tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701602284718920546.post8025339229038024466..comments2024-03-27T17:14:54.791-05:00Comments on Glorious Trash: The James Bond DossierJoe Kenneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03285576322579808153noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701602284718920546.post-2198542688742379552018-02-20T15:42:41.816-06:002018-02-20T15:42:41.816-06:00Regarding Fleming's influences, the spy noveli...Regarding Fleming's influences, the spy novelist Jeremy Duns makes a good case for Dennis Wheatley: http://www.spywise.net/pdfs/wheatley.pdf<br /><br />Fleming himself listed Chandler, Hammett, Sax Rohmer and E. Phillips Oppenheim as influences. <br />Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06905195863291708921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701602284718920546.post-12570882744501143372017-01-26T14:28:28.556-06:002017-01-26T14:28:28.556-06:00I think I'd agree with all of that, Joe, and w...I think I'd agree with all of that, Joe, and would also add that I have ten years more disillusionment and amazement at the self-destructive capacity of any 'left' than you, which may be why I give up on these schmucks...<br /><br />But back to the important stuff - yes, indeed, the only way to get the alternative to an unreconstructed Bond these days is to go back to those other Age Of Aquariushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05776093741594779732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701602284718920546.post-33188146737765723982017-01-24T18:46:15.432-06:002017-01-24T18:46:15.432-06:00Drew, thanks so much for the comment, I really enj...Drew, thanks so much for the comment, I really enjoyed reading it. And I couldn't agree more with your second (and third!) paragraphs. It's exactly that hypocrisy which has led me personally from being somewhat on the left to more so on the right (that plus I'm 42 now, so it's just a natural progression...and also I live in Texas!). Not only that, but the bizarre lack among theJoe Kenneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03285576322579808153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701602284718920546.post-55656314751480574892017-01-24T09:14:28.488-06:002017-01-24T09:14:28.488-06:00I'd not heard of the Ellis Bond, but I do like...I'd not heard of the Ellis Bond, but I do like Ellis (who I believe lives just down the A13 from from me in Essex, in sunny Southend On Sea) so it'll be worth checking out.<br /><br />Joe, I completely agree with you about Bond and the way liberal values have tried to emasculate him , missing the point that being dangerous and outside the mores of the time was part of the original appeal!Age Of Aquariushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05776093741594779732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701602284718920546.post-65477540655596962332017-01-19T15:55:40.448-06:002017-01-19T15:55:40.448-06:00Thanks a lot for the comment, Peter. I'm not ...Thanks a lot for the comment, Peter. I'm not familiar with Warren Ellis's Bond but will look into it. Thanks for the recommendation!Joe Kenneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03285576322579808153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701602284718920546.post-60173116032752411532017-01-18T20:49:07.225-06:002017-01-18T20:49:07.225-06:00Thanks for all the passionate info. Don't wor...Thanks for all the passionate info. Don't worry about running on when you have so much to actually say. <br /><br />Have you sampled the comic book adventures of Bond written by Warren Ellis? He's written two complete stories, the first of which has been collected as a graphic novel. The stories are decent, but the characters, dialogue and action are grand, and Bond is an Peter Collinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13537118158194489589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701602284718920546.post-87234202005992886512017-01-17T15:12:46.373-06:002017-01-17T15:12:46.373-06:00Speaking of which, this brings me to something I f...Speaking of which, this brings me to something I failed to go into in my actual review. What Amis gets across in the Dossier is that, at one time, the Fleming Bonds were considered dangerous or at least a bad influence on younger readers. Amis's book is not only a defense of the books, but also a rundown of <i>what was considered dangerous</i>. This is what brings me to my long-winded Joe Kenneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03285576322579808153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701602284718920546.post-61083031885830243862017-01-17T15:12:27.586-06:002017-01-17T15:12:27.586-06:00Thanks for the comments, everyone.
John -- That&#...Thanks for the comments, everyone.<br /><br />John -- That's interesting to hear the Dossier was hard to find even back in the day. It's surprising Amis's The Book of Bond didn't also receive a paperback edition in the US. At least I don't think it did.<br /><br />Stephen -- I've never read Sax Rohmer but have always meant to. I can see what you mean about his influenceJoe Kenneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03285576322579808153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701602284718920546.post-68835441020291605392017-01-13T16:24:43.864-06:002017-01-13T16:24:43.864-06:00If there's ever a call for a Cliff's Notes...If there's ever a call for a Cliff's Notes on THE JAMES BOND DOSSIER, you wrote it! This was excellent and has me wanting to read 'em all. But I'm a little wary of Amis. I started his 1966 spy novel THE ANTI-DEATH LEAGUE and couldn't press through more than a hundred pages. It was impenetrable and just going nowhere (the literary equivalent of Richard Lester's experimentalGary R. Petersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00811008380554433446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701602284718920546.post-58021970973227561902017-01-13T15:47:24.044-06:002017-01-13T15:47:24.044-06:00Excellent review! I should find a copy of THE JAME...Excellent review! I should find a copy of THE JAMES BOND DOSSIER -- curious that I haven't read it, as I am a big fan of Kingsley Amis' work in general -- I've read all but a couple of his novels. This includes COLONEL SUN, which I found pretty enjoyable, but not quite "Bond". Truly, Fleming left no heirs. (I read through the entire Fleming corpus some while ago, expecting Rich Hortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07659613066689174738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701602284718920546.post-83505957121291595052017-01-13T00:02:30.595-06:002017-01-13T00:02:30.595-06:00Great review of an excellent book that could virtu...Great review of an excellent book that could virtually be taken as a primer for writing spy novels in that era. Fleming's use of technical terms and brand names was what set him apart, and the key here is the use of the term 'aspirational': in the context of the era, Bond was the manly chap that gentlemen would wish to be, for many reasons. A lot of people don't get that now, but Age Of Aquariushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05776093741594779732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701602284718920546.post-30613094771470514262017-01-12T16:32:32.665-06:002017-01-12T16:32:32.665-06:00The Drummond books are available in ebook form rig...The Drummond books are available in ebook form right now; I've tried, but can't get into them. The hero puts an add in the paper (in the first book) asking for somebody to hire him for an adventure, for heaven's sake. <br /><br />I'm surprised The Saint doesn't get more credit for being a Fleming inspiration. There's certainly more Bond in Simon Templar than there ever wasBrian Drakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01233187184688491057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701602284718920546.post-27019213412975436682017-01-12T11:41:08.729-06:002017-01-12T11:41:08.729-06:00An excellent review. A side note on Fleming's ...An excellent review. A side note on Fleming's literary (!) influences. Bulldog Drummond is often cited but the stylistic connection is sparse. The author and character were rough and unreadable by any contemporary standard. Fleming's primary influences are the British thriller writers Sax Rohmer and Peter Cheyney. Cheyney (who during the 1940s was the highest paid thriller writer in Stephen Mertzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08531248810283345577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701602284718920546.post-50796288684007801712017-01-12T09:10:17.868-06:002017-01-12T09:10:17.868-06:00This one was hard to find on the spinner racks in ...This one was hard to find on the spinner racks in our area back in the day for some reason (maybe because it sold so well), but us kids coveted a copy between us. We were all Bond, Flint, and UNCLE fanatics!Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11926491868571442274noreply@blogger.com