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It covers similar ground to another new book.
Then in June we can expect this study:
The author is the editor of the James Bond Studies journal, which releases serious work, and the publisher's description of the book indicates it will be a nuanced examination of Fleming's attitudes toward race and empire.
Another important-looking book will published in June:
Normally I'd say the world doesn't need a new biography of Fleming, but as the publisher's description indicates, this work will study Fleming's life through the lens of Bond (unlike the Pearson and Lycett biographies) and include literary criticism and analysis. I can personally vouch for Prof. Buckton's credentials, having contributed an essay to his collection The Many Facets of Diamonds Are Forever: James Bond on Page and Screen.
This year’s South Atlantic Modern Language Association 2021 conference is the theme of “Social Networks/Social Distances,” and they are inviting paper proposals on any aspects of James Bond, Ian Fleming, and Networks.
This could include the way James Bond interacts with and/or distances from various spy networks, such as the Soviet noir SMERSH, the international terror organization SPECTRE, and the Cambridge Spy ring (relevant to some Fleming novels).
It could also address the way Bond forges “networks” with allied spy organizations like the Deuxième Bureau (René Mathis) the Japanese secret service (Tiger Tanaka) and of course the CIA (Felix Leiter).
Papers could also explore the various “networks” of spy fiction and film that provide contexts for discussing Fleming’s novels and the Bond films, or the networks of the Bond films as they evolve and expand over time.
They are open to proposals on Bond and Fleming that address this broad theme in a variety of specific ways.
For information on how to submit proposals, go here.
Thanks! I’ll keep a lookout for it for a good price, though I may wait until the NTTD edition comes out.
I can second this! The interviews have original content and the pictures are just beautiful.
It's the only book on the subject and therefore worth buying. But it's also badly organized, clumsily written, and highly biased toward Jack Whittingham. The first edition is littered with appalling errors and you're probably better off with the second if it's been properly edited.
Ian Fleming & James Bond: The Spanish Connection.
This is an abridged and updated English edition of the original Spanish book: Ian Fleming y James Bond: Conexión España.
Everything you always wanted to know about Ian Fleming, James Bond, the novels and films in relation to Spain: from Goya to Dalí, from Operation Goldeneye to the Spanish editions (with images!), from Javier Bardem to Ana de Armas, from Madrid to Cádiz…
EVERYTHING and more in Ian Fleming & James Bond: The Spanish Connection.
Available on Amazon in paperback and as an e-book at this link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FS2VB6W?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860
More information at www.007conexion.es
This is unexpected and great news! Thanks for letting us know, @ggl007. I was hoping that one day an English translation of this book would appear. I'll certainly be purchasing a copy to support your valuable work in the Bond community.
Does the book contain any information on the censorship of the Bond novels during the Franco regime? I hope so as this is something I'm very interested in learning more about.
And you'll see photos like this one:
Southamerican editions and Spanish editions... with more clothes on...
Thanks, @ggl007! That's good to know. I've written an article in the past on the editing, censorship and banning of the James Bond novels so this is an area that I'm still very interested in. Looking forward to getting this book! :)
That is shocking that it took until 1999 for there to be uncensored Bond novels available in Spain considering that was some 24 years after the Franco regime ended with the General's death. It just shows the long lasting effect such state censorship can have and how it can extend to long after the regime that implemented it has ended.
P.S. Those covers are an excellent and striking visual representation of what the censorship of literature within a state is really like.
Thank God for Brosnan and the second big wave of Bondmania in the 90's...
(I have your article. Printed on paper)
;)
Yes, I suppose it was the same in the UK with the old Pan paperback typeset simply being lifted and reused in later editions by Triad Panther, Grafton and Coronet. The only difference was the British editions were the true unexpurgated editions and not edited or censored like in the US and other countries, including Spain.
Yes, the Brosnan era did bring about a new wave of Bondmania and a renewed interest in all things Bond which was refreshing. I became a Bond fan some time in the early 1990s so the release of GoldenEye was my first experience of that surge of interest in Bond. It was a very good time to be a Bond fan.
That's nice to hear you have that article printed on paper. Judging by the viewing figures that article seems to get the most popular of the ones I've published do far. I hope to release some new stuff on the blog at some point. I have a raft of titles and ideas worked out so hopefully some of them will bear fruit! :)
Now available at amazon:
My copy just arrived today, @ggl007. I had a quick flick through it and it looks great! I see you had the job of translating it into English so I'm sure your English is fine!
South Atlantic Modern Language Association 94: "Change"
Friday, November 11 to Sunday, November 13, 2022
Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront | Jacksonville, FL or VIRTUAL
THE CHANGING WORLDS OF JAMES BOND
2022 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the film Dr. No and the publication of Ian Fleming’s ninth James Bond novel, The Spy Who Loved Me. Both these works represent watershed moments for the character of James Bond, the film launching the beginnings of Bond mania, and the novel presented from the female perspective, Bond himself absent until the final third of the novel. Other seminal Fleming works (From Russia, with Love and The Diamond Smugglers) and James Bond films (You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me, The Living Daylights, Tomorrow Never Dies, Skyfall) also have anniversaries in 2022, from 10 to 65 years of age. We invite paper proposals on any aspect of these anniversary films and books as they navigate change. We are especially interested in papers that address change in the adaptation of Fleming’s work for film and other media. Please send abstracts of 300 words and brief biographies to Oliver Buckton (obuckton at fau.edu) and Matt Sherman (baconbond at gmail.com) by May 16, 2022.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1954840896/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1733167803/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_3?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B091LH1QXZ/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_5?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09FS2VB6W/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_8?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1785945149/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_7?smid=A3TJVJMBQL014A&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1788840720/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_6?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/946298218X/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1838671633/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_3?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1954840896/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
Anyone read these? And what did you think?
Regarding my thoughts, I would say that it depends on what you are looking for and how much gen you know already. The Gerrard, Holcomb and Verheul books are competent media studies texts but are basically interpretations of Bond from the perspective of diffuse cultural paradigmatic nexuses. And if that last sentence sounds a tad pretentious to you, then you probably won't rate them. Analyses of the "Bond Phenomenon" have been doing the rounds since the mid-60s and, for what it's worth, Kingsley Amis' James Bond Dossier is still a more entertaining read than any of these. And in the recent-ish era, James Chapman's, Licence to Thrill was a better balance between analysis and the films' contemporary historical context (something often missing from Bond history books).
Personally, I'm more interested in solid research, documents and archival history of the earlier Bond films, and to this end I can definitely recommend:
https://www.amazon.com/Goldfinger-Files-Making-Iconic-Sequence/dp/3958297463/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3OX10T08RHBKK&keywords=the+goldfinger+files&qid=1649751819&sprefix=the+goldfinger+,aps,237&sr=8-1
This is a luscious jumbo-sized book based around the Swiss location filming of Goldfinger in spring 64. The book is 60% photographs, 30% solid documentation and 10% showbiz tittle tattle. Apparently Big Sean got it on with a chambermaid at the hotel where the cast were staying. Ahh, those were the days.
It's a beautifully produced book, and cheap compared to the usual overstuffed price for photo art books. And I'm not being paid to write this.
For Christmas, my brother-in-law bought me:
https://www.amazon.com/James-Bonds-Aston-Martin-DB5/dp/1858756103/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
Again a big book, beautiful photographs, and very reasonable for the price. If you want to indulge in DB5-porn this is probably the best out there, although in terms of interviews and solid production background on the original 60's film cars, Dave Worrall's The Most Famous Car in the World is much better. However, it's now sadly out of print and painfully expensive.
Hope these musings help, and if you buy the Lee Goldberg interviews book, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
The Comsumptive Italian that fears an emphysema is Bass. The guy with the wine bottle who always crosses paths with Bond in Italy is Tourjanski, who isn't mentioned in the book at all.