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MI6 Community Novel Bondathon - Reborn!

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  • PropertyOfALadyPropertyOfALady Colders Federation CEO
    Posts: 3,675
    It gets off to a flying start and never really gives you a chance to say, "This part is dull," and that's a good thing.
  • PropertyOfALadyPropertyOfALady Colders Federation CEO
    Posts: 3,675
    I definitely agree with you. Did Fleming have another book in the works before his heart attack.
  • FoxRoxFoxRox
    Posts: 12,473
    Already finished TSWLM. I just couldn’t put it down. I’m seriously surprised just how much I loved that book - always hearing it’s one of the weakest Bond novels. Well, I thought it was one of the very best. Such a sad and tender story. Made me quite emotional. This one was the best surprise in my marathon.

    Novel Ranking:
    1. Dr. No
    2. Moonraker
    3. The Spy Who Loved Me
    4. Live and Let Die
    5. From Russia with Love
    6. Casino Royale
    7. Thunderball
    8. Goldfinger
    9. Diamonds Are Forever

    Short Story Ranking:
    1. For Your Eyes Only
    2. Risico
    3. The Hildebrand Rarity
    4. The Living Daylights
    5. Quantum of Solace
    6. From a View to a Kill
    7. Octopussy
    8. The Property of a Lady
    9. 007 in New York
  • PropertyOfALadyPropertyOfALady Colders Federation CEO
    edited May 2019 Posts: 3,675
    I love Spy. On another subject, I've never really known whether Fleming got all the way through TMwtGG or if somebody else finished it. Do we know for sure?
  • RevelatorRevelator
    edited May 2019 Posts: 2,918
    PropertyOfALady wrote: »
    I love Spy. On another subject, I've never really known whether Fleming got all the way through TMwtGG or if somebody else finished it. Do we know for sure?

    We do. Fleming completed a draft of TMWTGG and felt so unsatisfied by his work that he wanted to delay publication to give it further revision. A typescript exists that contains 80 pages bearing Fleming's handwritten revisions, which include the final lines of the novel. Though Kingsley Amis looked through the typescript, spotted some errors, and offered his opinion and a list of stylistic corrections, he did not finish the book. Fleming insisted that TMWTGG was going to be the final Bond novel, and he wanted to take extra care over it.

    He told his editor William Plomer: "I feel totally ‘remis’ though not yet up to correcting my stupid book – or rather the last 3rd of it, but I shall get down to it next week and then you & I will plan whether to publish in 1965 or give it another year’s working over so that we can go out with a bang instead of a whimper." Eventually he decided "I would still like to tinker with the book & skip a year." His death put an end to that plan.
  • DoctorNoDoctorNo USA-Maryland
    Posts: 755
    Revelator wrote: »
    We do. Fleming completed a draft of TMWTGG and felt so unsatisfied by his work that he wanted to delay publication to give it further revision. A typescript exists that contains 80 pages bearing Fleming's handwritten revisions, which include the final lines of the novel. Though Kingsley Amis looked through the typescript, spotted some errors, and offered his opinion and list of stylistic corrections, he did not finish the book. Fleming insisted that TMWTGG was going to be the final Bond novel, and he wanted to take extra care over it.

    He told his editor William Plomer: "I feel totally ‘remis’ though not yet up to correcting my stupid book – or rather the last 3rd of it, but I shall get down to it next week and then you & I will plan whether to publish in 1965 or give it another year’s working over so that we can go out with a bang instead of a whimper." Eventually he decided "I would still like to tinker with the book & skip a year." His death put an end to that plan.
    Very interesting. Shame he didn’t get more time to finish it to his satisfaction... sounds like he would have overhauled it. I wouldn’t call it a whimper, but TMWTGG isn’t a real bang unfortunately. I really wonder, if not doubt, it would have been the last Bond book had he lived. I think he would have continued.
  • FoxRoxFoxRox
    Posts: 12,473
    I’m certainly interested to see how it will turn out for me as the finale. I loved TSWLM so much; I really wish that could be done as a faithful film someday, but I wouldn’t count on it sadly. MR’s novel too. Can’t believe I’m down to just 3 left. It’s been an awesome journey.
  • RevelatorRevelator
    edited May 2019 Posts: 2,918
    It's difficult to tell, because we lack access to Fleming's notebooks (alas!) and don't have exact dates for many of the scraps. We know from "Octopussy" that Fleming wrote an entire short story in 1961 and simply filed it away, and that Goldfinger was assembled from several short stories. So the scraps are probably from abandoned short stories that could date from anytime during the post FYEO-period. But Fleming's correspondence suggests that at the time of his death his sole focus was on polishing TMWTGG. I suspect that if he had lived longer he would have collected his remaining short stories, which might have prompted him to complete or rework some of the scraps.
  • FoxRoxFoxRox
    Posts: 12,473
    Six chapters into OHMSS. I was pretty surprised how fast the beginning moved compared to the film's; I don't necessarily have a preference for one or the other, because I found both beginnings to be terrific. OHMSS is my second favorite of all the Bond films, so this novel I've been particularly looking forward to. So far no complaints - just blissful reading.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,976
    OHMSS is as fantastic as its film counterpart.
  • DoctorNoDoctorNo USA-Maryland
    Posts: 755
    Having just reread YOLT, I come away kind of ambivalent.. it’s very much a series entry merged with Fleming’s travel diary... I think it would be an okay book, entertaining, though step down from TB, as a stand-alone entry. I just think it really fails as an exciting conclusion to Blofeld/SPECTRE trilogy. I mean SPECTRE doesn’t exist in it and Blofeld isn’t really doing anything. It deserved a better revenge for Tracey and conclusion story, for me anyway.
  • RevelatorRevelator
    edited June 2019 Posts: 2,918
    A few posts ago I mentioned the typescript of The Man With the Golden Gun that included Fleming's handwritten revisions. It was sold by Sotheby's a few years ago but we never found out the buyer. Turns out it was the renown bookselling firm of Peter Harrington, which has now made the typescript available for purchase once again. The price?

    £175,000

    So, if anyone would care to make me a loan...
    Actually I think it's a good thing Peter Harrington has the typescript and is selling it at a forbidding price, since this bookseller specializes in Bond and Fleming, played a role in the publication of Ian Fleming: The Bibliography, and takes good care of its acquisitions.

    The listing for the typescript includes a generous host of photos. Included with the text is the single typescript page of suggested corrections by Kingsley Amis that were later adopted in proof. The description of the entire lot is worth quoting:
    The corrected typescript, used as the setting copy for Fleming's last Bond novel.

    By the 1960s the production of a new Bond novel followed a familiar routine. When Fleming was completing his text he would request that a set of clean typescripts be produced from it, which in this case he did on 14 April 1964. Fleming's text was sent to the typists in batches between 15 April and 16 June, and three sub-edited typescripts were completed by 24 June. This is one of those copies, presumably that which was sent to Fleming on 25 June and which, with Fleming's light revisions, was then sent to William Plomer at Cape on 1 July.

    Fleming was not satisfied with the text and planned to revise it in Jamaica the following year so he did not wish the typescript to be circulated within the wider editorial team. Plomer wrote that he "much enjoyed the book as it is" but the question of further revision soon became moot: Fleming's health, which had been poor for some time, was in rapid decline and he died on 12 August. This typescript therefore almost certainly contains Fleming's last ever work on James Bond. Kingsley Amis, considered something of an expert on the Bond oeuvre, was hired to oversee editing work on the book. This typescript, including as it did the author's final changes, was then sent to the printer for use as the setting copy.

    Fleming's revisions tighten the prose and clarify the action. He revises some key moments - such as the description of Scaramanga's "golden gun" (p. 26) - but the most telling change is the addition of the three sentences that end the novel, and which perhaps give a telling insight into Fleming's troubled state of mind in his final weeks: "At the same time, he knew, deep down, that love from Mary Goodnight, or from any other woman, was not enough for him. It would be like taking 'a room with a view'. For James Bond, the same view would always pall."
  • FoxRoxFoxRox
    Posts: 12,473
    Just finished OHMSS. What a book! And what an ending. The film did such a great job adapting it, but the novel was truly unbeatable. I think it's got to be my favorite of them all. From start to finish everything was great. Pure Bond perfection.

    Novel Ranking:
    1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    2. Dr. No
    3. Moonraker
    4. The Spy Who Loved Me
    5. Live and Let Die
    6. From Russia with Love
    7. Casino Royale
    8. Thunderball
    9. Goldfinger
    10. Diamonds Are Forever

    Short Story Ranking:
    1. For Your Eyes Only
    2. Risico
    3. The Hildebrand Rarity
    4. The Living Daylights
    5. Quantum of Solace
    6. From a View to a Kill
    7. Octopussy
    8. The Property of a Lady
    9. 007 in New York
  • DoctorNoDoctorNo USA-Maryland
    Posts: 755
    @FoxRox, like your top pick and list... TSWLM being a surprise with how high!

    It’s funny so many fans pick OHMSS, or FRWL or DN as the best or favorite movies and yet the books are all superior.
  • DoctorNoDoctorNo USA-Maryland
    Posts: 755
    I wished I lived in London... something to check out this week for those who are:

    https://literary007.com/2019/06/09/bentley-james-bond-exhibition/
  • FoxRoxFoxRox
    Posts: 12,473
    DoctorNo wrote: »
    @FoxRox, like your top pick and list... TSWLM being a surprise with how high!

    It’s funny so many fans pick OHMSS, or FRWL or DN as the best or favorite movies and yet the books are all superior.

    Thank you! Yes TSWLM surprised me with how great it was. Definitely a favorite. Soon I’ll be diving into YOLT!
  • Agent_99Agent_99 enjoys a spirited ride as much as the next girl
    Posts: 3,176
    DoctorNo wrote: »
    I wished I lived in London... something to check out this week for those who are:

    https://literary007.com/2019/06/09/bentley-james-bond-exhibition/

    I am hoping to catch this on Friday or Saturday! I'll be sure to take pics and file a report.
  • PropertyOfALadyPropertyOfALady Colders Federation CEO
    Posts: 3,675
    Agent_99 wrote: »
    DoctorNo wrote: »
    I wished I lived in London... something to check out this week for those who are:

    https://literary007.com/2019/06/09/bentley-james-bond-exhibition/

    I am hoping to catch this on Friday or Saturday! I'll be sure to take pics and file a report.

    Thank you. I actually haven't an idea of what the Mark IV looks like.
  • DoctorNoDoctorNo USA-Maryland
    Posts: 755
    Agent_99 wrote: »
    I am hoping to catch this on Friday or Saturday! I'll be sure to take pics and file a report.

    Cool, thanks!
  • RevelatorRevelator
    edited June 2019 Posts: 2,918
    Agent_99 wrote: »
    I am hoping to catch this on Friday or Saturday! I'll be sure to take pics and file a report.

    We eagerly await reading it! By the way, were you among the participants in the 4th Artistic Licence Renewed Ian Fleming Memorial Walk?
  • shamanimalshamanimal
    Posts: 623
    DoctorNo wrote: »
    Having just reread YOLT, I come away kind of ambivalent.. it’s very much a series entry merged with Fleming’s travel diary... I think it would be an okay book, entertaining, though step down from TB, as a stand-alone entry. I just think it really fails as an exciting conclusion to Blofeld/SPECTRE trilogy. I mean SPECTRE doesn’t exist in it and Blofeld isn’t really doing anything. It deserved a better revenge for Tracey and conclusion story, for me anyway.

    I re-read it recently and felt just the same. Funny, I remember it being better 20 years ago.
  • Agent_99Agent_99 enjoys a spirited ride as much as the next girl
    Posts: 3,176
    Revelator wrote: »
    By the way, were you among the participants in the 4th Artistic Licence Renewed Ian Fleming Memorial Walk?

    I was! I'm the one holding a pint glass in the last photo, third from right in the back row :)
  • RevelatorRevelator
    Posts: 2,918
    Agent_99 wrote: »
    I was! I'm the one holding a pint glass in the last photo, third from right in the back row :)

    Ah, I thought that was you! I went on Fleming walks in 2015 and 2017, both times with Tom C. and with Ajay on the second. Great fun!

  • FoxRoxFoxRox
    Posts: 12,473
    Birdleson wrote: »
    @FoxRox , how are you liking OHMSS?

    I finished that one. Ended up being my #1 favorite! Sometime within the week I should be starting YOLT.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,976
    I should be ready for CS by the end of the week. Since @FoxRox has been flying through these, it'd be nice to wait for him (if you do plan on reading CS, too, that is).
  • FoxRoxFoxRox
    Posts: 12,473
    @Creasy47 Thanks! I did want to jump on board and read that eventually. I'll try not to be too long.
  • Agent_99Agent_99 enjoys a spirited ride as much as the next girl
    Posts: 3,176
    Revelator wrote: »
    Ah, I thought that was you! I went on Fleming walks in 2015 and 2017, both times with Tom C. and with Ajay on the second. Great fun!

    The pint glass was the giveaway :) Hope you make it back to London some time and we can meet up!
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,976
    FoxRox wrote: »
    @Creasy47 Thanks! I did want to jump on board and read that eventually. I'll try not to be too long.

    No rush at all, I really slowed down at the end here and held up some others. Take your time and enjoy them!
  • Agent_99Agent_99 enjoys a spirited ride as much as the next girl
    Posts: 3,176
    In!!
  • RevelatorRevelator
    Posts: 2,918
    I'm not the sort of person who collects rare or first editions of Fleming. But if I was, this new catalog would make me drown in a puddle of my own drool.
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