Fleming: I need to show people that James Bond is a dangerous man and not someone to be admired Also Fleming: "James Bond saves a woman from a pair of violent rapists"

Every time I hear the name Vivienne the first thing that comes to mind is Vyvyan from The Young Ones. "Vyvyan! Vyvyan! Vyvyan! Honestly, whenever anything explodes in this house it's always 'Blame Vyvyan!'"

I think Fleming intended to make Bond a darker character in the earlier books, but gradually evolved him into a somewhat more likable and heroic figure as the series progressed. This is probably down to the fact that the post FRWL novels feel more like pulp adventure stories than grounded spy thrillers. With that said, I do appreciate that even at their most outlandish, the later books still maintain a degree of darkness/grit rather than becoming outright farcical like some of the films did.

I just recently broke up with my boyfriend, and seeing a new video from you helped improve my mood quite substantially. Thanks for cheering me up, dude!

Props to Fleming for taking a risk and writing something outside his comfort zone. It's a mess, for sure, but it's a fascinating mess. At the very least, it's makes for an interesting* read purely because of its black sheep status, in how different it is from all the Bond books before and after it - what 'Halloween 3' is to the Halloween films, 'My Neighbours the Yamadas' is to the Studio Ghibli films, or 'Star Fox Adventures' is to the Star Fox games. At the very least read it once to experience it, but you'll probably find you'll never revisit it. *Somewhat related tangent: in creative writing workshops I've been in, 'interesting' means 'bad' - it's the word used when a piece is shit but no one has the nerve to say it to the writer's face.

"Vyvian! Vyvian! Vyvian! Honestly! Whenever something goes wrong in the James Bond series, it's always BLAME VYVIAN!"

Regarding “all women love semi-rape” it’s not the first time Fleming expresses views like this. In Casino Royale, Bond notes that because of Vesper’s inner privacy each time they had sex would have “the sweet tang of rape”

Your theory that Hitchcock's Psycho might have influenced this book is very interesting. I read the book years ago, and that thought never occurred to me.

4:18 Uh oh, Moore's just skiied off a cliff. :-P

I agree with all your sentiments. The single sentence you mentioned stood out like a sore thumb. One of the odd things was Bond himself. Since we didn't get his internal dialog he came off more suave and charming with a calm, cool demeanor. It felt less like the previous Bonds and more like....well like Roger Moore's Bond, which I found so weird since Moore wasn't even a thought and the Movies were just getting started with Sean.

I’m in the minority, but The Spy Who Loved Me is my favorite Bond book. I personally like the concept of the narrative coming from Vivienne’s point of view and not Bond’s.

Just like when I read through the series proper, in this review series I'm stuck thinking "Thank god that's over, now we can do Majesty's." Enjoy it, it's my absolute favourite one.

You referenced Bugsy Malone...I think my esteem of you just reached epic levels.

I will agree with you. I found the book kind of unsettling, but at the same time I couldn't put it down. What's interesting is in my version of the book there is a little preface. It basically states a fan of the James Bond books sent a Manuscript to Felming of this particular story and signed it "Vivienne Michel". Then Ian edited it and published it. I often wonder how much of the book was really his. One other crazy thing to note, when I found this book, I was in the middle of making a "Spy Who Loved Me" video game. The timing of that was just crazy.

Not at all a fan of Vyvian. I don't want to blame her for how unpleasant her flashbacks were, but they left me with at best a mild form of pity for her, at worst a dislike for her own stupidity, recklessness, and self-absorption (for which she never takes responsibility), but mostly, an eye-rolling sense of tedium. If she learned a certain strength and independence from all that, she did not learn any sort of wisdom along the way, as evidenced by the fact that she ignored some fairly clear warning signs as well as a strong insistence by her gut instinct that this motel job was a bad idea. And I didn't get the sense she's learned any wisdom from this little adventure either, not that I care. And if one doesn't like Vyvian, this book can't possibly hold any charms. In the one chapter where Bond summarizes his recent mission against SPECTRE, my feeling of "Well fuck, why didn't you let me read _that_ book instead of this drivel?" was palpable. (It's also, I believe, something of a continuity error, not that this series is meant to take that sort of thing all that seriously. It's after _Thunderball_ and MI6 is well aware of SPECTRE and working to bring it down, but the target sounds like the sort of operation that Blofeld suspended as soon as Operation Thunderball blew his cover, based on OHMSS.)

Ian Fleming confronts feminism - UH OH.

Fantastic discussion as always....engaging, entertaining, and educational!

The first time I read TSWLM I really disliked it if not hated... the next time I read through the series I almost skipped it, but decided that no I should give it another try... with my expectations altered, I actually quite enjoyed it. It’s not one of my favorites mind you and being stuck at the motel was very small scale and unappealing, yet I actually liked the lead’s backstory... I felt it led to what I assume Fleming intended as the ultimate damsel in distress moment with Horror and Sluggsy and then Bond’s arrival I found quite exciting... that worked for me from a fan boy geek out moment. I also think there were moments with Horror and Sluggsy that I found quite suspenseful and frightening whereas in DAF the villains not so much. I do agree though the adventure Bond talks about sounds more intriguing and I would have preferred that developed into a novel. I also agree at least Fleming was trying to shake things up for himself and the formula. It’s no easy task to write a great book and Fleming wrote quite a few that I love so I’m always compelled to be forgiving a failure or two.

Loving the content on the Fleming book reviews, thank you Calvin! Is there a novel ranking video on the horizon once you wrap-up the Fleming books?

I regard this as a brave but a failed experiment too. I don't blame Fleming for not endorsing this book.

What you said about how Vivienne's pre-Bond relationships (if you could call her liaison with Bond a "relationship") are presented so awfully...that brings me back to something I mentioned in another of my comments on your videos: that I don't think Fleming EVER depicted a successful, supportive, loving long-term relationship in any of the Bond novels or stories. Well, okay...there were the Havelocks, but they get killed off almost immediately. And of course we all like to think that Bond's marriage to Tracy would have turned out okay, but of course THAT got cut short tragically. All the other relationships/marriages we see, even among supporting or background characters, are either miserable or emotionally/physically abusive--the Krests in "The Hildebrand Rarity", the Masters in "Quantum of Solace", Major Dexter Smythe and his wife in "Octopussy". It does say a LOT about Fleming himself and his view of women and relationships, doesn't it? (Not to mention the state of his own marriage--from what I understand, he married Anne Rothermere late-ish in life after she'd been cheating on her husband with him, and then their own marriage was rather miserable and plagued by infidelity on both sides.) It's rather sad...Fleming didn't have ISSUES with women, he had SUBSCRIPTIONS. You'd have to go outside the Bond novels for a successful relationship in a Fleming story--Mr. and Mrs. Caractacus Pott in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and (a) that was a children's story, (b) they made Caractacus a widower for the movie!

Please give us your top 10 movies of all time, I have a vague idea of what it is from watching your videos over the years. I can take a guess North by Northwest will be in that list lol!

I skipped The Spy who Loved me and went straight to On Her Majesty's Secret Service and honestly that one and Goldfinger are my most read books. Kind of ironic that the title of The Spy who Loved Me evolved into my favourite movie 15 years after it was published.

Someone may have mentioned this already but the motel fire may have been an inspiration for the burning hotel climax in Quantum of Solace.

15:45 interestingly, the newspaper comic book adaption did exactly that, as well as fleshing out the mission Bond was on [which is different to the one in the novel]

Even though our opinions on the book differ, I totally understand and respect your viewpoints here Calvin. For me, TSWLM novel was a failed experiment commercially at the time of release, but I believe it to be a flawed yet bold experimental novel that reads a lot better today making it ahead of its time although admittedly far from progressive. The brutality that Viv experiences is meant to illicit empathy from the reader, and perhaps force men to call into question the sexual experiences of women versus those of men. This experimentation obviously came at the wrong time since at the time of the book's release Eon was in production on Dr No. My theory is that Fleming probably had no idea that the films would be successful and decided at this time to flex some creative muscles by writing from a woman's perspective. Once Dr No met with some measure of success and another film was guaranteed, Fleming probably realized he'd better return the Bond books to form and he decided to go above and beyond with OHMSS.

10:16 yeah, had a feeling you'd mention that. Hardly Flemings finest moment. Ugh!

Fleming and Raymond Chandler were friends in real life. Similar to Quantum of Solace being his attempt to capture W. Somerset Morgan, I wonder if this was Fleming trying to write a Chandler esq book but if that was the case, he missed by a country mile.

Haven't read through all of the Bond novels yet but this one almost sounds like a bad fan faction rather than a true Bond novel. No wonder Ian didn't want this one adapted.

Arthur Hailey did the same in a lot of his books around this time, with the gratuitous sexual violence, it was probably to add to the shock value and drive sales of the book.

I remember when I first read this I had to keep checking to see if I was still reading a Bond novel as it felt so different to the earlier novels to me. I know this was by design (given it's the only novel I believe not told from mostly Bond's perspective), but the story still felt weird to me (probably didn't help I'd seen the films before finding the novels).

i agree with you , the next time i read this book i'll start when Bond enters the story , this really should have been a short story

Do you think this could work as a film? The idea of putting Bond in a roadside hotel having to combat some low-life criminals could be a really interesting character study.

Compared to your film reviews, Calvin, where you have the video cuts to put into your videos, it is far harder to bring the book to life. I really like your analysis of the books. You know I am writing a Bond inspired thriller, and I can atest that it is one of the hardest things I have ever done. Fleming had built his brand by that point, so I appreciate you give him slack. I do think men are not so great at writing sex scenes even if they are great writers (Stephen King doesn't write great sex scenes in my view but he is still one of my absolute fave authors). The view on rape is interesting - I don't think any woman would ever want that, maybe it was part of Fleming's own fantasy,, who knows? Easily one of your most important videos - considering the lighter tone of the TSWLM movie, the contrast offered in this video review of the book is essential for all Bond fans.

Even though my grandfather had excellent condition original hardcover versions of most Bond novels, I’m ashamed to say I only read two: Dr No and this. When I read this I was a kid, and it really confused me. It put me off the books entirely and I have yet to get back to them, although this review series has rekindled my interest.

RIP Roger Moore, Shane Rimmer and Bryan Marshall

Great work (again) Calvin! I actually didn't mind Vyvian's back story, but ultimately the whole thing is pretty poor. Fleming had turned out some really memorable names for his characters (Goldfinger, Tiffany Chase, Hugo Drax, Honeychile Ryder, Miss Moneypenny, Dr No, and of course Pussy Galore and so many more) but here we get Slugsy and Horror, this shot part 2 for me. And James Bond's involvement in this story is only brought about by a flat tyre. BUT - what a great title!

And thanks again. Actually ‚The Spy…‘ was the first Bond novel I read years ago. And thanks to this experience I never touched a book by Fleming since and contented myself with the films. Now I consider giving him a second chance as an author.

This novel really showcases how much Fleming was inspired by American hard-boiled detective fiction, such as Chandler’s, Philip Marlowe.

I don't suppose you plan on reviewing the _Daily Express_ comic strip adaptations of the Fleming novels? They started by faithfully adapting the novels to comic strip, but eventually all they had left was _The Man With The Golden Gun,_ a few short stories, and _The Spy Who Loved Me_ which they initially skipped when adapting. Without delving into spoilers, because of the inadequacies of these stories, _The Daily Express_ pepped them up a bit. You might be more out of the _Daily Express'_ handling of _The Spy Who Loved Me_ than the original novel.

I appreciate what Fleming was trying to do here, but yeah I am with you on this book not really working for me in terms of Fleming's intent at course correction or as an interesting character study in its own right. A shame because his first book "Casino Royale" did a fairly solid job at giving you a somewhat Hitchcock/Raymond Chandler like story/atmosphere.

Love the film version of this.

I haven't read this one yet. No wonder it is called "The spy who loved me"

Calvin, good for you for "muscling" your way through that book! I read it forty years ago and I haven't picked it up since. I also read Christopher Wood's novelization of the movie with the same title. It was more entertaining, and found it a shade more dark than the film. And, there were scenes in the book, not in the movie, which explained some of the awkward dialog between Bond and Anya Amasova, and a background story for Jaws! I really enjoyed your video, Calvin!

I sort of doubt Fleming had the same ideas you had about Vyvian’s relationship with men and sex. I don’t hold anything against the guy, but I really doubt he had it in him to inject that much nuance into a female character.

"What does a James Bond book without James Bond in it very much...look like?" It can also look like Octopussy. A very good short story that you'll come to soon, if you haven't read it already. Oftentimes, the best thing about the Bond series isn't Bond himself, it's the world he lives in. Larger-than-life villains, complicated schemes, glamor, and oh-so-much drinking and smoking without fear of the consequences. I love the "non"-Bond Bond stories. They paint a wonderful backdrop to his adventures. It's one reason I'm NOT 100% opposed to a Bond Cinematic Universe, with spinoffs for the MI6 regulars, maybe a fun backstory adventure for a young M (any M). Bond can cameo to help sell it to the swells.

At first, I was turned off by this book. However, after subsequent readings, I now find this tale to be a engaging interlude in Fleming's literary canon.

Knowing that the story was written by a 60 year old alcoholic sadomasochist makes the sex stuff even creepier. But I always liked the last chapter ("The Writing on My Heart") for some reason or another, thanks for reviewing Fleming novel.

*SPOILER ALERT FOR YOUR NEXT REVIEW* There is some debate as to whether or not The Spy Who Loved Me is even considered canonical. It on, Bond is said to be on the search of SPECTRE. And as you pointed out, there is some referencing to Thunderball. However in the next novel, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, it is implied that SPECTRE has not been heard of since the events of Thunderball. Authors of the Bond Files, Lane and Simpson, believe this was Fleming's attempt to retcon The Spy Who Loved Me out of the continuity of the series.

That line "All women love semi-rape"...it's cringe city, all right. And it says a lot about how Fleming saw women (which really makes it all the more "terrific" that he tries to write a novel from a female point of view). But that could also be a product of the times. It shows up in everything from Gone with the Wind to the romance novels of the time (which continued long into the 1970s and even the 1980s)...you know, the "bodice-ripper" which seems to have fallen out of fashion, the whole "it isn't rape if she ends up enjoying it" business. It springs from a time when "good girls" weren't supposed to acknowledge they had healthy sexual desires, so if it starts off with her not wanting it, then she can still be a "good girl" but also give in to the hero's alpha-male sex appeal. In short, the heroines (and the reader) can have their cake and eat it.

You should review No One Lives Forever.

You know, if Fleming hadn't put the restrictions on this book's adaptation, maybe EON could have used this story to do a low-risk test of their new replacement Bond. George Lazenby cameos as James Bond 007 in Ian Fleming's The Spy Who Loves Me in the Third Act. It's the spin-off you demanded!

totally agree

Are you remaking the movie version of it too...

Am I the only one who wouldn't mind seeing the Vivian Lee storyline and concept of this book be adapted as the next film to creatively introduce the next Bond, either continuing the Craig timeline or as part of a new universe? Obviously they would have to update a lot of the context and character to fit more accordingly with 2020 decade, but it would give the 'female 007 protestors' something to have in place of that and then we can finally move forward with the new bond.

Also, am I the only one who can picture Barry Nelson's Bond in this story...? I noticed that reading the book, none of the other cinematic Bonds really fit.

I love this book. The most boring part of this story is when Bond faces the bad guys.

As you said, the strangest. & i understand why Fleming only sold the rights to use the title. While Moonraker was pretty far from the book, it updated part of the plot for the film, space shuttle v rocket. & the movie kept Drax.

I remember reading this for the first time and the insult of Sexbox still makes me shudder

From a literature nerd point of view this is a fascinating oddity. Fleming tells a reasonably compelling story, but he's not great at the first person voice. Her thoughts are very obviously his thoughts as the author and not convincing from her perspective, and he resorts to cliche far too often to describe feelings and images. Also, the reflections of sex may have a certain clear realism to them, but they are most definitely masculine reflections which don't work when articulated from a woman's point of view. The Bond as deus ex machina saviour in the final act thing is definitely a contrivance, albeit quite an absorbing one for fans of the character, given that it plays off his sheer presence a great deal and offers a lot of catharsis. That said, I did actually enjoy some of the novel. The first third is an absorbing 1950s slice of life, if a bit seedy in places, while he does successfully make the gangster villains quite horrifying, burnish the Bond legend, and throw in some quite interesting musings on him as a hero at the end. Overall, it's an interesting curio for a Bond fan even if it is far from the best.

That GoldenEye reference tho

It's been announced that Christopher Nolan's next film, due out in July 2020, called Tenet, is an international spy thriller action epic (that comes from IMDb). If Nolan's doing a spy film, maybe with franchise potential, does this mean he won't want to do Bond 26 now? He's been reportedly approached by Eon a number of times over the years , and has always said he'd only do it if it's a reboot, so he can start from scratch. As Bond 25 appears to be Craig's last, Bond 26 would be the next available window for a reboot. If Nolan doesn't do it, it could be 10-15 years before the opportunity arises again. Nolan is a self-confessed Bond aficionado, and the Bond films have leaked into a lot of his films (which he admits to). As such, it seems strange that he'd now do a spy thriller. Whether he does Bond after this, some of his Bond ideas must come up in Tenet. So, odd he'd do this so close to his next film possible film being Bond 26. I know a lot of people predicted Bond 26 as coming out in 2022, to celebrate the Bond film's 60th anniversary, but I don't see them meeting that now. That aside, if Nolan does Bond 26, it has to be his next film. The only other thing I can think is Tenet will turn out to be not as clear cut as a spy thriller. Inception was also talked about in this way, until it turned out to be a sci-fi thriller, based around dream scenarios. It just happened to ref Bond, and Tom Hardy felt like a Bond, and Marion Cotillard a Bond femme fatale. Like Bond 25, Tenet will be shot on IMAX film and 70mm. I'll def be watching it, hopefully in an IMAX cinema screening it on film (as I did for Dunkirk), and it'll be interesting to see what Nolan does.

If you were making the movie who would you cast as Vivienne Michel?

I read this when I was 9. I don't remember but I expect I skipped a lot of it, and what I did read I almost certainly did not understand. That comment about "All women like semi-". There is something about abusive relationships being very appealing to the mainstream. If you look at a lot of the popular fiction concerning relationships, the stories are often about abusive relationships. Clearly, not all women like that, but sufficient numbers of people do to make many of these stories phenomenally successful. For reasons I can't disclose, I've read a few "romance novels" aimed at female readers and many of them have that slant too. I don't understand it, but it is there.

MORE delays on Bond 25: an explosion effect has damaged part of The 007 Stage and closed it down until it can be looked at by a government health and safety inspector. AND, due to Craig's ankle injury pushing back production, Rami Malek isn't available. As such they're going to try and film him and Craig's scenes in Nov, when the film was supposed to wrap in Sept. Does this mean Malek isn't in the film much? Or can they just knock off his scenes across Nov (poss with not much travel involved)? I sure as hell hope this doesn't mean they try and cover his scenes with body doubles, inc for fight scenes. And only drop him in for close ups. That Apr release date could well be put back AGAIN. This is getting worrying. All we can hope is they're taking the extra time to ensure everything's good, but it just seems to be one thing after another, and that press conference didn't inspire confidence.

This was an odd read. Keep it up!

I’ve read every Fleming Bond at least twice except for this one. Struggled with it the first time and just couldn’t get through it the second. The only thing I like about the book is that Bond is presented as not much better than the villains aside from his smoother demeanour. Otherwise, for all of his “loving” he’s outta there as soon as he gets a good shag and a scrambled egg breakfast. I realize that that’s Bond, but I try not to think about all the women (and possibly illegitimate children) he leaves behind; if I did, I’d never be able to root for the guy. But this book pushes the very heart and soul and naïveté of these women right in your face. Maybe that’s a good thing, but it definitely hampers the escapism.

I knew the movie had an original script but I didnt know it was this much COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THAN THE BOOK! The only thing they share is the title and the fact they have Bond in them

Sounds like an idea Fleming handled much better in the short story "Quantum of Solace" in which Bond is supporting character, but the story we are being told is much more interesting as is Bond's reaction to it. The Spy Who Loved Me -- the film, is one of those rare Hollywood instances where the adapters of a work went completely off script from the source material, and did a much better job than the creator.

Your idea that Fleming should have had the section with bond published as a short story as opposed to writing this novel is a great point. That story would have been much better served if it had been featured in a collection of short stories or published in maybe say, playboy magazine.

Everybody hates this one but i thought it was pretty interesting. The movie would def be different

I don’t know what to think about Ian Fleming thinking all Americans sound like clichéd mobsters. Should I be flattered or insulted?

I don't hate this book, but it is very different from the normal Bond stories. I can see how you'd find the early sections dreary and unpleasant though.

I found it to be an interesting experiment, but not a well executed one. I did like that there were a female POV and I did find Vivian's character to be likable and sympathetic. That is a cringeworthy line. It goes to show that FLemining, now matter how good a thriller writer he was, never really understood women and clearly had some sexist views. This story could be adapted into a better non-Bond movie if you change up some aspects of it. Actually a lot of aspects. I think that Sluggsy and Horror were supposed to be gangster stereotypes, but maybe not cardboard cutouts of James Cagney.

This was the first novel I read, quite a disappointment, although the third chapter was a delicious taste of what Fleming could write on other novels.

This was the first Fleming book I read. It was ok.

I need to listen to the "nobody does it better" song while reading this book , just to ease the pain for how this bond novel is not quite bond and quite uncomfortable for myself

I think Fleming and certainly Gardner were influenced by the critics. To the point where it's called out at times by Gardner. But both were influenced in the shape of, I'll show you!

A story that made you uncomfortable did its job.

And the close as it gets to any iteration of that story is the audiobook readings and this musical composition from the mid 60s: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rK5npbGS28-wYZ8.html

No question this is the worst of the Ian Fleming 007 novels Good news is that On her Majesty’s Service is next and it is his best!

Its possible Fleming might have had Psycho in mind when he wrote TSWLM. Wouldn't it be cool if we had a fantasy novel in which Bond saves Marion Crane by kicking Norman Bates' ass. Then he and Marion get in the shower together!

Do a license to kill movie review 🙂

Disagree with the third person making bond seem more heroic. Bond seems like a psycho in this one. They have plenty of opportunities to just leave, but he continues to endanger viv just to satisfy his bloodlust "because they ruined his shirt"

I'm reading it right now, almost done with it and it definitely is not your traditional Bond adventure, in fact until Bond shows up it really feels like an erotic romance novel written for women. The second act almost feels like the first half of I Spit On Your Grave (men barge into where a woman is staying and sexually assault her). It's not a bad novel at all just you can't go into it expecting to be like all of the others, it isn't, in fact Bond is almost a supporting character, Vivienne Michel is the main character.

This novel is really a joker in the series. The producers actually Said That They thought about making a movie With Jinx as a main character after Die Another Day which Would have been very interesting. Putting a woman in the center of the story of a Bondmovie has got to be inspired by The Spy Who Loved Me. The producers then decided to do casino royale instead in 2005 and fire Brosnan.

Hitchcock vs. Fleming: Fleming's merit was to invent an universally interesting character and the filmmakers' merit was to turn lead into gold.

I tend to agree with you on this. How can anyone talk about anything enjoyable about rape.... I'm surprised that it doesn't get more attention. It's a horrific statement.

he said that in a later book as well. it seems to me that he genuinely believes that all women like semi rape, which is odd.

Read this book and I didn't enjoy it too much

OHMSS is by far my favourite full fledged bond long form book, its quite a treat and if nothing else, shows how miscast George was and how Sean could’ve done it better

Starts boring, gets interesting, explodes in a burst of wild action and ends, again, boring. A curious experiment.

Now I see why Fliming hated this story.

Really don't like this one. If it wasn't written by Fleming, it would have been long forgotten. John Pearson's James Bond: The authorised Biography is quite meta as it makes out James Bond is an actual person and Ian Fleming wrote about him [with Fleming interacting with M too]. This book uses Flemings claim 'spy' is non-cannon by making out Vivienne Mitchell is also an actual person and wrote the book instead of Fleming. Bond of course hates the novel!

It's an original novel by Ian Fleming, let it go. It's was Fleming stretching out stylistically, wasn't well received so wasn't tried again. I like most of your reviews albeit they are placing modern opinion on books written in a different era. Sorry to be critical but when you've written your first best seller you'll be entitled to be a harsh critic on one of the all time great novelists.

My little sister read this novel in eighth grade and she told me when she read the semi-rape line, she lost it. "No. Just no, Mr. Fleming, I know you were into sadomasochism and you only cared about how a white British man felt and apparently, rape fantasies were somewhat common, but oh, Jesus God, No." She volunteered in our church's garden a month or two ago and there was a woman who brought along her six month old daughter who was also named Vivian. She and a family friend played peek-a-boo with Little Viv during a break. She told me that when she thinks of the name Vivian nowadays, it's "bipolar actresses, childlike punk medical students and rape apologists."

Ian Fleming hate this book

The book was nothing like the movie

This is my fave Fleming novel, just because it's from the female p.o.v., and I certainly ain't no Loony Left Liberal

Fleming was a disgusting misogynist. H.P. Lovecraft was an unrepentant racist. Doesn't make their fiction not worth reading! And yes, you nailed it. The only book item that made it into the film was: "The black eyes were slow-moving, incurious, and the lips thin and purplish like an unstitched wound. When he spoke there was a glint of grey silvery metal from his front teeth…" To be honest, I was incredibly impressed that they managed to create such an iconic character out of so little.