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Well, I must've read it from your posts here then. Extraordinary!
Now, back to the matter at hand ......
I just want to clarify that I wasn't making an accusation. I stand corrected then.
Dragonpol accepts that he stands corrected.
I often wonder if these people that adopt a 'quirky' writing style on forums, ever wish they'd never started it. I wonder if they log on and think, jesus, I've got to keep writing my screen-name instead of 'I'. Why did I ever think that was a good idea!
It's a lot of extra typing just to be different.
Well we used to have smileys and they can still be made if you know the codes, but I get your point.
It means the previous holder of the 007 number. Bond is replacing his predecessor.
I dig it. I can't remember anywhere in any novel that says once a 00 agent dies that number is permanently retired (but I could be forgetting). Plus I feel like they'd be on 0037 by now (I can only think of Moonraker at the moment where they discuss 008 and 0011). A book on the history of the 00 section would be kind of sweet I think.
Well 0011 goes missing during a mission referred to in the MR novel so I presume he was replaced. There were only three members in the Double-O Section at that time. The other agent was 008.
Interestingly, in Moonraker we're also told that Bond is "the senior of the three men in the Service who had earned the double 0 number." So sometime after Bond earned the number, the agents already in the section must have been killed and replaced by 008 (Bill) and 0011.
There doesn't seem to be any real pattern or rules in the form of a Fleming authority on this so anything goes I suppose.
«One body. Three bullets. 007 floats in the waters of Marseille, killed by an unknown hand.», or possibly something else?
Nice touch, if this is the case. Clever use of the typography.
Thank you Dragonpol but next to the great Revelatory, PussyNoMore is a debutant.
To the matter at hand, one thing that PNM is hoping for this time around is for more historic accuracy.
A couple of blunders spoiled TM a little. One that springs to mind was when he had Bond speeding down a U.K. motorway before motorways were actually opened.
Given how authentic Horowitz was in ‘House Of Silk’, his Holmes novel, these lapses jarred a little.
In the round, they are small things but in general PussyNoMore thinks that there is a tendency for authors to go too much from memory when they are writing about events within or close to their living memory.
That said, Horowitz is a pro and he won’t have liked the slips. Doubtless he’ll have double checked everything for his second outing.
We will soon know.
It will indeed be interesting to see if that theme is carried over when the real artwork arrives.
PussyNoMore thinks we are in desperate need of some great cover art.
The U.K. first edition TM cover was, to be polite, lacklustre.
Ironically, out of the more recent epistles it was SOLO that carried the best art albeit that didn’t save the contents.
PussyNoMore has long opined that Gerry Wadsworth should be commissioned. His Bond art is off the Richter scale and his oil paintings are true classics that are way more than fan renditions. The level of detail and ingenuity behind his compositions is quite something to behold. His renditions are truly beautiful and he catches the tone perfectly without aping Chopping or Raymond Hawkey.
Hopefully, as FAAD will be published by Cape in the U.K. they will push the boat out and they won’t just get some ne’er-do-well with a computer to do us a silhouette of a man with a gun.
If they do, hopefully they will remember that this time around it should be a Beretta and not a Walther!
PussyNoMore pines for those halcyon days when cover art mattered.
I didn't mind the original TM cover artwork, really. The TM "make your own rocket" idea is a nice touch, but probably more as a gimmick thing than a cover idea. If they'd kept the typography and just had a rocket blueprint (and no papercraft), I think they'd have a even better cover.
The Solo cover was a nice one, in a minimalistic way. The way that the dust jacket reveals even more, is great:
I like Gerry Wadsworth's artwork, too. It has a style similar to that of Richard Chopping's cover artwork, which is only a positive. Only thing they should be careful of, if they go the illustrative route for the dust jacket, is to make it a "homage" of previous cover artworks. It should stand out in it's own way. Preferably, the artwork should represent the time the story takes place, and at a same time look modern. The Raymond Hawkey book cover for The IPCRESS File is actually very modern looking – even though the book is from 1962.
I can't wait to see what they come up with!
PussyNoMore loves Torgeirtrap's assesment.
Clearly he is a thinking man's Bondologist.
Thanks!
Had to do a little research on that Solo cover. Found a nice little interview with designer Suzanne Dean – who also worked on the Vintage Classics re-issues. Some interesting points regarding Solo:
«What was your inspiration for the Solo book jacket artwork?»
«I worked on the hardback edition of Solo. It was set in 1969, so like the classics, I wanted to achieve a period feel while ensuring the book still felt fresh and contemporary. This is a difficult balance. There is no doubt looking back on the designs of both the classics and Solo that I was also influenced by Saul Bass. I didn’t want just to depict a cinematic image, but rather to try and reflect the essence of Ian Fleming’s original novels as well William Boyd’s own take on James Bond. I always wanted to link the two O’s in Solo with 007. That was my starting point. I had been very keen on the title when it was first mentioned. I needed to appeal to literary and commercial audiences, both fans of the original 14 Fleming books and film fans. I needed to reflect both the content of the novel and capture the reader’s imagination.».
«How much of an impact did Richard Chopping have on book jacket design and how important do you think it is in today’s market?»
«I love these iconic Bond covers – some more than others – they are unique to their time. When I set about thinking of a new classics direction and brief, I wasn’t influenced by them. I was looking for something that would reflect the period and would feel fresh and contemporary. I felt Saul Bass’s work was a closer match.»
Any chance she'll do the cover design this time around? So much to take from these two little paragraphs regarding the creative process. Just what a Bond fan would like to hear. Hopefully they will think in the same lines for Forever and a Day!
The complete interview at literary007.com.