Ian Fleming

[TheMarine]

So, has anyone else read the James Bond series? What did you think? To me, they seem a little too short. I think there was a lot of plot development he could have included, but didn't. His interactions with women seem strange, but then again, it was the fifties, I don't know how it was back then.

 

[Robert]

I’ve read six from the series and you’re right, Fleming could have done more with his stories if he had wanted to.

I don’t know about Bonds interaction with women except that it was probably Fleming’s way of writing Bond as a single man in the role of 50’s era playboy.

The thing that struck me about the books is that Bond seems much more human. The reader sees more of his self-doubt and concern for his own safety then the viewer sees in the ever cool Bond of motion picture fame.

The only thing that really puts me off about the series is the East verses West politics of the era. But that’s just me; I grew tired of the Cold-War when I was active duty and reading Tom Clancey.

 

[Roger53]

I watched a program on TV about Ian Fleming recently, which was very interesting.

I suppose they aren't towering achievements in literature, but I enjoyed them when I first read the books back in the sixties. No doubt they are quite dated now, like the early movies, but I am enjoying re reading them. Completely different to Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum and John Le Carre for instance. Not so slick or professional perhaps, and not quite so serious.

But again times were different then. When each movie came out it was always cutting edge in technology. So I suppose, like the books it all looks a bit old hat now. I think you have to read them while remembering the era in which they were written. But like the movies, a bit of fun in them as well.

 

[beer good]

James Bond: 5 Things I Learned About Women From The James Bond Books

 

[Libra]

James Bond: 5 Things I Learned About Women From The James Bond Books

Now I learned them too and I don't have to read the books...

 

[pontalba]

I read all the Bond books when I was in my teens and 20's and enjoyed them and have recently reread a few of them and found them lacking, not the technology, that doesn't really matter, they're just a bit flat to me now.

Fleming was an interesting man himself though. I'd recommend his biography The Life of Ian Fleming by John Pearson.

 

[Yankee66]

As a "spy fiction" fan, I feel that Fleming fits well within that British spy novel genre from the 50s and into the 60s. I've read a few of the James Bond books and think they could be placed in the same bracket as Graham Greene, John le Carre, and Len Deighton. The revelations of the plot/story line come at a much slower pace than what became the norm in the 70s with Robert Ludlum and others.

Not to say that there is not action and thrills in novels by the above listed...it just doesn't seem to be as ramped up as thrillers from the past 30 years or so.

 

[Nellie]

I was thinking of trying one of the Bond books, do they need to be read in order?

 

[pontalba]

I was thinking of trying one of the Bond books, do they need to be read in order?

They stand alone as far as I recall, there may be some references to past books within the series, but nothing truly necessary to plot.

 

[MimiLuvsMystery]

I read all the Bond books at least twice years ago and kept the whole series. I loved them but they were written in a more innocent time and I doubt they'd hold the same allure for me today ... but I'll not part with the copies of them that I have.