No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You To Read - Let's Read James Bond

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Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

chitoryu12 posted:

Yeah, I actually enjoy Fleming's style. The detail especially helps, as these books were meant to showcase all the wonders of the world that ordinary men in rainy ol' England would never get to see. Live And Let Die is an East Coast book that goes all the way from Manhattan to St. Pete and ends in Jamaica.

I've never read Fleming, but I liked the parts you've quoted so far. His writing conveys a real texture to his settings giving a high-scale casino a real film of grimy desperation in the wee hours of the morning.

# ¿ Jun 27, 2018 19:37

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# ¿ Jun 19, 2025 22:37

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

Mel Mudkiper posted:

I dunno I haven't read any James Bond

I only got so much time to be dismissive and lovely all right?

Hey, we�re just happy you aren�t BoL

# ¿ Jun 29, 2018 13:20

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

chitoryu12 posted:

After the next update I can post the film version of the scene for those who don't know spoilers. It's....very faithful.

I had never read this book, so in the movie it was quite the surprise given the tone of all the other movies. And physically uncomfortable to watch.

That movie was *bleak*

# ¿ Jul 18, 2018 01:19

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

I admit, I was kind of excited for Spectre. I mean SPECTRE and Blowfeld? Sign me up. But then Bond being Blofeld's adopted brother and Blofeld revealing he puppet-mastered the events in the previous three movies was a bridge too far for me.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2018 03:56

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

Midjack posted:

This may be a circumcision reference.

Ian Fleming inspired Silent Hill?

# ¿ Aug 10, 2018 04:58

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

chitoryu12 posted:

My office sits around 73 and it's honestly a little cold without long sleeves.

I don't know, being more north than FL I tend to like things bit cooler....

chitoryu12 posted:

It's a completely normal indoor temperature unless you're an evil wizard living in an ice palace.

Oh.

Well, that would probably explain the Blood Pentagram on the floor. And the Throne of Damned Souls.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2018 16:59

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

chitoryu12 posted:

After this thread finishes the last book, we could probably come up with a list of every single injury Bond suffers and how hosed up his body must be by the end.

https://io9.gizmodo.com/what-would-bruce-waynes-medical-report-look-like-30798110

# ¿ Dec 8, 2018 01:04

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

No joke, this thread has been way more interesting and engrossing that I imagined it would be when it started.

Thank you for all the effort posts regarding the context of post-WWII and Cold War politics and other minutiae during that time.

# ¿ Feb 28, 2019 03:15

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

chitoryu12 posted:

At Zaytinya in DC. Ordered ouzo. Got separate glasses of ouzo, ice, and water so I tried it Bond�s way from his plane trip.

God the licorice flavor is just overpowering. The alcohol burn is nothing compared to having your very soul buried in licorice.

I don't know. It's been ages since I tried ouzo, but I think limoncello gives it a run for its money.

I had that back in 2006, and it still burns bright in my mind. I was in Padova, Italy doing a network security assessment on Banca Antonveneta to determine if they could hook into our global network (we had just acquired them). We had hooked up with a bunch of British expats working for ABN AMRO at an outdoor cafe in one of the plazas and I think my colleague and I missed the predatory gleam in their eyes when they said "everyone must try this when in Italy"

# ¿ Apr 23, 2019 12:42

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

Epicurius posted:

The plot of the original Buck Rogers stories, originally written in 1928 and 1929 (Armageddon 2419 AD and The Airlords of Han) was that Buck Rogers, the protagonist, was a mining engineer, who had gotten trapped in a mine and put in suspended animation until the 25th century. When he got out, he discovered the Chinese (the Han) had taken over the world. The stories have him, in the first book, rallying the people of the New York area into a rebellion, and in the second, attacking the Han Emperor's giant airship.

At the end, Buck sums up their victory:

Wow.

# ¿ May 2, 2019 09:51

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

I'll admit I've never read any Bond books and that I've always thought Flemming was a run of the mill pulp fiction writer. Good enough to move paperbacks, but not particularly noteworthy. I've had my opinion changed over the course of this thread.

The entire GIANT SQUID FIGHT and aftermath is incredible writing.

This part, in particular, is fantastic. I've read this over and over just letting his words and descriptions roll over me.

quote:

The stinking, bleeding, black scarecrow moved its arms and legs quite automatically. The thinking, feeling apparatus of Bond was no longer part of his body. It moved alongside his body, or floated above it, keeping enough contact to pull the strings that made the puppet work. Bond was like a cut worm, the two halves of which continue to jerk forward although life has gone and been replaced by the mock life of nervous impulses. Only, with Bond, the two halves were not yet dead. Life was only in abeyance in them. All he needed was an ounce of hope, an ounce of reassurance that it was still worth while trying to stay alive.

Bond got to the rock face. Slowly he let himself down to the bottom rung of wire. He gazed vaguely at the softly heaving sheen of water. It was black, impenetrable, as deep as the rest. Should he chance it? He must! He could do nothing until he had washed off the caking slime and blood, the horrible stale fish-smell. Moodily, fatalistically, he took off the rags of his shirt and trousers and hung them on the wire. He looked down at his brown and white body, striped and pockmarked with red. On an instinct he felt his pulse. It was slow but regular. The steady thump of life revived his spirits. What the hell was he worrying about? He was alive. The wounds and bruises on his body were nothing � absolutely nothing. They looked ugly, but nothing was broken. Inside the torn envelope, the machine was quietly, solidly ticking over. Superficial cuts and abrasions, bloody memories, deathly exhaustion � these were hurts that an accident ward would sneer at. Get on, you bastard! Get moving! Clean yourself and wake up. Count your blessings. Think of the girl. Think of the man you�ve somehow got to find and kill. Hang on to life like you�ve hung on to the knife between your teeth. Stop being sorry for yourself. To hell with what happened just now. Get down into the water and wash!

Bond is absolutely traumatized and reeking of fear in this passage. And Flemming gets across *perfectly* how wounded and injured people are able to disassociate from fear and go through the motions to do what's needed to survive. This was such a strong and impressive passage.

# ¿ May 7, 2019 16:35

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

Unkempt posted:

They both died in a skiing accident?

I'm trying to imagine this accident and it's just coming out hilariously.

Avalanche?

# ¿ May 18, 2019 14:27

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

As a character, Sterling Archer is looking less like a parody and more like an homage.

# ¿ May 28, 2019 17:00

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

chitoryu12 posted:

Bond is fully aware that�s he�s a big ol dummy who blunders through everything and just doesn�t care because YOLO smoke, drink, and gently caress hot babes until you inevitably get shot on assignment.

I said it before, I used to think Sterling Archer was a *parody* of Bond. I'm no longer as sure of the parody part any more.

# ¿ Jun 20, 2019 00:22

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

Just FYI Pluto TV now has a James Bond channel.

Channel 007, natch.

# ¿ Sep 2, 2019 04:23

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

Selachian posted:

Isn't that basically the gag in the first Austin Powers movie where Number Two explains how he turned Dr. Evil's evil organization into a perfectly legitimate and profitable corporation?

Is it.. evil coffee?

# ¿ Nov 5, 2019 14:39

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

I can�t stop laughing at this one

# ¿ Nov 9, 2019 04:22

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

quote:

He hadn�t thought of her, only of the job. It never crossed his mind that anybody really cared about him. A shake of the head from his friends when he went, a few careful lines in the obituary columns of The Times, a momentary pang in a few girls� hearts. But now, in three days� time, he would no longer be alone. He would be a half of two people. There wouldn�t only be May and Mary Goodnight who would tut-tut over him when he came back from some job as a hospital case. Now, if he got himself killed, there would be Tracy who would at any rate partially die with him.

I really like this passage.

And I hate what I know is coming

# ¿ Dec 3, 2019 17:03

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

Beefeater1980 posted:

It�s honestly a misnomer to call Bond a spy at this point. He doesn�t really gather intelligence, develop sources, spread misinformation or any of the other spy things; he can�t maintain a cover to save his life. He�s a thug, pure and simple: a loaded weapon M can point at a target whenever he needs it wrecked.

Yep, he's a saboteur and assassin.

# ¿ Jan 20, 2020 14:27

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

chitoryu12 posted:

The second was May Day, played by the terrifying Jamaican-American model and singer Grace Jones in A View to a Kill. Jones has a deeper connection than some may expect with the Bond series: Chris Blackwell, the producer who took a chance on her when she was starting her singing career, was the son of Ian Fleming's mistress Blanche Blackwell. While her henchwoman character ended up seduced by Bond, she legitimately scared the aged Roger Moore with her unmodified 5'10 height, rippling muscles, and aggressive performance. No wonder she dated Dolph Lundgren.

I was so in love with Grace Jones when I first became aware of her as a freshman in high school (via the Bond and Conan movies). It was like she was made by a sculptor's chisel from a block of solid granite. It was when I realized that muscles on women were sexy.