Neverending
CS! Platinum
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 65,773
Likes: 8,648
Location:
Last Online Nov 22, 2024 18:30:10 GMT -5
|
Post by Neverending on Jan 25, 2020 18:48:04 GMT -5
Are the Bond novels worth reading? They can be very British at times. People who say Timothy Dalton is the most accurate Bond are full of shit. Picture David Niven. That’s Bond in the books. But they can be fun reads at times. Live and Let Die, if I recall correctly, wasn’t too bad. That’s the one, I believe, where Felix is fed to a shark. “He disagreed with something that ate him.” Remember in For Your Eyes Only when Roger Moore is dragged behind a boat? I think that’s in the book too. So, yeah, give that one a shot. It’s a bit racist. But it was the 1950’s. |
|
Dracula
CS! Gold
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 26,102 
Likes: 5,731
Location:
Last Online Nov 22, 2024 23:42:21 GMT -5
|
Post by Dracula on Jan 25, 2020 18:55:51 GMT -5
Are the Bond novels worth reading? I liked them when I was a teenager, mostly to spot what was and wan't re-used in the movies. They're generally pretty quick reads but some of them are extremely "problematic" by modern standards, so if you don't have tolerance for that sort of thing don't bother. Casino Royale is the first one and probably the best starting point. |
|
1godzillafan
Studio Head
Join Date: Feb 2017
I like pie!
Posts: 9,480
Likes: 6,217
Location:
Last Online Nov 8, 2024 5:42:00 GMT -5
|
Post by 1godzillafan on Jan 25, 2020 19:15:49 GMT -5
Are the Bond novels worth reading? I read the first four years ago. Of the bunch, I think Diamonds Are Forever was probably the best. Casino Royale and Live and Let Die are decent reads (side-stepping the passive racial attitude of the latter) and Moonraker is boring as hell. I intended on finishing the rest but I had misplaced my copy of From Russia with Love and just kind of abandoned my little journey through them. I actually found my copy while sorting through stuff for my move two days ago, so I might have to get back to it soon. |
|
Dracula
CS! Gold
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 26,102
Likes: 5,731
Location:
Last Online Nov 22, 2024 23:42:21 GMT -5
|
Post by Dracula on Jan 25, 2020 19:24:10 GMT -5
Are the Bond novels worth reading? I read the first four years ago. Of the bunch, I think Diamonds Are Forever was probably the best. Casino Royale and Live and Let Die are decent reads (side-stepping the passive racial attitude of the latter) and Moonraker is boring as hell. Yeah, Moonraker the book is even worse than Moonraker the movie. Don't bother with The Spy Who Loved Me the book either unless you're a completist. |
|
PG Cooper
CS! Silver
Join Date: Feb 2009
And those who tasted the bite of his sword named him...The DOOM Slayer
Posts: 16,647
Likes: 4,062
Location:
Last Online Nov 22, 2024 22:27:20 GMT -5
|
Post by PG Cooper on Jan 25, 2020 19:30:07 GMT -5
I read From Russia with Love in high school for an assignment and enjoyed it at the time.
|
|
Wyldstaar
Producer
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 4,900
Likes: 1,267
Location:
Last Online Nov 20, 2024 20:53:38 GMT -5
|
Post by Wyldstaar on Jan 25, 2020 20:15:03 GMT -5
I enjoyed most of the novels and short stories as a product of their time. A few continue to stand up, particularly From Russia With Love. One of the main reasons I remember seeking out these books was to find out just how far the films strayed from the novels. For the most part, after the first three or four movies, they become less and less tied to the source material. By the time they get to Moonraker, they're using the title of the book, the names of characters in the book, and almost nothing else.
If you're looking for an action packed 007 novel, then Ian Fleming isn't for you. You might want to try the novels written by other authors. Those are far more in keeping with the films, and aren't loaded with nearly as much sexism and racism.
|
|
1godzillafan
Studio Head
Join Date: Feb 2017
I like pie!
Posts: 9,480
Likes: 6,217
Location:
Last Online Nov 8, 2024 5:42:00 GMT -5
|
Post by 1godzillafan on Jan 25, 2020 21:27:37 GMT -5
I absolutely agree that the best part of reading the books nowadays is comparing them to the movie versions. Of the four I read, Casino Royale was the adaptation that was the most faithful, and even that was a very loose and beefed up translation. Live and Let Die took concepts from the book and tweeked them to appeal into the blaxploitation fad of the time. Moonraker borrowed the title and the name of the villain, and that's about it (you can definitely tell that it took them forever to adapt this novel because they had no interest in it).
I'm trying to remember what I noted between the book and movie versions of Diamonds Are Forever. The movie is pretty forgettable, I find, though I enjoyed the book. What I do remember is that they added Blofeld to the movie to try and turn the story into a sequel to You Only Live Twice and On Her Majesty's Secret Service (YOLT is the real sequel to OHMSS in book chronology) and they failed miserably, because the book storyline was about a diamond smuggling ring that had nothing to do with Spectre. I also remember the female lead in the book being more likeable than her film counterpart.
From my understanding, the early Connery films (and Lazenby's) are the more literal translations, though Roger Moore's tended to be "based on the novel by Ian Flemming" in a very rough sense. If you like Dr. No and From Russia with Love, then the books are probably for you.
|
|
Dracula
CS! Gold
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 26,102
Likes: 5,731
Location:
Last Online Nov 22, 2024 23:42:21 GMT -5
|
Post by Dracula on Jan 25, 2020 21:41:31 GMT -5
Thunderball, OHMSS, and YOLT are the SPECTRE trilogy in the novels. The rest of the novels are more specifically about a Russian spy organization called SMERSH, but I think they used SPECTRE more in the movies so that they weren't making the soviets the direct bad guys in case some kind of current event made that awkward at some point.
|
|
IanTheCool
CS! Gold
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 21,493
Likes: 2,864
Location:
Last Online Nov 22, 2024 23:08:59 GMT -5
|
Post by IanTheCool on Jan 25, 2020 21:44:19 GMT -5
Maybe I'll just read some Le Carre novels.
|
|
Wyldstaar
Producer
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 4,900
Likes: 1,267
Location:
Last Online Nov 20, 2024 20:53:38 GMT -5
|
Post by Wyldstaar on Jan 25, 2020 22:01:38 GMT -5
Moonraker borrowed the title and the name of the villain, and that's about it (you can definitely tell that it took them forever to adapt this novel because they had no interest in it). They didn't originally intend to adapt Moonraker. In fact, at the end of The Spy Who Love Me, there is a title card which says, "James Bond will return in For Your Eyes Only" rather than Moonraker. The only reason they made it was because the title had a sci-fi sound to it, and Star Wars had just exploded across the globe and they were hoping to ride it's coattails at the box office by sending James Bond into space. It worked like a charm, too. Despite being a total piece of shit of a movie, Moonraker was the most successful 007 movie ever until the Craig version of Casino Royale. |
|
Dracula
CS! Gold
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 26,102
Likes: 5,731
Location:
Last Online Nov 22, 2024 23:42:21 GMT -5
|
Post by Dracula on Jan 25, 2020 22:09:57 GMT -5
Maybe I'll just read some Le Carre novels. Those have more literary merit... but at no point in any of them do they have their protagonist fight a giant squid. |
|
PG Cooper
CS! Silver
Join Date: Feb 2009
And those who tasted the bite of his sword named him...The DOOM Slayer
Posts: 16,647
Likes: 4,062
Location:
Last Online Nov 22, 2024 22:27:20 GMT -5
|
Post by PG Cooper on Jan 25, 2020 22:44:32 GMT -5
Maybe I'll just read some Le Carre novels. Those have more literary merit... but at no point in any of them do they have their protagonist fight a giant squid. Literary merit, giant squid...always you wrestle inside me. |
|
Doomsday
Administrator 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 23,299
Likes: 6,764
Location:
Last Online Nov 23, 2024 1:57:06 GMT -5
|
Post by Doomsday on Jan 25, 2020 23:55:38 GMT -5
Eh, I've long accepted the fact that Doomsday has made the full-on transformation into Clint Eastwood from Gran Torino and just says shit to get a rise out of people.  |
|
Doomsday
Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 23,299
Likes: 6,764
Location:
Last Online Nov 23, 2024 1:57:06 GMT -5
|
Post by Doomsday on Jan 25, 2020 23:56:36 GMT -5
Maybe I'll just read some Le Carre novels. Those have more literary merit... but at no point in any of them do they have their protagonist fight a giant squid. If I remember correctly that's Dr. No, and if I also remember correctly doesn't Bond kill Dr. No by dumping guano on top of him? |
|
Dracula
CS! Gold
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 26,102
Likes: 5,731
Location:
Last Online Nov 22, 2024 23:42:21 GMT -5
|
Post by Dracula on Jan 26, 2020 0:16:36 GMT -5
Those have more literary merit... but at no point in any of them do they have their protagonist fight a giant squid. If I remember correctly that's Dr. No, and if I also remember correctly doesn't Bond kill Dr. No by dumping guano on top of him? You remember correctly. |
|
Neverending
CS! Platinum
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 65,773
Likes: 8,648
Location:
Last Online Nov 22, 2024 18:30:10 GMT -5
|
Post by Neverending on Feb 9, 2020 3:35:36 GMT -5
|
|
Neverending
CS! Platinum
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 65,773
Likes: 8,648
Location:
Last Online Nov 22, 2024 18:30:10 GMT -5
|
Post by Neverending on Feb 17, 2020 5:03:29 GMT -5
|
|
Neverending
CS! Platinum
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 65,773
Likes: 8,648
Location:
Last Online Nov 22, 2024 18:30:10 GMT -5
|
Post by Neverending on Feb 21, 2020 11:58:54 GMT -5
|
|
PG Cooper
CS! Silver
Join Date: Feb 2009
And those who tasted the bite of his sword named him...The DOOM Slayer
Posts: 16,647
Likes: 4,062
Location:
Last Online Nov 22, 2024 22:27:20 GMT -5
|
Post by PG Cooper on Feb 21, 2020 12:32:33 GMT -5
Elaborate.
|
|
IanTheCool
CS! Gold
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 21,493
Likes: 2,864
Location:
Last Online Nov 22, 2024 23:08:59 GMT -5
|
Post by IanTheCool on Feb 21, 2020 12:46:10 GMT -5
That is awesome.
|
|
Deexan
CS! Silver
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 18,196
Likes: 2,995
Location:
Last Online Nov 13, 2021 19:23:59 GMT -5
|
Post by Deexan on Feb 21, 2020 12:57:19 GMT -5
Lol @ 'ball' as a body part.
|
|
PhantomKnight
CS! Gold
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 20,527
Likes: 3,130
Location:
Last Online Nov 22, 2024 0:32:12 GMT -5
|
Post by PhantomKnight on Feb 21, 2020 13:12:15 GMT -5
Someone has too much free time on their hands.
|
|
PG Cooper
CS! Silver
Join Date: Feb 2009
And those who tasted the bite of his sword named him...The DOOM Slayer
Posts: 16,647
Likes: 4,062
Location:
Last Online Nov 22, 2024 22:27:20 GMT -5
|
Post by PG Cooper on Feb 21, 2020 14:01:05 GMT -5
Lol @ 'ball' as a body part. The most important of all body parts. |
|
1godzillafan
Studio Head
Join Date: Feb 2017
I like pie!
Posts: 9,480
Likes: 6,217
Location:
Last Online Nov 8, 2024 5:42:00 GMT -5
|
Post by 1godzillafan on Feb 21, 2020 14:04:41 GMT -5
Cuming soon to Netflix: Adam Sandler in "ThunderBallz."
|
|
Neverending
CS! Platinum
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 65,773
Likes: 8,648
Location:
Last Online Nov 22, 2024 18:30:10 GMT -5
|
Post by Neverending on Feb 22, 2020 1:54:22 GMT -5
|
|
