted on the pieces themselves), but by the time I moved to Texas we were learning the actual Japanese characters. We played once a week, listened to Japanes music while we played, and drank sake. The '90s was also when I read through all the Bonds in order start to finish for the third time in my life. In one part of You Onlky Live Twice, Tanaka tells Bond sometning along the lines of, "We are no curse words in Japanese. When we make a mistake, we simply say 'shimatta', which means 'I have erred.'" I don't know if that's true or not (I am skeptical of a language with no curse words, not to mention Fleming's veracity), but whenever either of us made a bad move, we would softly say "shimatta." Tracy has picked it up, too. We watch a lot of Ultraman on DVD and hear the word quite often. It's interesting to see how it's translated in the subtitles, always differently.
THE MOVIE:
...like Lois Lane in a purple outfit in Superman: The Animated Adventures, but she wasn't buying it.
Her critique of that show has been on my mind lately. Your should show her the 1982 Daring New Adventure of Supergirl series I've been reading lately. It is very "fashion forward."
Dikko Henderson... was played by Charles Gray, who would return to the franchise as Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever.
You speak of casting the same actor as Blofeld; I wish they wouldn't have cast Charles Gray. [Occasionally Doctor Who will regenerate into face we've seen before (the Sixth, the Twelfth), and this is like that.] On Earth-J, I have to imagine that Bloefeld had some never-to-be-realized plan to impersonate the "presumed" dead Dikko Henderson.
From what I've read, Japanese doesn't have any "curse words" as such, But they do have words that they use in place of them. One I've heard a lot is "Chikusho!", which means "animals", but is usually translated as "Damn!" or "Damn it!"
That's how "shimatta" is usually translated on Ultraman.
From what I've read, "shimatta" is "milder" than "chikusho", although it can vary. a bit. It's supposedly closer to "Damn it, I forgot my keys!' than to "Damn it, that bastard tried to kill me!"
Or as Tiger Tanaka translated, "I have erred."
I remember Akiko Wakabayashi best for her role as the Princess in Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster, as well as roles in Dogora the Space Monster and King Kong vs. Godzilla.
I saw that on her IMDb.com listing but forgot to mention it.
The second half of the novel You Only Live Twice, once Bond arrives at the Garden of Death leading to the final confrontation with Blofeld, is quite good. It would need major additions to the plot to fill out an entire film but the battle between Blofeld and Bond as told in the novel is a worthy climax for the two long time adversaries.
I'll give you the swordfight, but I rolled my eyes so hard during Bond's two-day surveillance of the "Garden of Death" that I may have pulled a muscle. There's no way he'd be able to do that without getting caught and killed, but since we know that's not going to happen, it was multiple pages of Bond showing off his plot armor. Sure, every lead character has it, but a good writer itsn't going to draw attention to it.
I remember the novel Man With The Golden Gun quickly resolved Bond's memory loss and disappearance in a couple of chapters and then it was back to Bond business as usual.
That's up next!
I didn't notice the similarities between No Time to Die and YOLT until you mentioned them - I'll have to watch it again one of these days with that in mind. I agree with your assessment of the ending of No Time to Die. I would never have imagined Bond passively submitting to his final exit.
Left a bad taste in my mouth.
Trigger Mortis. The middle book in Anthony Horowitz's trilogy of James Bond novels is set immediately after Goldfinger and provides an in-depth treatment of the dissolution of their relationship (non-canon, of course, FWIW). doc phot and I discussed it elsewhere on this board.
Cool! I intend to read all the non-Fleming books after this project, but won't post huge analyses about them. It really slows me down!
In one of the earlier novels (I forget which one), Fleming had Bond consider just how many missions he had in him. the conclusion was eerily similar to where the series stopped.
Hmm. That rings a bell far away and very faint.
This is where I like to end the James Bond story. He has broken free of his self-destructive lifestyle and is on track for a simple yet happy life. Yes, he has amnesia and is missing and presumed dead, but I find this a much more satifying end than the actually non-ending necessitated by Ian Fleming's untimely death.
By the end of You Only Live Twice, bond has left Kissy to go to Russia because a city mentioned in a newspaper scrap (Vladivostok) had triggered a memory. So I guess your ending would have to exclude the last few pages!
Was The Man With the Golden Gun published posthumously? And did Fleming actually finish it, or did an editor/ghost writer do so?
I wish they wouldn't have cast Charles Gray.
Yeah, me too. It takes me out of the movie, since he was so memorable in Diamonds. But, of course, a 1967 audience wouldn't have seen Diamonds yet, and would probably have forgottten Gray's role in YOLT by then. But we won't forget!
From what I've read, "shimatta" is "milder" than "chikusho", although it can vary. a bit.
I love the things I learn here.
I remember the novel Man With The Golden Gun quickly resolved Bond's memory loss and disappearance in a couple of chapters and then it was back to Bond business as usual.
You're assigning a lot of work to the word "resolved" here. (Also to the phrase "business as usual.")
So I guess your ending would have to exclude the last few pages!
Oh. Yeah, I guess it would. I like the idea of ending with 007's obituary, though.
Was The Man With the Golden Gun published posthumously? And did Fleming actually finish it, or did an editor/ghost writer do so?
I don't recall whether it was published posthumously or not, but I'm sure no other writer ghosted it.
Y'know, I don't understand the plaint from some quarters that poor people don't work hard. Poor people work VERY hard. But they work very hard, and work long hours and often work long, unpaid hours, at jobs that pay little to nothing, so they never get ahead.
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