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Librarian's note #1: this entry is for one of the editions that includes the fourth story, "007 in New York." For other editions with only three stories, see: https://www.goodreads.com/work/editio...
In these stories you will get to accompany Bond on his missions across the globe: Jamaica, West Berlin and London. Enter the world of espionage, spies, traitors and assassins. Rule of Drama: When Bond hears that nobody in England does "going, going, gone" bit in auctioning anymore to provide a chance for last-second bidders, he finds it pitiful, since he thinks that it "adds to the drama". But I don't know; something's just a little off with this one. Maybe it was the directing, or the producers, or I don't know what. The Property of a Lady": A top spy for the Soviets must be identified during an Auction for a piece of Fabergé jewelry.The last story of the collection, "OO7 In New York", is the only disappointment, simply because it has nothing to tell. The only thing of interest is an inclusion of a recipe of Bond's favourite scrambled eggs, just as he likes them. Those who think that Bond was only crazy about martinis would welcome this bit the most. Octopussy - 4 stars: A novella with treasure, perhaps, and animals from the deep. Major Smythe prefers his creatures over people. Is he wrong to do so? This is an unusual Fleming, but very good. Less we forget, Fleming CAN INDEED write a darn good yarn.
Ocr tesseract 5.0.0-alpha-20201231-10-g1236 Ocr_detected_lang en Ocr_detected_lang_conf 1.0000 Ocr_detected_script Latin Ocr_detected_script_conf 0.9757 Ocr_module_version 0.0.13 Ocr_parameters -l eng Old_pallet IA-NS-2000287 Openlibrary_edition James Bond: Yes. Smythe, after a brilliant military career, was seconded to our secret service. His mission was to recover a cache of Chinese gold seized in North Korea. Both he and his native guide disappeared. The gold was never found. Librarian's note #2: the description below relates to a collection of short stories. Entries for the individual stories can be found elsewhere. Comentale, Edward P; Watt, Stephen; Willman, Skip (2005). Ian Fleming & James Bond: the cultural politics of 007. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-21743-1. Barnes, Alan; Hearn, Marcus (2001). Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang!: the Unofficial James Bond Film Companion. Batsford Books. ISBN 978-0-7134-8182-2.An officer succumbs to a moment of greed after World War II in collecting a couple of bars of Nazi gold, a crime which catches up to him. Reread this book after such a long time. This was my first brush with the iconic British spy in a book written by the creator, Ian Fleming. I had read a Bond novel by John Gardener earlier though. Food Porn: Despite feeling a bit queasy thanks to the in-flight meal courtesy of BOAC, Bond spends much of the story wondering where he's going to eat while in New York. He's very fond of the Oyster Bar at Grand Central, but opts for the Edwardian Room at the Plaza because on a previous visit he instructed the staff on his preferred recipe for scrambled eggs. Fleming even provides said recipe; three eggs per person, use plenty of butter and serve on hot buttered toast with pink champagne. And so we come to the end of Ian Fleming’s original run of James Bond. This is a short story collection, published post-mortem at the height of the spy craze that was caused as a direct result of the successful 007 film franchise. Sean Connery had been in four Bond films to that point, with a fifth on the way, and by this point it was assumed (rightfully so) that regardless of any legal issues from Thunderball, 007 was going to live on for quite some time. Cashing in with the last of Fleming’s remaining stories would have been an easy call to make, especially since Fleming himself had planned to do so anyway before his untimely death.
What readers of the Bond stories will discern as compared to the popular films is the greater depth of characterization. James Bond, as written by Ian Fleming, is much more human and vulnerable, often struggling with the moral dilemmas of taking lives for the service of his country. Fleming, a lifetime smoker and heavy drinker, describes Bond as such as well, and supporting players like M and Moneypenny worry about Bond’s fragile health. I Need a Freaking Drink: Bond calms his nerves with a glass of whiskey. When his spotter protests, he notifies that he's not the one who is supposed to kill someone. Senseless Violins: Bond suspects that Trigger brought her gun to the opera house in her cello case. And “The Living Daylights” is a short story about Bond being sent to assassinate an assassin in Berlin. As he’s there and waiting, he muses and falls for a woman who walks the street he’s patrolling.Driven to Suicide: After their marriage went completely sour, Smythe's wife killed herself by overdosing on sleeping pills. Smythe himself is also in process of doing the same, albeit by the slower path of drinking himself to death. I decided to read this in light of recent news that all of Ian Fleming's works are to be rewritten for these more sensitive times. I must have bought it more than a decade ago. You may know more about this than I do, but if Folio does FYEO and OP, would that not include all of Fleming / the stories you're referring to? Octopussy & The living daylights / Ian Fleming". The British Library Catalogue. The British Library . Retrieved 4 December 2011. Benson, Raymond (1988). The James Bond Bedside Companion. London: Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85283-233-9.
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