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Of course Bond doesn't say that the images are named after real beings because he's talking about images, not beings. Therefore, this passage has very little to do with God and Satan, and everything to do with concepts of good and evil. It tells us almost nothing about Bond's religious beliefs.
The most brazen Christian reference I think is in DN, where Bond/Fleming openly muses about the disposition of souls. Bond is certain that Quarrel and No would not go to the same place. Fleming clearly believed in a final dispostion of souls.
Fleming was an educated man who dabbled with Christian themes, which is not uncommon in literature. There are other references in the books, more oblique, but one does have to be familiar with the themes in order to recognize them.
I think that Bond's personal moto, "I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time," although a Flemingism, is quite consistent with gospel teaching, and is sage advice for anyone to follow. ie, our task here on earth is to live each day, to use our talents for the greater good, and not spend undo time navel-gazing over the futility of it all, fearing to act etc, which is the accidie that Fleming was so opposed to.
Fleming was an interesting man. There is much of interest to be gleaned from his scribblings, including his occasional theological musings.
@Perilagu_Khan Fancy meeting you here. A Fleming authority if ever there was one. ~O)
Flemings' belief in God, or at least the possiblity, also comes through loud and clear in LALD, as you suggested earlier. With Bond and Solitaire facing imminent death at the hands of Big's reef torture, Bond does say a prayer, and a prayer to God, "What happened to the blasted mine? Bond thought a quick fervent prayer. God save us, he said into the water."
It does seem that Fleming did believe in God, but the nature of God was something he only mused about. I think he leans more towards agnostic though, but open to other possiblities. Fleming was a good man IMO. He'd have your back.
Incidentally, talking about Fleming's interest in the supernatural, his brother Robert Fleming wrote a great werewolf story. I often wondered that Fleming himself would have made a great horror story writer.
However nagging at one's mind is also this feeling that we've also indulged a forbidden pleasure, something secretive, bizarre, almost twilight-zonish. There remains this feeling of experiencing a glimpse into the very active imagination of the author. Fleming keeps Bond grounded in the natural world. In fact Bond revels in the sensory pleasures of the natural world, but Fleming also hints and teases at what else might lurk beyond the boundaries of the natural plain.
Makes for great reading and sets Fleming above his peers IMO.
That's why I think it's important that the films retain an element of fantasy or escapism, and as you like to call it Khanners, the benign bizarre. I think such an approach is in keeping with the Fleming tone. After all it was Fleming that introduced us to the bizzarro creature that was Dr. No, and his equally strange but fascinating island lair. Fleming's DN is as strange a tale as anything that Eon came up with in the films.
And you're right to tie this phenomenon in with Fleming's interest in the paranormal/occult/supernatural, and perforce, the afterlife. That interest certainly heightens the bizarre tang of his prose and his tales.
I would love to see a Bond film adaption of Heart of Darkness. Bond gets the mission to go deep into dangerous territory to kill a defective MI6 agent and must deal with not only the deadly natives along the way but his own feels of growing respect he feels for the agent and wonders whether he will be able to kill him.
Eventually Fleming gets around to having Bond figure out that Blofeld and Bunt are the actual occupants of the Castle of Death and off we go, plunged into the bizarre adventure that is Bond's, now Bond the dragon slayer's, final showdown with the now seemingly demonic Blofeld and his toad mistress, presiding over their own private anti-Eden, hellish, Garden of Death. The benign bizarre is in full flourish. And then there is Bond's equally oddball immersion in the Japanese Ama-girl island culture. Fleming really outdid himself I think with this bizarre potpourri of sex, booze, politics, Japanese culture, espionage, darkness, danger, violent death and revenge.
I've always liked this little bit from Bond's Castle stand-off with Blofeld. I think it underscores Bond's generally glib and defiant attitude, no matter how dire the danger he faces. In fact, danger seems to amplify Bond's contempt for the deranged villainy, he must regularly withstand.
After enduring beatings and the torture of the Question Room, Bond standing naked but for a thong and facing imminent death before Blofeld, still finds time for this little riposte, "Well, Blofeld, you mad bastard. I'll admit that your effects man down below knows his stuff. Now bring on the twelve she-devils and if they are all as beautiful as Fraulein Bunt, we'll get Noel Coward to put it to music and have it on Broadway by Christmas. How about it?"
Brilliant. I love this line because Fleming takes pains to assure us that Bond still has it together. He cannot be beaten, at least not his spirit, which gives us renewed hope that he may yet persevere.
Craig, I thought captured this attitude well, with his smartass retorts to Le Chiffre during the CR ball-bashing session.
I think Bond filmmakers need to take note of this trait, if they find themselves tempted to experiment with a darker Bond. While Bond may have a dark side, as we all do to some extent, he is not a dark and depressing character. He is not the Dark Knight. Bond has a natural joie de vivre. This is often his default stance, even when faced with extreme adversity.
I could be great to have a faithful adaptation on the novel, but it wouldn't have that strong motive without the predecesor OHMSS. Maybe in many years from now we'll say another adaptation of the Blofeld trilogy.
I also appreciate how Bunt seems so very wary of Bond, even if Blofeld seems to have developed an oblivious master-of-the-underworld complex.
Bunt was right to be wary as it turns out. Ernst should have paid her heed.
I wonder if you put Fleming's No and Blofeld in the same room, if they could abide each other's ravings.
True. Unfortunately, "The whole world will know you died scratching my balls!" somewhat lacks the panache of the Noel Coward quote. The screenwriters will have to up their game if they want to reach Fleming's level. Considerably.
And I agree completely that the filmmakers need to do a better job capturing Bond's joie de vivre, not to mention the bon vivant that is so much a part of Fleming's creation.