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No, they were paperbacks, but quite old. Sort of a predecessor to the mass market paperback format from what I could tell.

MrPopo wrote:No, they were paperbacks, but quite old. Sort of a predecessor to the mass market paperback format from what I could tell.

For most of the Ian Fleming books, those the first American editions. I have a complete set, and they look great. (None of them are expensive, and getting them all is really easy.) They don’t look nearly as cool as the British first editions, which are hardcovers and look amazing. (Unfortunately, those are incredibly expensive, and I don’t have any of the British first editions.)

I really love the Ian Fleming books. From Russia with Love is probably my favorite, but Casino Royale and Moonraker are both really solid. (I recognize, however, that some of them, such as Goldfinger and Live & Let Die, are really problematic.) It is apparent throughout the books that Ian Fleming was travel correspondent, and his descriptions of drinks, food, and locations are often my favorite parts of his books.

The only post-Fleming Bond book I’ve read is Colonel Sun by Kingsley Amis, which was good, but forgettable. I started Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks, but I found it dreadfully boring, despite the solid reviews. (I should probably give it another shot someday.) Have any of you read any of the post-Fleming James Bond books?

I like the series of paperback covers that Penguin did in 2002.

http://www.007magazine.co.uk/factfiles/ ... backs1.htm

So here's a thought I was having about the various actors to betray Bond. Connery is always the most praised, and I always kinda figured it's only because he was the first. But I've come to a realization that in some ways he really is the best. Connery nailed being suave, but he was also awesome at being a brute. And more importantly, he was believable as both.

Moore was all suave, but no brute (and people complain that they tried to make him a brute in Golden Gun). Brosnan was also way more suave than brute. Dalton and Craig are more brute than suave. Craig, I don't think of as a suave Bond at all. Dalton doesn't come across as suave much, but I think that's more of a fault of the movies he was in (especially LTK). I think Dalton nailed being a brute, and could have nailed being suave if given the chance.

Interestingly, Lazenby might have come the closest to striking as good of balance between suave and brute as Connery did. Although I think he comes across a little more as arrogant than suave, perhaps due to the attitude of Lazenby himself. If Lazenby played Bond a few more times, I think he had the potential to develop into something awesome.

My point though is that Connery nailed the balance between suave and brute, and pretty much every actor since then has swayed heavily to one over the other.

Speaking of Lazenby, anyone watch Becoming Bond? It's a much-watch for any Bond fan.

prfsnl_gmr wrote: It is apparent throughout the books that Ian Fleming was travel correspondent, and his descriptions of drinks, food, and locations are often my favorite parts of his books.

Some of the best parts of the books are James' inner monologue or just the description of how he goes about pretty ordinary things. When you hear "James Bond" you think of action and adventure, but a good portion of the books go on in detail about pretty mundane things but in a way that's interesting. Like a page or two description what James ordered for breakfast and how he goes about eating it. This sounds like it would be awful in a James Bond book, but I've never been bored reading one.

prfsnl_gmr wrote:The only post-Fleming Bond book I’ve read is Colonel Sun by Kingsley Amis, which was good, but forgettable.

This is the only post-Flemming Bond novel that I ever hear about. I never hear about any of the others, but it seems like there's dozens of them.

I think the thing that bothers me most about Fleming’s writing is that casual, inherent racism and sexism of the time combined with that British post-empire superiority complex. It’s weird because he clearly appreciates the myriad cultures of the world, but he can’t help but feel smug about Britain’s superiority anyway.

Ziggy587 wrote:

prfsnl_gmr wrote: It is apparent throughout the books that Ian Fleming was travel correspondent, and his descriptions of drinks, food, and locations are often my favorite parts of his books.

Some of the best parts of the books are James' inner monologue or just the description of how he goes about pretty ordinary things. When you hear "James Bond" you think of action and adventure, but a good portion of the books go on in detail about pretty mundane things but in a way that's interesting. Like a page or two description what James ordered for breakfast and how he goes about eating it. This sounds like it would be awful in a James Bond book, but I've never been bored reading one.

This. The narratives in many of the books are just OK, but I could read him describe food in mid-century Las Vegas all day long. Enough with the plots and schemes...tell me more about that burger!

marurun wrote:I think the thing that bothers me most about Fleming’s writing is that casual, inherent racism and sexism of the time combined with that British post-empire superiority complex. It’s weird because he clearly appreciates the myriad cultures of the world, but he can’t help but feel smug about Britain’s superiority anyway.

This too, unfortunately. Other than the casual racism and sexism, Fleming’s books are at their very worst when Fleming is either reminiscing about the British Empire or lamenting its fall.

Ziggy587 wrote:This is the only post-Flemming Bond novel that I ever hear about. I never hear about any of the others, but it seems like there's dozens of them.

There are. John Gardner wrote almost as many James Bond books as Ian Fleming. License Renewed is, supposedly, the best; so, maybe I’ll read that one next.

What I like about Connery's Bond is he feels very grounded; closer to actual spy work than the follow up Bonds. A lot of time spent on human intelligence and not so much "kill all the bad guys".

Not exactly on topic, but...

I am really, really enjoying the show Alex Rider, which is available for streaming (with commercials) on Prime Video.

I read the first four Alex Rider books with my son, and we both enjoyed them. (My daughter read the first book, and all of the graphic novels.) The books are a little corny, aimed at young adults, and clearly inspired by Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan-era James Bond films. The show takes one of the best books, Point Blanc, fills it out, grounds it, and is clearly inspired by the grittier Daniel Craig-era James Bond films. We’ve been watching the series as a family, and it’s actually pretty great. (We are five episodes in to the eight-episode season, and I understand that, since the show was a minor hit in Europe and Australia, we’ll be getting a second season sometime next year.)