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The most suspenseful scene in all of Fleming?
I've heard some say that Fleming's novels are low on suspense, while others say the opposite. Perhaps since most of us have seen the films first, our capacity for suspense is reduced.
Several years ago I gave a friend of mine a copy of Thunderball. He hadn't seen the film, and he found the scene before the underwater battle--when Bond and company are sneaking up on Largo--to be immensely suspenseful. He still raves about it to this day in fact. Since he was unfamiliar with the film, he didn't know what would happen next or what had happened with Domino, and this obviously aided his enjoyment. The film does not have an equivalent scene, and instead opts for spectacle over suspense.
My own personal nomination for the most suspenseful scene in all of Fleming is another that doesn't appear in a film--the scene directly before Bond's escape from Piz Gloria. After Campbell is captured and recognizes him, Bond knows he is on borrowed time--Blofeld's men will come for him at any second, and if he doesn't sneak out of Piz Gloria he is a dead man. The whole scene, starting from Bond disavowing Campbell to Bond strapping on his skis, is a masterpiece of suspense (thanks to details like Bond intercepting the order to capture him). The reader grows almost as tense as 007 himself--I practically had jitters.
With that in mind, what are your own picks for the most suspenseful scenes in the Bond novels? (That is, if you find Fleming at all suspenseful--I can understand why some don't.)
Several years ago I gave a friend of mine a copy of Thunderball. He hadn't seen the film, and he found the scene before the underwater battle--when Bond and company are sneaking up on Largo--to be immensely suspenseful. He still raves about it to this day in fact. Since he was unfamiliar with the film, he didn't know what would happen next or what had happened with Domino, and this obviously aided his enjoyment. The film does not have an equivalent scene, and instead opts for spectacle over suspense.
My own personal nomination for the most suspenseful scene in all of Fleming is another that doesn't appear in a film--the scene directly before Bond's escape from Piz Gloria. After Campbell is captured and recognizes him, Bond knows he is on borrowed time--Blofeld's men will come for him at any second, and if he doesn't sneak out of Piz Gloria he is a dead man. The whole scene, starting from Bond disavowing Campbell to Bond strapping on his skis, is a masterpiece of suspense (thanks to details like Bond intercepting the order to capture him). The reader grows almost as tense as 007 himself--I practically had jitters.
With that in mind, what are your own picks for the most suspenseful scenes in the Bond novels? (That is, if you find Fleming at all suspenseful--I can understand why some don't.)
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Comments
The torture sequence in CR, while revolting and grotesque, is also quite suspenseful.
Bond and Solitaire being dragged by the paravane behind Mr. Big's boat.
Bond and Tiffany running out of gas in the rail line as Spang in his monster locomotive is in hot pursuit.
More later. Lunch bell just rang!
Fleming was, undeniably, a true master of suspense.
Fleming got it right where so few authors can.
Other than that, the climactic showdown between Bond and Scaramanga, especially when Bond allows Scaramanga to pray; countdown to escape in Piz Gloria and the keel-hauling passage in Live and Let Die springs to mind. Oh, also the golf game in Goldfinger. I'm not that into golf, but my God, Fleming knows how to write.
I always thought the bit in Moonraker where Drax tries to kill Bond and Gala by causing a landslide was really exciting. I'm surprised they've never used it in the films.
Well, bits and pieces of the book were used, in AVTAK, GE, DAD and SF, but very parsimoniously, usually it is the villain's background that was inspired from Drax's. But yes, there is so much more to add.
You said it, brother.
Other suspenseful moments:
The incredibly tense road chase in MR involving Bond, the Bowaters truck, Drax and Krebs, and the red Alfa Romeo.
Bond's confrontation with Grant aboard the Orient Express.
Bond running Julius No's gauntlet--so much better than in the movie--in DN.
The wounded and presumably dead Sluggsy barging into Viv's room in Spy.
Petachi's bomber heist, water landing and grisly demise in TB.
The whole sequence in OHMSS at Piz Gloria from the moment that Bond's cover begins to smolder to Tracy's appearance at the skating rink. This may be the creme de la creme.
Bond's fight with Blofeld in YOLT.
Auric's capture of Bond and Tilly and the subsequent torture of the former in GF.
The final confrontation between Bond and Scaramanga in Gun.
But really, the suspense in Fleming's work rarely relents. It is the non-suspenseful moments that are the exceptions.
Too true, mate.
Strange, I thought it was a highlight.
Still, any descriptive passages by Fleming, be it gold, golf, diamonds, postal stamps etc I find absolutely fascinating. Few other writers have this gift.
That's very good.