Over the last year or so I began the process of reading through Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels. I have been a fan of the movies for a long time. In fact, when I was younger, when I had to pick “a hero”, I picked James Bond. But I have never read the books. Motivated by the release of Casino Royale, I decided to start at the beginning and work my way through them.
I’ve read three so far – <i>Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, and Moonraker</i> and I have been enjoying them. Well, I enjoyed the first and third so far. LaLD is plagued with problems of racism which detract from the narrative, and I found it the least interesting of the three. But <i>Moonraker</i> excited me enough to continue with the series.
The books differ quite a bit from the movies. They take place earlier, for one. The novels take place in the post WWII period and that is very much a part of them. Bond is also less of a womanizer in these novels, and indeed seems to fall in love with one woman. He’s also more damaged. More of a brute at times. And yet utterly civilized.
But all this is a sidetrack to the main concern of this post. The new movies. I was really pleased with Daniel Craig and Casino Royale. Though I never minded Pierce Brosnan as 007, Craig really nailed it for me, with an intensity that was missing since Connery. So after seeing that, I was looking forward to the new movie.
It now has a name. <i>The Quantum of Solace</i>. It’s a bit of a strange title for a Bond movie, in my opinion, but since it is an Ian Fleming related title, I guess it works. Frankly the title doesn’t matter as long as the movie is decent.
More information at the link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7206997.stm