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Agreed. I think it has the worst plot of any Bond novel (Fleming) and it's the only story in the series that really drags, long sections during which not much happens whilst Fleming plays around with his writing style.
I agree.
The worst Fleming book or maybe the second worst after the TSWLM. The latter is a good book but because most of it isn't about Bond, I rank it as the worst or second worst. You know, I shouldn't even include TSWLM in my Bond book ranking.
There's nothing in DAF that really stands out for me. It's on the dull side. I did like the first scene when Bond first meets Tiffany Case and the scenes in New York with Leiter.
O actually prefer TSWLM the novel to the movie. And between both TSWLM and DAF, I think I prefer the former, however atypical.
And a certain NSF! Sorry old boy just couldn't resist!
All the ingredients that made Fleming's best work outstanding were missing. The solid plotting, the inherent sense of Englishnes and the detail associated with his take on the espionage world.
What is interesting is that following this turkey , he came up with his best work with FRWL.
That said, he did decide to kill Bond off at the end of FRWL and I wonder how much of this decision was driven by the fact that the lacklustre DAF would have been published to relatively poor reviews whilst he was in Goldeneye writing FRWL. I sometimes think that JFK naming FRWL as one of his favourite novels and the excellent reviews that it recieved inspired him to carry on. Thank God he did. Otherwise we wouldn't have had the fabulous Dr.No, Goldfinger, Thunderball or OHMSS.
If any of you Bondologists out there can shed any light on this theory, I'd be most interested.
Agree completely with your take on DAF, @Villiers53. JFK's naming of FRWL wouldn't have been a factor in Fleming continuing with Bond as the JFK Life Magazine article was in 1961 and DN was published in 1958.
Nontheless, it's funny how IF got everything so wrong with DAF and so right with FRWL.
Although I enjoyed CR & Moonraker, it was really FRWL that lit the literary flame for me.
It was even the first book to have a fabulous piece of cover art by Richard Chopping.
Because I saw a bunch of 007 movies before I picked up a Fleming book, I was already hooked on the appeal of the character, so any original Bond story fascinated me.
But yes, because the Spang Brothers are so thinly drawn and really never do live up to their build-up, DAF doesn't resonate as well as the other Flemings. These villains really don't take the time to appreciate Bond. This might be a more realistic approach, but not as engaging. The book might have benefited from better interaction between Bond and the lead bad-guys, thus elevating both their statures and the gravitas of the conflict.
That's half your problem, Ice.
It’s clear that Fleming found the topic of diamond smuggling interesting (he even wrote a non-fiction novel about it) and his curiosity shines through. The most interesting parts of the novel are those early passages where Bond has to infiltrate the ‘pipeline’ and work his way up.
The novel dips when Bond goes to Saratoga and Las Vegas. It becomes a little travelogue-y and exposition-laden. Even the reasons for Bond getting to the Spang’s attention isn’t really all that exciting or provocative. Effectively the entire novel feels like a first-act and a little under-cooked (perhaps as I’m used to the more bombastic films).
One of the great assets the novel has is the character of Tiffany Case. She is a classic femme-fatale character (and I place emphasis on the word ‘character’ as Tiffany is one of Fleming’s more fleshed-out creations). There is a sharp, witty quality to the character which adds to her air of mystery. Of course, her tragic backstory and evasiveness make her more compelling. Fleming does do her a bit of a disservice by making her so easily fall for Bond. The more love-doevy elements feel disingenuous to her character. I could imagine someone like Sienna Miller in the role…….
Also, having Bond go up against the mob feels kinda lacklustre. However, it’s a smart move to make Bond equally as unimpressed with the mob due to the stereotypes he has heard. So when the more brutal stuff happens it’s a shock to him. He’s warned plenty that he is underestimating these guys but it’s great to actually see him take some blows. One of the things I always loved about Fleming ‘s writing is his treatment of Bond. There is a significant portion of the novel where Bond is really badly brutalised – almost to the point of death. There are even times where he’s frightened and broken. It adds genuine drama and stakes to the novel (a trick the films often miss).
I wish we saw more of the Spang’s as they are the ‘villains’ of the novel. The book really lacked a ‘villain’ figure. However, there scenes barely add up to a page of material. I think a more fleshed out Spang brothers could be played by Jon Bernthal…….
I’m also a big fan of that final portion where Bond stares into Wint’s eyes and they seemingly tell Bond that ‘death is permanent.’ I always enjoy the more morbid touches in Fleming’s work. There is also a neat little metaphor that links this point to the title of the book (which was cool to find out after so many years).
So what did we all think?
Also I can’t not picture Joe Pesci as Shady Tree. He’s a close description as there can be.
I think this review somewhat excellently describes the book. The central issue is that many of Fleming’s devices – femme-fatales, actions, shoot-outs, grandiose villains – are better suited to film than literacy. Hence why the Bond movies, in fact, supersede Fleming’s writing.
The most successful aspects of Fleming’s work are the more mournful and sombre elements (as this has always been something that the films have eschewed). I think the parts that hit me in DAF are:
Still feel that Sienna Miller would make a terrific Tiffany Case. Remember, she was Eon’s favourite for Vesper – until the Craig romance rumours put the kibosh on it.
Also, I’m so surprised we haven’t seen the twin idea in a Bond film yet. It’s a great excuse to get an actor to play two characters.
But the steam train chase at the end is excellent, there’s something quite gothic and ghost-trainy about it that really appeals to me. Tiffany Case is fantastic too.
What a great summation.
I agree completely with Villiers53 on this. It was definitely his attempt plough the American crime furrow. He’d had Bond in the US before with the tightly plotted L&LD but this time it seemed much more an attempt to directly inhabit the terrain of Chandler and Spillane and for me it was a failure. It resulted in the weakest of the Bond books.
He had another go with TSWLM and was more successful. The first person female narrative gives it an edge and the whole thing develops into a ‘Key Largo’ type thriller. Although it wasn’t a commercial success at the time and Fleming tried to distance himself from it. In retrospect, it’s quite a brave novel.
DAF on the other hand, had few redeeming features.
There are many things still not used by EON that I am surprised by - either still unused scenes from previously adapted novels (both DAF and MR have many), or entire novels that have yet to be properly adapted (TSWLM, YOLT, TMWTGG).
I think you're right about Chandler. Fleming wrote basically crime fiction with DAF, trying to emulate Chandler while he was not truly comfortable with it.
But unlike TMWTGG, still the weakest of the Bond sagas, DAF was written in Fleming's prime and has many virtues. First, as Raymond Chandler noted in his review of the book, Fleming does a superb job of capturing 1950s Saratoga and Las Vegas. His prose is strong throughout.
Second, there are many strong characters, aside from the weak main villains. Jack Spang is intentionally kept off-stage for most of the book, and Seraffimo is introduced too late to make a deep impact. That's a pity because the character has potential. We get a withering insight into his cruelty when he slaps the manicurist and demands she be fired. And his passion for Western kitsch is an interesting character trait that Fleming could have made more of, along with his potential jealousy of Bond's relations with Tiffany.
Spangs aside, the other villains are splendidly grotesque: Wint and Kidd are far nastier and threatening than they were onscreen, Shady Tree's cameo is worthy of Dickens, and even walk-ons like Lamebrain Pissaro are vivid. And who can forget Tingaling Bell and his horrible fate, or the fat attendant at the mud bath?
The best of them all is Tiffany Case, Fleming's first successful female character, the first with a fully-drawn personality and convincing psychology. I've written about her elsewhere, so I won't go on about her here. Incidentally, if you want to listen to the music she plays when Bond first meets her (the “best light record ever made”), go here. Thanks to Tiffany, DAF is also the first Bond book with a real sense of humor.
Additionally, though DAF fails as a sustained narrative, it's full of wonderful scenes, many of which have yet to be adapted: M and Bond examining real and fake diamonds; the first meeting of Bond and Tiffany (capped with the pathos of "another damn crook") and their dinner in New York and its aftermath ("now get the hell away from me"); the gruesome and horrific goings-on at the Acme Mud and Sulphur Baths; the shootout at the drive-in; the eerie kitsch of Spectreville; Bond's Brooklyn stomping and Tiffany's daring rescue of him; Bond facing down the Locomotive like duelist; the emotional goodbye with Felix; Bond and Tiffany's discussing marriage on the Queen Elizabeth; and the deaths of Wint and Kidd.
What's sad is that many of these scenes might have played even better onscreen than on the page, but by the time DAF was adapted, the films had entered the Hamilton/Mankiewicz era. Had DAF been transferred to screen with the same care that had gone into Goldfinger, the filmmakers could have retained the best of Fleming while improving on the novel by strengthening the plot, just as in GF.
Incidentally, though it's definitely not Fleming's best, DAF is the only Bond novel so far that has an entire academic study devoted to it and the its adaptation: The Many Facets of Diamonds Are Forever: James Bond on Page and Screen. I contributed one of the essays to this book, and though its price is still too expensive you can probably find a copy at a good library.
There were two different performances for "Echoes in Paris" released, one in 1953 (10" VX 500) and the other in 1956 (12" VX 25.200). Each have two tracks that aren't included in the other. Thankfully because Fleming referred to the VX 500 vinyl in DAF that narrows down which of the two. However, online streaming services don't actually include the distinction, but looking at the length of the two tracks that Spotify listing is likely the 1956 release, which I also saw on iTunes. For the original 1953 version that Fleming cited, here's the two sides on YouTube.
Side A
Side B
Bondonians, ‘Revalator’ speaks truth to negativity!
His appraisal of DAF is so good and so spot on, he nearly made me want to read the damn thing again !
I say ‘nearly’ because the point he makes at the outset is the right one ; “As a thriller or crime drama, DAF doesn’t hold together very well”.
Indeed, when I think back, I remember it reading like a series of vignettes rather than a significant whole.
Certainly the points Revalator makes about the awful movie adaptation are more than correct but unfortunately outside of the fabulous Young trilogy, GF and OHMSS, isn’t that true of them all ?
Nice to see you now mention GF too, Pussy! \:D/
Some great scenes you mentioned there that are still untapped. Even the horse racing scene would work on screen too.
I just wish someone senior at EON would realise this and start going back to adapting what is left of Fleming material. If only Maibaum and Cubby were still here.