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Later in my teens I wanted to be Kwai-Chang Caine.
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (the novel by Ian Fleming)
Roald Dahl, a long-time friend of Fleming’s and the screenwriter for the movie adaptation of “You Only Live Twice,” has been quoted as saying that the original novel was “Ian Fleming’s worst book, with no plot in it which would even make a movie.” He also stated that the book was a “travelogue.”
Now, I’ll admit that I’m punching considerably above my weight class in arguing with Mr. Dahl -- but I think he is severely mistaken. In many ways, YOLT is one of my favorite James Bond novels. I’ll admit that, for a variety of reasons, Eon Productions couldn’t make a movie out of a straight adaptation of Fleming’s novel at that particular point in time -- for one thing, YOLT the novel takes place after OHMSS the novel, and follows up on the effect that Tracy Bond’s murder (at the hands of Ernst Stavro Blofeld and his partner, Irma Bunt) has on 007, while YOLT is the fifth Bond movie to be released, hitting theatres BEFORE the release of OHMSS the movie. The revenge plot that is crucial to YOLT the novel couldn’t have been used in YOLT the movie -- so it’s not surprising that a new plot had to be developed. Nonetheless, I must argue that the plot of YOLT could indeed make a very good Bond movie at some point in time…perhaps even in the very NEXT 007 movie, if we stipulate that Bond and Madeleine Swann have “all the time in the world” at the close of BOND 24.
All that said, YOLT the novel is full of original and unpredictable scenarios. Following Tracy’s assassination, Bond is morose and his work is suffering badly. M tries to shock Bond out of his malaise by sending him to Japan on essentially a diplomatic mission, albeit one with significant uses in the world of espionage. Bond is instructed to persuade the Japanese security system to share information with Her Majesty’s Government…without the letting HM’s American Cousins in on the arrangement. He befriends the head of Japanese Secret Service, Tiger Tanaka, who proves to be one of the great male supporting characters in the Bond pantheon, not quite the equal of Felix Leiter but certainly in good standing alongside Darko Kerim and Marc-Ange Draco. A fair amount of comparisons between Japanese culture and that of the western nations takes place in the conversations between Bond and Tanaka…and Bond finds himself thoroughly enjoying the reception he receives in the Land of the Rising Sun. When Tanaka offers to share the fruits of Magic 44 -- the codename for Japan’s intelligence gathering operation in the USSR -- on the condition that Bond will assassinate one Dr. Shatterhand, a difficult to handle, recent émigré to Japan, without embroiling the Japanese government in the affair, Bond is intrigued. And when he discovers that Dr. Shatterhand is actually a pseudonym for Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Bond undertakes his new mission with a barely-disguised enthusiasm.
Dr. Shatterhand’s Castle of Death is one of Ian Fleming most offbeat creations in terms of a villain’s hideout, and it is one that is overdue for adaptation into the Bond movie universe. In posing as Dr. Shatterhand, Blofeld has collected specimens of every hazardous plant known to man onto one island off the coast of Japan, stocked the local waters with piranha, and is effectively marketing the place to suicide- (or hara-kiri-) minded Japanese citizens. Holed up in a castle on his island, leaving the safety of that castle only when wearing the protection of samurai armor, Dr. Shatterhand is one of the greatest villains left to be adaptated into the Bond film canon…and the fact that Shatterhand is only a disguise for Blofeld, Bond’s legendary arch-enemy, turns this storyline into an obviously strong contender for the plot of a soon-to-be-coming Bond film.
In order to infiltrate Shatterhand’s island, Bond is disguised as a Japanese fisherman -- and in Fleming’s hands (unlike those of Lewis Gilbert) the process works. He is “married” to the beautiful Kissy Suzuki and smuggled into a fishing village near the island in question. After a few days fishing alongside the villagers, he swims to the island late at night and…well, let’s not give it all away for the benefit of those who might want to read the novel themselves. Suffice to say, Bond takes his revenge on Blofeld and Bunt…the Castle of Death is destroyed….and in escaping the island, Bond suffers a blow to the head and loses his memory. He is nursed back to health by Kissy, who encourages him to truly believe himself a Japanese fisherman so that she can keep him as her husband. At the novel’s end, Bond has seen a Russian newspaper and the passages that he has read stir his memory. He leaves the pregnant Kissy behind and strikes out for Russia, hungry to understand the importance that this country holds in his befogged brain.
“What happens next???” the intrigued reader demands to know. At least, that’s my response to this novel. What happens next? Give me the next book in the series, right away! Very few James Bond novels have this insistent quality, and for this point alone, I rate YOLT the novel very highly -- but this point is far from being the novel’s only praiseworthy quality.
Where Roald Dahl found a travelogue, I find a very intriguing examination of the cultural differences between Japan and the West. Tiger Tanaka’s dismay at the western creation of the handkerchief was especially memorable to me when I first read the book at about the age of 12. Today, one of the most interesting points to me is Bond’s take on the Six Guradians, the gods of the fishing village that has become his temporary abode. While Fleming doesn’t show Bond musing on spiritual matters very often; this is one of the few times that he does. I must admit that this scene did not lodge itself into the mind of young BSE in my first reading of this novel back in the late ‘60s. Today, it is one of my favorite moments in the novel, along with Kissy Suzuki’s descriptions of her impressions of David Niven.
I have to say that for me, YOLT is one of Fleming’s most memorable books. At this point, Fleming had recently suffered one stroke and had every reason to believe he would not survive another. He comes to the job with his own mortality very much on his mind…and he leaves the reader with a book that will long outlive its creator.
@CommanderRoss, @Mrcoggins: thanks, gentlemen.
Remember, you're all invited to share your own Fleming reviews!
https://literary007.com/2014/02/15/the-irregular-lives-of-ian-fleming-and-roald-dahl/
What constitutes "classic Bond"?
In the widest meaning.
Id say : The gadgets, Bond getting his mission from M, the love scene at the end and if we are talking about the Bond actors its, charm, sophistication and being a ladies man.
Not always but have become so iconic that makes them a classic thing in the franchise.
The classic comic strips are the ones drawn by McLusky and Horak.
Classic books is the easiest: Fleming. I haven t read Colonel Sun yet, so have no argument against it other than it not being Fleming. Seems like it is highly regarded, and it came out right after the initial run, so could it be included?
You can discuss all other aspects in the films, too.
Classic MI6 team: Lee, Maxwell, Llewellyn.
Classic theme songs? Again anything from the 60s, with a couple from the 70s thrown in there as well.
@4EverBonded, I don t mean to take over the thread. But I do find it particularly interesting to read what people think about these terms, especially those who were around in the early days.
The true definition of the word is "something of the highest class", i.e. something superior.
Nowadays it is used more in the sense "something that has stood the test of time". often meaning something from a specific era.
For me classic Bond is GOLDFINGER and THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (and to some extend GOLDENEYE)
Because I think GF and TSWLM have influenced the franchise the most. TSWLM may even have saved the franchise. And again the franchise was rescued with GE which also has brought a complete new generation to the Bond movies.
All three movies defined the franchise for some time to come.
Maybe Skyfall also belongs to that category. But with only one movie after it, it's too soon to call it a classic or being the fourth defining Bond movie.
As for classic traits, that's casino scenes, shaken not stirred, Bond on ski, Bond underwater, Bond bantering with Moneypenny, Bond getting lectured by Q and M.
Bond in Switzerland, Bond driving unusual vehicles. Just to name a few.
So, in my opinion, in addition to the elements that make up the formula, I think "classic" also means "first rate" and "timeless" and "a cut above." Therefore, although it did not feel like a retread of the Bond formula, and indeed felt more rooted to Fleming and was a distinctly strong departure from the previous Bond film, I think Casino Royale is a classic Bond film.
Dr. No
Goldfinger
Thunderball
The Spy Who Loved Me
For Your Eyes Only
The Living Daylights
Goldeneye
Casino Royale
Skyfall
Yes, I find I am putting Skyfall in there. I'll have to mull that over why I feel that is true. But it is for me.
Who's next? :)
Dr. No,
From Russia With Love,
Thunderball,
On Her Majesty's Secret Service,
Live and Let Die,
For Your Eyes Only,
The Living Daylights,
Goldeneye,
Casino Royale,
Quantum of Solace,
Skyfall.
Concluding that Lazenby is a Lucky devil with his 100% score ;-)