The one thing that always strikes me about the literary version of Bond is the amount of physical punishment he takes on the job. Every book involves him suffering some horrific injury, to the point that he ends up looking like Bruce Willis at the end of Die Hard, but he absolutely never quits because it's his duty to keep going or die trying. I remember my mom watching the License to Kill movie and being shocked that Bond got a bloody lip and mussed up his suit and hair. I also appreciate the detail Fleming gives to Bond. There's a common view from the movies that Bond is just sort of a name or cipher - just hire any actor to play him, it doesn't matter, hell, hire a woman - but Fleming's Bond is absolutely a distinct character.

Personally one thing I love about Flemings novels is not only how descriptive he is but also how Bond changes throughout. Even in Casino Royale alone, Bond goes from a dark lonely person to a man who is willing to give up everything for the woman he loves. Even by the time of Dr No, Bond develops his iconic sense of humor. James Bond is the only fictional spy character who actually feels like he could be a real person in the novels. Also one thing I will note. While Fleming mentions a lot of brands that are considered luxury today, most of them were not at the time. Take Rolex for example. At the time the novels were written and take place, Rolex watches were not luxury items but extremely high quality tool watches meant to be used and abused within an inch of its life. Similar to how GShock or Seiko watches are today. For reference in 1954, a brand new Rolex Submariner cost about $150($1200 when adjusted for inflation). Bonds watch is a more simple Rolex Oyster and he even uses it to beat a guard to death in On her majesty’s secret service. Literacy Bond isn’t so much a fan of luxury as he is a man who likes quality.

My father was a big fan of the series when they first came out, , help him become a constant reader in his adult life

I just gotta say man. You have the perfect storytelling voice. You should consider doing e-books and voice acting

Cudos for your references to Raffles and Arsene Lupin as early influences on Bond. Spot on considering they are largely forgotten characters who have had massive influences on many modern franchises. Both Lupin and Fantomas, for instance, are intrinsic to the modern Mission Impossible films.

Some of the plots from the books showed up in latter movies . Felix fate from Live and Let Die , was used in License to kill and the garden of death from You only live twice , shows up in No time to die

This is an outstanding job for reviewing the books, novels and conducting a comparison. I appreciate the very insightful comments and analysis. This brought back points that I had forgotten and those that I didn't connect.

I hadn't read a Bond book since middle school, so this is a nice refresher to me, a lifelong fan of the Bond films. I remember being in third grade predicting (successfully) the next film would be Casino Royale. What I could never have predicted was just how legendary it would be!

I love the novels and films...to varying degrees, as is consistent with your own ratings and tiers. In my opinion, the novels were best when sticking to the more mundane and character-driven aspects of Bond. Some of my favorite parts of the books (and films) are when Bond is just living his life as an agent: traveling, eating, staying in hotels, and meeting either the Bond girls or allies while on a mission. When it got over the top or veered too far off into absurdity, that's when the books were their weakest.

I have only seen the movies. Top and bottom five. 1. Casino Royale: Gritty and psychological. 2. In Her Majesty's Secret Service: Maybe the most 'Bond' of Bond movies. 3. License To Kill: Different, daring and brutal. 4. Thunderball: The chain of events starting with Palazzi's new demands and ends with Domino siding with Bond saves the day. 5. Goldfinger: Probably the most iconic. Worst five in no particular order: Moonraker, Spectre, No Time To Die, Die Another Day, You Only Live Twice. Never Say Never Again has been disqualified. But it would have been on the bottom five.

Great reviews. The comparisons of the books and the movies were pretty interesting and I don't hold a radically different opinion than yours in the ratings of books and movies.

Casino Royale is one of my favourtite thriller novels ever and the literary character has never been fully realised on screen.

Also wanted to add, the new Casino Royale and Goldeneye are two of my favorite films. Connery is my favorite Bond, followed by Craig. Judi Dench is an impeccable M.

This has to be the best video on KZfaq that covers the history of Ian Flemings James Bond!! Well Done and thank you sir :)

"From Russia..." was my German aunt's first full novel in English... the suspense motivating her to reading it to the end.... Great review, I like it very much that you don't do a typical numeric ranking. Your top right favorites were also the ones I reread most frequently as a teenager...interestingly, those are also the ones with the most compelling sex scenes.

Great video! Your editing skills are awesome, very well done indeed!

Clicked because I was curious, stayed because of your caramel-crunch voice, subscription well earned.

Fantastic video! Really informative. I’ve somehow never read a single Bond book. I really need to do that.

Great video and very timely as I'm currently reading my way through the James Bond-novels. However, I respectfully disagree with your opinion on Honeychile Rider from the 'Dr. No' novel. SPOILER WARNING The book version is a much more complex and interesting character compared to the movie version who's just completely forgettable except for that first scene when she rose out of the ocean in that white bikini. Yes, she acts quite immature but that's to be expected of a woman who raised herself from childhood while living in an old basement and educating herself from encyclopedias. At the same time she is smart, ruthless and strong. She saves herself from her captors and later comforts and takes care of Bond after he's been tortured by Dr. No.

Fantastic video, you have a great voice, very easy to listen to! Cheers from a Bond channel!

Thanks for a wonderful video, your voice is so soothing :) I'm reading the novels for the first time in my life and I've thoroughly enjoyed them all up to this point (currently reading Dr. No but have also read the Horowitz Bond novels). My favourite Bond film is Goldfinger so obviously I'm very much looking forward to reading it soon.

Great video! Your voice is also great! You could do some James Bond audiobooks, maybe the voices of some villains.

Superb commentary, well-informed and entertainingly presented. Subscribed.

So far I’e only read the first three and while Casino Royale has a lot going for it, Moonraker reads really well and may be my favorite. I live the mundane paperwork stuff we get in it, while also not taking chapters to explain the rules of baccarat.

I probably don't have any desire to read the Bond novels, but did enjoy this video. I watched all of the Bond films a few summers ago, so they're fresh in my mind. My favorites were probably On Her Majesty's Secret Service, GoldenEye and Skyfall. Least favorite was easily Moonraker, although Octopussy and Dr. No I rated low as well. Thanks for a fun video!

Another fantastic video Bridger. I really enjoyed your comprehensive treatment of the origins of Bond.

What a great companion to the history of spy fiction - I always learn so much from your videos, thank you 👍

The amount of research that went into this segment is exceeded perhaps only by the skill and energy evident in the video production and editing. I'm gobsmacked, shaken, AND stirred. Lol

I love your voice dude. It's so dope and calming.

I have randomly come across an amazing channel!!! Subscribing, cant wait to binge your vids lol

I actually love The Man With The Golden Gun book. I think it's realistic as a story of an aging spy who makes mistakes and is burnt out. I would be so bold as to say it's my favorite book.

You have a great voice, a pleasure listening to! I'll definitely be back to investigate more of this channel. BTW...my favorite Bond novel is Dr. No, but favorite film is From Russia With Love. Cheers!

Terrific video. I haven’t read all of the Fleming books but I remember when I started to read them: lunchtime in middle school, alone at my locker. I’m not sure where I started in the series, but I devoured a few of them before getting into other authors. I doubt that I understood some of the more adult content. I came back to the series later. The first Bond movie I saw was Diamonds are Forever on TV with my dad when I was about 7 or 8. So, I read the books just a few years later. I think it’s cool that the last Bond movie No Time to Die incorporated the poison garden from the You Only Live Twice novel (a feature that was neglected in the movie of that book).

The level of effort put in this + the level of taste with background music and paced low tone voice almost ASMR-like is amazing. Thanks for having made this video :) PS.: shame to all parties involved in reprinting Fleming novels with woke adaptations.

I started reading Bond books when I was 9 or 10 and love them more than the films that "stole" their names. My favourite novel's are Moonraker (Which shares mire DNA with the film Die Another Day than it does the Moonraker film) and my overall favourite, On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Amazing video! Lots of information.loved it!

I prefer the less glitzy themes. From Russia with Love remains my favourite book and I would rate it as the best film, it remains (just) within the bounds of possibility but manages to include some believable and practical gadgets. I also feel the earlier book were better but I did enjoy Goldfinger, the first film I saw..

Fantastic work as always. Your previous video has made me really want to pick up the Bond books and this has reinforced that opinion. Here's hoping they show up under the Christmas tree! Also we have similar taste in Bone films. I love on her majesty secret service and from Russia with love

Im getting into the James Bond books, I saw the films and are quite amazing, but I think that the books have more interesting things that I must know. Great video!👍🏻

The depiction of Bond in the early stories is, by the standards of the movies, weirdly realistic. Bond is not simply a hedonist with a taste for the finer things in life. He is an assassin who knows that he has a 100% chance of being killed on the job at some point, so he literally lives like he has no tomorrow. He spends every penny he makes, because what's the point of saving money? He exclusively dates married women, because what's the point of forming emotional attachments? Fleming even provided Bond with supplementary income - an inheritance that provides him a yearly stipend that sounds ridiculously small in 21st century money, but was more than a government worker earned in the 60's. These details (minus inheritance) are even carried over into the Daniel Craig version of Dr. No, giving me hope that Craig would provide a relatively faithful version of Bond. Of course, we know that didn't pan out. Some favorite things from the Bond novels - in Moonraker, Fleming describes Bond's day to day activities at the office, including firearms practice and reading case files. Prosaic and banal, it is none the less a realistic and fascinating look into what the office job of a government assassin might be like. I love the travelogue aspects of Fleming's stories; he loved to describe places and cuisine. Finally, I adore Bond's eulogy at the end of You Only Live Twice, because it lays out the history and accomplishments of a character that bears absolutely no resemblance to the character that fans spent the last dozen books reading about. Bond was an expert in martial arts and 'Oriental' culture? Really? You Only Live Twice is easily my favorite Bond film, followed by The Spy Who Loved Me, itself a pastiche of You Only Live Twice. And it's easy to forget with the passage of time that Moonraker was a wildly successful movie. At the time of its release, it had the best box office of any Bond film (something true of every Bond film to that point). No, it didn't age well, but very few things do.

Excellent precise of the Bond literary canon! As to Live and Let Die, I agree that the first half of the book is extremely dated and cringeworthy, but I think the later chapters that move the action to Florida and then Jamaica contain some of Fleming's best writing. He excelled when the plots took Bond to the Carribean and had an obvious love for the area, unlike most of the adventures that took Bond to the United States. I think we were just another strayed colony in Fleming's worldview.

Wow, great video dude. My Top 5 Bond novels list would go like this: Moonraker, Casino Royale, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, From Russia with Love, Dr. No My Top 5 Bond films: Casino Royale, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Skyfall, From Russia with Love, Licence to Kill My Bond actor ranking: Dalton, Craig, Connery, Moore, Brosnan, Lazenby

I never really liked Bond movies too much, so I skipped the books. Casino Royale was my favorite one though, even though it went a bit over the top - like Bond movies tend to - with gadgets and action scenes, it also was one of the very few in which both Bond and his adversaries felt human.

Ive gotten through most of the books, I find I tend to prefer the book when they differ from the movie, but if the movie is more faithful I prefer the film. My favorite book is probably diamonds are forever, I like the deep dive into smuggling, Bond working up through the ranks, tiffany case, spectreville, and bond on an ocean liner is something i would really like in the movies.

I'm binging a few of your videos after Chatting with Nutts. Instant Subsribe to your style of video content 💚. Hope to see you in other longer discussions/podcasts.

From Fleming novels I was only able to get Live and Let Die and Diamonds are Forever, but I loved both of them. Live and Let Die has the better story but Diamonds are Forever has the best Bond Girl

have you read the recent novels? Some are really good, I think the William Boyd one, and the Anthony Horowitz ones I especially liked.

I like the way this guy talks. It’s very relaxing!

interesting, but what happened to 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service'?

First off, wonderful narration. Second, read these from grade school age 1963, i was 12- since at the time it became known they were a favorite of President Kennedy.

Great list, I'd stack them pretty much alike with Thunderball, OHMSS and FRWL by far best and most enjoyable writing, Goldfinger and FRWL has to win as the best movies aka best adaptations, adding Connery as probably the most faithful Bond incarnation

I've seen quite a few of the films over the years and when I saw a copy of Thunderball for $1 at a school fair in 2014, I bought and read it. My reaction to the book was to naturally compare it to the films. Like you, I was struck by the lack of humour and the tendency for a lot of descriptive stuff about technology. I also thought the book version of Bond has little personality apart from a disdain for the 'modern' (where 'modern' = 1960s). What the book and film versions of Bond have in common, is that he blunders about and then reacts to what happens to him. In the book, it is his connections rather than gadgets that help him. There is a very strong sense of class system in the book. Where Bond considers himself well above most people.

Not sure why, but I've always pictured Bond as Mel Gibson in The Year of Living Dangerously. I like the books better than the movies, and I even liked The Man with the Golden Gun, maybe because I knew it was the last one.

I’ll be honest, I like the films a bit more, but that’s only because they’re more cinematic and have a grander scale. Even the short stories made great films even though they just took the title, maybe a few characters and nothing else. Also, I like the fact that the Goldfinger film took everything from the book, tweaked it a bit, and then made nearly every element a staple of spy films for the next 60 years.

I’ve come to accept the film Bond as an entirely different character, so I don’t care if the films match the books (mostly because I was a fan of the Sean Connery films long before I ever read any of the books). It’s the same with Tarzan. I had become too acquainted with the old films before I read the books and discovered how completely different the character was, so I simply enjoy the film iteration as a thing in itself without comparing it to the films. I suspect the reason I don’t care that the films match the books is because I was a film fan first. Had I read the books first, I’d probably complain about the films. In any case, thanks for the review. I’m enjoying your collections.

Would love to see a video on Fleming’s more literary counterpart in popular spy fiction, John Le Carrè

The man with the golden gun is closely connected with You only live twice... the amnesia and kissy suzuki .. the spy who loved me has references to blofeld and is a sequel to thunderball.

I remember listening to the audiobooks for the first three bonds in high school and reading the successive novel by Sebastian Faulks “Devil May Care” and thinking it was solid. I’d like to read Moonraker as I’ve heard it’s the actual best.

As you asked....."No Time To Die" can go fudge itself. Yep, Im still not over it. 😬

I've read the cannon at least twice and have loved and despised the film adaptations over the years. I agree that Casino Royale and the 2006 film adaptation is the sweet spot for great cinema that is true to the original work. I think from Russia With Love is my favorite of the novels after Casino Royale and I really enjoyed George Lazenby in the film role (and his amazing stunt work). Aside from Daniel Craig's brutal true portrayal of Bond in Casino Royale, I can't help but love Sean Connery's interpretations of the character in the first films, my favorites of which are Thunderball (Never Say Never) followed by Dr. No. Edit: Whoops! Confused the movie of On Her Majesty's Secret Service with the novel From Russia With Love. FRWL is my second favorite of the series of novels and OHMSS is my fourth pick for the cinema adaptations. Apologies for the muddle. It's been over ten years since I last read the full oeuvre.

What’s your beef with Honey Rider?

Great video. He sounds like Wendell the librarian.

Timothy Dalton was the closest to Fleming's book version. Daniel Craig is a unique mixture of the Fleming Bond and the cinema Bond imo

I read most of them in paperback when I was quite a bit younger, though I saw a lot of the movies before I picked up a Fleming book. I was born in 1961, a year before the first movie, Dr. No, came out. It seemed that the first few movies developed the movie Bond tropes, including the Bond girls, Q gadgets, cars that were cool and had modifications that always had a convenient scene to see what they could do. Once Roger Moore took over, like the later acton movie franchises (think Die Hard, or Fast and Furious) they became increasingly ridiculous by trying to top the action of the previous ones. I liked Moore’s first movie, Live and let die, but it was more a satire than it was a serious Bond story. I think Connery was the best Bond (probably because the movies were somewhat less over the top than later movies). However, my favorite Bond film is the only one starring George Lazenby as Bond, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I haven’t watched many after Roger Moore’s era. I stopped enjoying the impossible action stuff, especially like that space fighting you showed. It looks like Daniel Craig’s movies might have reset the comedy and overly outlandish action. I’ve only seen one of them and will have to check out the others. A few years later, I started reading the books. I enjoyed most of them. I thought Live and Let Die benefitted from Fleming living in Jamaica for a while. Casino Royale did seem more like a detective novel, with a straight, simple plot line, with mistakes by Bond. I suppose I’d have to call it my favorite, as well. Thanks for your video!

nice Rod Serling-like narration....

An entertaining presentation and a perfect watch for Bond book beginners. 007 MAGAZINE (October 20, 2023)

Drax's real identity is a major spoiler and even though I don't personally care about them I was shocked at how matter of factly you delivered it when you largely kept things vague in the first two reviews. MOONRAKER is my favorite of the novels-- it has an almost Graham Greene quality and the final scene gets me every time.

I read most of the novels one after another in order, before seeing any of the films... they were on my parents' bookshelf, Golden Gun came out while I was completing the series... I remember it as being a complete muddle, and unrecognizable from the book, after that Moonraker and Spy who Loved me were better movie productions, but I was always dissappoined when films departed from the novels. When I later saw the earlier films, I was still unhappy with the film adaptations... partly because I was watching them on television, and thought OHMSS was the best adaptation. In those days it never came on television, and it wasn't until after Roger Moore retired that I actually had a chance to see On her Majesty's Secret Service for the first time during a time when there were more Bond retrospectives. In the 80's no one thought much of Lazenby as a Bond actor, so much so that it was years until I learned that there even was another Bond actor between Connery and Moore.

Well, you cover a lot of different types of fiction in your videos, from sf to fantasy to espionage. Not that I'm complaining. I think a good reader is someone who's tried various types of fiction to find out what he really likes, and may well like a wide a variety of fiction. As for Bond in particular, I was really impressed by the first book, Casino Royale. It's easy to see why it did well and captured the public as it did. I've read most of the books in the series, but maybe not all of them. Some of them don't stay in my mind too well. I was really looking forward to reading The Man With The Golden Gun, because that was first Bond film I saw as a kid growing up in the 70s. Plus it was initially published the same year I was born. Such a disappointment. I really liked the opening, where Bond comes back brainwashed and attempts to kill M. But then it's completely dropped, and Bond gets involved with gangsters and trains. I think they should have built on the opening and made the whole book about Bond's brainwashing, and dealing with that, or better yet, some kind of counterplot to go after those who did the brainwashing and finish whatever mission he had been on, or at least filled in the details involving the brainwashing for the sake of closure. Oh well, missed opportunities. I know you were focused on the books, and only on the faithfulness of the film adaptations. But the faithfulness of the adaptation doesn't really describe the quality of the films. Several of the less faithful adaptations are great Bond movies, like The Spy Who Loved Me, or For Your Eyes Only. And speaking of those stories, I really liked several of the short stories, as uneven and incomplete as they are. For Your Eyes Only is definitely the best and most Bond-like, but I really liked Quantum of Solace and Octopussy, even if Bond was a superfluous and unnecessary character for those stories. Like many good short stories, they both managed an unexpected twist at the end for the reader. There seems to be a theme of nostalgia for Imperialistic Britain, and the idea that stiff upper-lipped Britishers can only let their hair down and have fun by *leaving* Britain. Of course, I wouldn't rank the books as too high in realism, and the movies even less so. For my money, John LeCarre did much more realistic spy thrillers, and was still able to make them interesting stories. Especially in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Shorter video than expected. Thumbs up though.

Perhaps Bond was an early 77th Brigade project?

Love The Voice.

Ian Fleming called the hero James Bond after someone he knew called James Bond in Jamaica

Regarding the hardcovers themselves - I see that you have a full set of Jonathan Capes first runs - but they all look to be different sizes... why did they do that?

Great work and great voice. You should do ASMR! 🙂

Movies Ian Fleming Fans Liked 1962 Dr.No.He Loved Ursula Andress, Enjoyed FRWL.Goldfinger Seen Daily Rushes Liked It.Said Marvelous Toy Car For Kids.

Christopher Lee was a relative of Ian Fleming and upon whom James Bond is based. Lee's mother was an Italian countess.

According to The James Bond Bedside Companion by Raymond Benson, Ian Fleming cannot be blamed for the way The Man With The Golden Gum turned out. Fleming died before he could revise, polish and add the rich detail he always incorporated after he had completed the first draft. Glidrose Productions finished the book for him and released it posthumously in 1965. Likewise, Glidrose cannot be blamed for the weak book, they were obligated to publish the book Fleming's fans were entitled to learn what happens to their hero since You Only Live Twice ends with a cliffhanger.

I wish he had written more like my favorite, For Your Eyes Only.

New Elric novel is now out!

My favourite film is from Russia with love. My new year resolution is to collect n read the novels

Maud Adams character in the movie specifically recounts the short story Octopussy. She’s supposed to be that traitor’s daughter. I always thought that was neat. I liked the LALD and YOLT a little more than you did. I liked Goldfinger (both the book and the movie) a little less than you did. But otherwise that’s a good breakdown of their merits.

Perhaps you should add a tier ranking of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. :-)

Imagine if he got a few more years and a few more books. James Bond gets an ending, and so would Ian as they spend the last little bit of time the have relaxing

Strange how a lot of Youtubbers and other people are saying that Fleming is really patriotic. Never found that in his biography and even in the Bond novels, the main character seems to be a bit detached from all this so called loyalty. Sometimes he even conviced himself. Granted, he likes and understands his superior, M, but it sounds that his loyalty stops there. I really wonder where peope find so much patriotism. To me Fleming is more than toying with it and in the end accepting the fall of the Empire with a smirky smile. The real purppose is symbolic. 16:22 The injuries for example, are not a proof of loyalty (by the way : why would it be ? Where the link between the two things ?) but are a variety of symbols and references to psychology, sex or spirituality. For more on that, you can read The Biography of Fleming by Andrew Lycett and The Bond Code. Good day.

I read all the Bond novels in a fortnight when I was a kid…as a result I can not identify what happens in each individual book. I’ve never felt any necessity to revisit them…

enjoy reading and rereading the novels, go back in time to the post war era, is grand to me, has always been. Do wish they would make the films and set them retro to the correct time period, would be fun. Fleming, like A Conan Doyle, and myself, was a Gemini, that counts for a lot in his life story :) Fleming was before his time in the fact he created a Global Terrorist Group, which in this day and time we are used to the idea, but then it was very new, a group, neither a Govt or Govt action but an independent evil that was working behind the scenes. I disagree with you on several points, but the short story Quantum of Solace was very good and highly intelligent, a foray into human nature and expectation, was a top thought provoker. The Spy Who Loved Me was wonderful, in that is showed Bond for what he really was, a shadow in the night, a prof. killer, and he went into action in the book after walking into the situation. He understood immediately what was going on and the bad guys had no idea at all what had just walked into their midst, a wolf among hounds, book was great. I very much enjoyed The Man With the Golden Gun, was far better than the film, I enjoy rereading the novel, his humanity and vulnerablity, the simple setting of the story line, it all feels very authentic to the 1960s as I recall many things, and at this point the character of Bond had been active for longer amount of time than he would have been, normally by age 35 they would be beginning to do much less field work, and at this time in life he was more like a well used and abused man in early 40s

I liked the "James Bond was a tool" thumbnail better. 😂

The biggest crime the franchise has ever done in my opinion is not adapting moonraker like how it was in the book (which I get that the technology in the book by 1979 has become kinda outdated but they could’ve done something less outrageous) because I think it’s the best or at least my favourite one because bond is fleshed out and we know more about him and his relationship with M and how he goes on with day to day life and that he reads files and does office work I’m gonna repeat that files and paperwork this is a bond we’ve never seen before plus I think some secret service members would say that’s somewhat realistic that civil servants like bond would actually be in the office most of the times and that he would be lucky to have an assignment which he gets only 2 or 3 times a year and gets paid in 1954 money only £1500. We have what I consider my favourite Bond girl gala brand and how good she was at her job just the same as bond and she drives the plot forward at some points in the story and she was the one who found out that the moonraker is actually a nuclear weapon aimed at London and she suggested to bond that they reset it to where it originally supposed to land when bond’s idea was to lock her in drax’s office to keep her safe and stand underneath the rocket and blow himself up and the rocket. The ending I’m sure surprised a lot of readers where bond does NOT get the girl because she’s already taken which was hinted earlier but was thought of by bond to be a way of telling drax to back off but as it turns out she IS in fact engaged. To me she was proof that bond is not the misogynistic sexist everyone thinks he is nor is Fleming (I mean yeah I know and understand that they said some unflattering things but I’ve always been an actions speak louder than words person and so his writing with her proves that assumption wrong he could’ve easily not written her the way he did but he did and it turned out wonderfully and so did some Bond girls later on who were not done justice in the movies) I mean literally bond is impressed and admiring of her when he talked to her boss and read her file. Another thing I love about this is Fleming’s journalistic style of writing at the time it has been only nine years since the war ended and 13 or 14 years since the blitz happened (which was a reminder to the UK that they are not safe from Germany’s attacks as they thought they were) so it makes sense why the public would be supportive of Hugo drax because at the time the British public was afraid of German v2 rockets being fired on them. We get introduced to his Scottish housekeeper may who doesn’t talk in this but in future novels she does, his secretary lobelia ponsonby who’s flirting and sexual tension were transferred to moneypenny in the movies which is somewhat funny because in the books moneypenny is actually her best friend in the building. And that it was set entirely in England of which was a complaint with readers but I personally LOVED it and it reminds people that Fleming and by extension bond pride themselves on being British. Long story short (or long story long in this case😂) I love this one so much and it shows how much Fleming loved writing it because it’s referenced in future Fleming books as a callback

Ian Fleming prohibited EON Productions from adapting The Spy Who Loved Me faithfully, let alone any smaller parts of the novel. He recognized the experiment as a failure, so the rights to the book were limited to the title and nothing else. We will never see Vivien Michelle, the hotel, the mobsters, the plot, or other details in film until the negotiated deal expires, which is in 2064, 100 years after Fleming's death.

I know it's not the most polished Bond novel but personally "The Man with the Golden Gun" is one of my favorites. It's the last Fleming bond story chronologically, and it reads like a swansong for the character where he's out to settle one last score with the assassin who's been killing other Secret Service agents. The film adaptation is just unfortunate considering how grounded the book is. Scaramanga's gun is just a gold-plated Colt .45, there's no energy crisis subplot, no giant evil lair, nothing. The character of Mary Goodnight is also way better-written, she's highly intelligent, if not more intelligent than Bond.

Regarding Octopussy, in the film, Octopussy herself thanks Bond for his tact in handling his mission to arrest her traitor father, presumably the subject of the short story.

Ian fleming in half profile looks like Maurizio Pollini

Your voice is so mellow, it almost puts me to sleep.

Live and Let Die is a troublesome read. I think as a pulp thriller it's highly effective and thrilling and the final action set piece is the best Fleming ever created. Yet on the other hand, there is no doubt that the story has horrid racial stereotypes. Overall, it one that basically should be skipped.

Lulled to sleep by this video.

Fairly compatible until "You Only Live Twice" when it went totally pear shaped

I'm just gona say it.....MOONRAKER is the most wonderful movie of all time ;)

I believe you are wrong in saying that there is no connection between the movie Octopussy and the story on which it’s based, though I wouldn’t blame you for forgetting it or not noticing it at all. “Octopussy” was the daughter of the traitorous agent Bond was after. She thanks Bond for allowing her father to commit suicide rather than go to trial (or whatever England was going to do with him). Otherwise, you were quite correct in saying there was no connection between the book and the movie. A second quibble has to do with the TV version of Casino Royale. You said it was not faithful to the book. It’s been years since I’ve seen it, but my recollection that aside from the nationality switch (Bond being American and Leiter bring British), it was very faithful to the book. Or is that just my imagination?

this was pretty good, but the guy didn't really pay attention to the books, or just got lazy in the presentation here. He got a lot of stuff wrong, especially You Only Live Twice.