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Who do you picture when reading Bond novels?

TopGearJB007TopGearJB007
edited December 2011 in Literary 007 Posts: 624
I am currently reading Carte Blanche and thought this would be a fun topic.

Now, I have a really odd way of picturing things in my head. When reading, some characters I picture as real people, others, such as Bond are sort of black silhouettes or really generic looking Black- haired British males. I wonder if anyone else does this.

James Bond: Black Silhouette/ Daniel Craig
M: Bernard Lee
Severan Hydt: Jeffery Deaver (yes, the author!)
Niall Dunne: Gordon Ramsay
Bheka Jordaan: Zoe Saldana
Maidenstone: Black Silhouette
Felicity Willing: Charlize Theron

TGJB
«1

Comments

  • TopGearJB007TopGearJB007
    Posts: 624
    No one wants to play?
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    edited December 2011 Posts: 14,584
    Okay, I'll play. I'll admit I haven't read many of the novels- what I have read is Thunderball and FRWL (which I thought were superb). Call me 'not so odd', but I find myself imagining the actors from the films. Every now and then I'll envision Bond as generic, but for the most part he'll be Connery (in his adventures, anyway). Interesting thread, though. :D
  • danslittlefingerdanslittlefinger
    edited December 2011 Posts: 886
    Tbh, when I read any of the novels I picture who I saw in the films. The other novels, Carte Blanche etc. I haven't read. Sorry. :(
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    edited December 2011 Posts: 12,480
    OK, being the olderster here I read the books before seeing the films (ha!! yes that is possible!). I had a generic Bond in my head from the books (black hair, blue eyes, slightly cruel mouth) that is rather intense. Then I fell in love with Sean and moved on with my inner life ... :) (yes, I'm a gal).

    When I first heard of Daniel I went , "What????!!!! I like blondes, sandy brown hair, etc., and I remember liking him in the Tomb Raider film but as my Bond? Ohhhh, I whined. Then I saw Layer Cake for the first time and said .... um. Yes, to that. Thank you! But still had doubts for sure until Casino Royale. No doubts now; Craig's a great Bond.

    Moneypenny - I like the original Lois and Brosnan's Samantha
    M - must say I grew firmly entrenched with Bernard Lee as M but now I do picture Judi (I am a real fan of her portrayal - I know lots of naysayers out there, but hey this is my opinion)
    Leiter - hmmm, I liked all the ones in the films but I tend to picture him as Hedison.

    As for Carte Blanche, which I did read, I really did not like it much. So I tried to keep my ever ready generic Bond in mind while getting thru it but still couldn't warm to that story. I have read two books by Deaver and did not like him as an author, so 3 strikes and he's out for me.

  • Agent007391Agent007391 Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start
    Posts: 7,854
    Every time I read Casino Royale, I picture the Bond from Agent Under Fire (for some weird reason). Every Fleming book after that is either Daniel Craig or Sean Connery. Every Gardner book is Timothy Dalton. Benson gives me Pierce Brosnan and a reprisal of Craig. Devil May Care is, for some reason, Clive Owen (yep, don't know why). I've not read Carte Blanche. The only Young Bond I've read is SilverFin, and I see Alex Pettyfer (all because of Stormbreaker).
  • thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
    Posts: 12,837
    I just picture which ever bond was in the film version. And M is bernard lee, and lieter is CR lieter (bear in mind I saw the films up to CR before i read any of the books)
  • Master_DaharkMaster_Dahark
    Posts: 4,813
    It's funny-- but even though he's not my favorite, I can't help but picture Lazenby (especially when it's an old novel)
    Maybe it's because of the actors real-life history as a combat instructor in the Army, but something about him feel like 'if Bond was REAL, he'd be Lazenby'
    Weird.
  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    edited December 2011 Posts: 13,355
    I've never pictured anyone for any character in the novels. They really are their own thing in their own universe.
  • H007MERH007MER
    Posts: 136
    When I first started reading the novels (I read them in order) I was bouncing around between which actor I pictured as Bond. Different parts of the early novels reflected the different interpretations by the actors who have played Bond, at least to me. I think I was 3 or 4 books in when my brain managed to seperate the literary and cinematic Bonds and my mental image of the character settled on this...
    fleming007impression.jpg
  • timmertimmer
    Posts: 4,622
    An edgier Roger Moore.
  • KennonKennon
    Posts: 297
    4EverBonded wrote:
    OK, being the olderster here I read the books before seeing the films (ha!! yes that is possible!). I had a generic Bond in my head from the books (black hair, blue eyes, slightly cruel mouth) that is rather intense. Then I fell in love with Sean and moved on with my inner life ... :) (yes, I'm a gal).

    When I first heard of Daniel I went , "What????!!!! I like blondes, sandy brown hair, etc., and I remember liking him in the Tomb Raider film but as my Bond? Ohhhh, I whined. Then I saw Layer Cake for the first time and said .... um. Yes, to that. Thank you! But still had doubts for sure until Casino Royale. No doubts now; Craig's a great Bond.

    Moneypenny - I like the original Lois and Brosnan's Samantha
    M - must say I grew firmly entrenched with Bernard Lee as M but now I do picture Judi (I am a real fan of her portrayal - I know lots of naysayers out there, but hey this is my opinion)
    Leiter - hmmm, I liked all the ones in the films but I tend to picture him as Hedison.

    As for Carte Blanche, which I did read, I really did not like it much. So I tried to keep my ever ready generic Bond in mind while getting thru it but still couldn't warm to that story. I have read two books by Deaver and did not like him as an author, so 3 strikes and he's out for me.



    That. Without the part about the gal. I'm a lad.

  • OHMSS69OHMSS69
    Posts: 2,341
    Depends on the novel. It was so long ago since I read a Fleming novel...I started reading the books well after I started seeing the films so I picture the actors who appeared in said movie. (for the most part)
    For Mr. Big in LALD I never pictured Yaphett Kotto. I always vision someone like Charles Dutton or the actor that played Bunk on "The Wire"
    TMWTGG I read long before the movie came out. I saw Sean Connery as Bond but Scaramanga I would see a latin version of Brad Pitt or Ben Afflek (sp?)
    Goldfinger in the book is described as being very very short, not Gert Frobe's physical prescence...
    FRWL I'm good.
    DAF Kidd and Wint: Just a pair of middle aged business man types. One slender and the other overweight. Can't name any actors who come to mind.





  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    When I read Carte Blanche I pictured Daniel Craig because the Bond in the book just seemed to be like him to me. And due to the fact that it was a modern story, as well as the simple fact that I will only visualize Sean or Dan out of the Bond actors. They are the epitome of Bond for me. As for the Fleming novels, of which I have read CR and finishing LALD, I picture somewhat what Bond is supposed to look like, based on a drawing I did of what the literary Bond looked like to me. This is my visual aid for the Fleming novels:
    paint-5-2.jpg
  • thelordflasheartthelordflasheart
    Posts: 1,370
    I read the Fleming novels well after I saw the films so Connery was firmly entrenched in my mind as Bond (Moore was the current Bond at the time but I thought him just a pale shadow of Connery). Due to that, the fact that Fleming's novels are set in the past, and that the Moore films bear little relation to the books I still picture Connery through all the Fleming books except OHMSS where I picture, yes, Lazenby.

    Not a fan of the modern books although I tried a couple of Gardner (where I pictured an older Connery circa NSNA) and a couple of Benson (where I pictured Dalton).
  • Master_DaharkMaster_Dahark
    Posts: 4,813
    That pic reminds me of Golgo 13
  • BounineBounine
    edited December 2011 Posts: 2,599
    There was an avatar on the old Bond forums that B. Brown (I think that was his name) used. That's actually how I pictured Bond...before I even saw this illustration (it's one of the old comic book interpretations). My old avatar was close too but one only received a side on view of this particular comic drawing.

    I never felt that Connery was especially handsome until he reached his late 50's/early 60's - long after his tenure plyaing Bond. Maybe you could say I pictured Bond as a cross between Connery, Dalton and Moore. :)

    I think it's better not to picture any of the literary character's cinematic counterparts.
  • JamesBondJamesBond
    Posts: 669
    Well, when I first read Casino Royale, I imagined Bond in three faces: Sean Connery, Barry Nelson, Daniel Craig. But, I was really switched back to Fleming's 007 impression: Hoagy Carmichael with a cold look.
  • Agent005Agent005
    Posts: 562
    Who do I picture as Bond when reading the novels? Myself.
  • Master_DaharkMaster_Dahark
    Posts: 4,813
    ^ Ha ha that's a good point! I should do that when I read more
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    John Barrowman.
  • doubleonothingdoubleonothing Los Angeles
    Posts: 864
    A cross between Rupert Everett and Rupert Friend.
  • JWESTBROOKJWESTBROOK
    Posts: 5,745
    I'm about halfway through Casino Royale, my first Bond novel venture, and I have to say I picture multiple actors in the roles.

    In the casino scene against Le Chiffre I see a Connery, as well as the dinner scenea with Vesper. But the during the bombing scene and the car chase I see Craig.
  • BrutusBrutus
    Posts: 32
    When reading the novels, I always tried to avoid picturing the actors in my mind's eye, and to use Fleming's descriptions of the characters. My mental picture of Bond was of a good-looking but rugged guy with slicked-back hair. Fleming described him as looking like Hoagy Carmichael, but I didn't know who this was. In retrospect, my image of Bond was rather similar to the actor Jon Hamm from 'Mad Men'. Miss Moneypenny I always imagined as a much more petite woman than Lois Maxwell, and slightly more 'bookish' looking.

    When reading the Raymond Benson novels, I found it very hard not to picture Pierce Brosnan as Bond, because he was written so much like Brosnan's screen persona.
  • SharkBaitSharkBait
    Posts: 2,107
    It changes somewhat. It's either a generic dark haired man or one of the actors. I'm currently reading Carte Blanche and visualize Bond as this generic British male, with dark hair. For a few moments I also visualize him as Daniel Craig, because this Bond is much like the modern cinema Bond. Only younger.

    With Benson novels it was a variation between Brosnan and the generic Bond. With Fleming and the rest...yes, variations between the actors and generic Bond.
  • CraterGunsCraterGuns
    Posts: 618
    Dalton (the Fleming books).
  • gaz4007gaz4007
    Posts: 71
    when reading the fleming books its connery
  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,423
    Interesting question, this one. When I read Ian Fleming's novels, I picture the characters as they're described in the book.

    Apart from M, Bernard Lee, and Bond.

    Bond is a very tricky one (character) to picture. Like others on here have said, I imagine him more of a silhouette, mixed in with Dalton-equse qualities. More and more, however, a bit of Craig has been slipping in; something about “his cold, taciturn, ironic, brutal face” at the beginning of Casino Royale.

    (I'm paraphrasing here, by the way)
  • JimThompson45JimThompson45
    Posts: 803
    Believe it or not, I often picture the character as drawn by Mike Grell.

    interview_mike_grell3.jpg
  • FromCanadaWithLoveFromCanadaWithLove Canada
    Posts: 612
    In Carte Blanche, I pictured Lazenby of all people. For the Fleming books, Dalton's looks but Craig's mannerisms.
  • Matt007Matt007
    Posts: 1,314
    Always Connery
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