# I never read Fleming's "James Bond" books. Are the movies true to the books Bond character or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 21, 2015, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051 "2015-06-21T02:52:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051/41 "2015-06-22T02:16:53Z")
I just checked - [the extended sequence of James Bond reading a report on philopon](http://flemingsbond.com/philopon-a-japanese-murder-drug/) takes place in “Moonraker”. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051/42 "2015-06-22T02:17:04Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > . . . I don’t offhand recall the porcelain description, though. . . . [Respectfully submitted for your perusal.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=3436729&postcount=39) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051/43 "2015-06-22T02:25:57Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > As I recall, M invites Bond to dinner at his club in the novel _Moonraker_. It’s one of the only scenes in the books where Bond gets to show off his taste for fine food, and it’s limited to ordering the peas, because it’s spring, and they’ll probably be fresh and not out of the tin. Spoiler alert, dude. Jeez, and you used to be a mod! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051/44 "2015-06-22T02:31:20Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > IIRC, he was a hand-to-hand instructor as well, but that might have been in one of the non-Fleming books. IIRC, that was George Lazenby’s job in real life. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051/45 "2015-06-22T02:32:01Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > [Respectfully submitted for your perusal.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=3436729&postcount=39) 😃 Thanks. js\_africanus seemed under-impressed, though. And actually, a good documentary about the development of porcelain probably would be quite interesting. I don’t think it’d work as a fictionalized two-hour drama, though. They’d probably try to tack on a car chase. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051/46 "2015-06-22T02:35:12Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Except for Timothy Dalton in\* License to Kill\*, I cannot say any actor caught the book Bond totally. > > They all had their moments, even Moore, in \*For Your Eyes Only \*and to a lesser extent in _The Man with the Golden Gun_. However, the dark uncompromising Bond is really on seen in Dalton’s interpretation. What’s your opinion of the Daniel Craig reboot Bond? Because I thought that he did capture that “[blunt instrument wielded by a Government Department](http://www.universalexports.net/Movies/no.shtml)” quality. Though I agree with you that the Moore Bond had his moments—[kicking the spectacled baddie’s car off the cliff in FYEO](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIjQZIiORGY)—IMHO, the effect was that of a Golden Retriever that decided to actually nip after growling. I still love FYEO; it’s probably my favorite of the Moore Bond movies. _Dr. No._, I think, did capture some of the ruthlessness of the written 007, especially in the [scene where he kills Professor Dent](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTtavgJXa2Q). Not the, “That’s a Smith & Wesson, Professor, and you’ve had your six,” though that’s an AWESOME action movie hero line. No, that Bond puts another one in him while he’s motionless on the ground, just to make sure he’s dead. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051/47 "2015-06-22T02:36:16Z")
> [@Bond's martinis](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonds-martinis/42693/16): > > As for Cantrip’s mention of the best dialogue, I’ll agree that “No, Mister Bond, I expect you to die!” is the best, but my vote for second is “That’s a Smith and Wesson, and you’ve had your six.” spoken by Connery just before shooting Professor Dent in cold blood (Dr. No). On rewatching _Dr. No_ I was struck not only Bond’s coldbloodedness in shooting a man who at that point was unarmed, but also his incompetence in executing Dr. No’s right-hand man, who could have been a trove of information if taken alive. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051/48 "2015-06-22T02:41:54Z")
Bond certainly _did_ ask questions. Later. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051/49 "2015-06-22T02:55:05Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > What’s your opinion of the Daniel Craig reboot Bond? Because I thought that he did capture that “[blunt instrument wielded by a Government Department](http://www.universalexports.net/Movies/no.shtml)” quality. Though I agree with you that the Moore Bond had his moments—[kicking the spectacled baddie’s car off the cliff in FYEO](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIjQZIiORGY)—IMHO, the effect was that of a Golden Retriever that decided to actually nip after growling. I still love FYEO; it’s probably my favorite of the Moore Bond movies. > > _Dr. No._, I think, did capture some of the ruthlessness of the written 007, especially in the [scene where he kills Professor Dent](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTtavgJXa2Q). Not the, “That’s a Smith & Wesson, Professor, and you’ve had your six,” though that’s an AWESOME action movie hero line. > > No, that Bond puts another one in him while he’s motionless on the ground, just to make sure he’s dead. For what it’s worth, that’s also how Bond iced Stromberg in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME: upon taking a knee, Roger Moore (a) plainspokenly notes that the guy is out of ammo, and promptly (b) shoots him – and then shoots him a second time – and then stands up to shoot him a third time while striding over to shoot him a fourth time. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051/50 "2015-06-22T03:18:21Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > One of the books, _From Russia With Love_, describes Bond stuck in dreary paperwork. The novel starts with several chapters of the backgrounds of Donovan Grant (the psychopathic killer working for SMERSH), Rosa Klebb (head of operations for SMERSH), Kronsteen (the chess-master operations planner for SMERSH), and SMERSH starting to put together a plan designed to seriously bitchslap the Western intelligence services, etc… > > Bond shows up around chapter five or six, which starts with “The soft life had got ahold of Bond and was slowly smothering him in its flabby embrace,” or something like that. Bond at this point has been stuck in London for months following his mission in America (“Diamonds are Forever”), long enough for Tiffany Case, who’d moved in with him after the events of that novel, to get tired of him and move back out, which Bond has to admit he kind of prefers - not being tied down to any one woman. > > Some of Bond’s paperwork activities are described, including him being on a committee and getting into a minor dustup with another member who thought intellectuals were prone to wearing their hair long and indulging in homosexuality, or some such crap (possibly alternatively, he was bored while reading a lengthy report about “philopon”, a version of meth that was becoming rampant in urban Japan - I can’t find my novels at the moment to check). > > In any event, the dulled reflexes of “the soft life” are implied to blame for Bond not becoming suspicious that a television salesman had been bothering his live-in housekeeper, May. The salesman is actually a Soviet agent making clandestine inquiries into Bond’s movements, confirming that he is currently in London. Also, when the story surfaces of a beautiful cipher clerk named Tatania Romanova claiming she’s distantly fallen in love with Bond and wishes to defect and bring a top-secret decoding machine with her, both M and Bond are sufficiently dulled by boredom that they jump on this bizarre opportunity instead of being appropriately cautious. Their man in Istanbul, Darko Kerim, has not been similarly dulled and maintains his active distrust, right up until he gets killed. Part of the charm of the books is the drill about how he cant be saving the world all the time and he gets flabby and disgusted with himself. Would you really prefer the novels to have some jackanape like Roger Moore wisecracking? It’s not a cartoon. You’re supposed to have a little suspension of disbelief, even in a Bond book. Also every Bond book that I have ever read describes his food and drink preferences in different circumstances. His tastes did not derive from the movie versions! The books make you hungry. The movies? Not at all. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051/51 "2015-06-22T03:36:29Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Also every Bond book that I have ever read describes his food and drink preferences in different circumstances. His tastes did not derive from the movie versions! The books make you hungry. The movies? Not at all. Heh, in “Thunderball”, both novel- and movie-Bond get packed off to a clinic/resort to get detoxed. Novel-Bond has a pretty rough time with it, having withdrawals from cigarettes and alcohol. After he gets out, his primary goals are to indulge himself in a really intense bacchanal consisting of, as I recall, a really hard cheap Chianti, a large plate of heavily spiced spaghetti bolognaise, and the body of physical therapist Patricia Fearing. He goes three for three. Movie Bond barely breaks a sweat. He gets yanked around on that rack machine like his novel counterpart, but rebounds immediately to nail the therapist in the steamroom. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051/52 "2015-06-22T03:36:52Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > What’s your opinion of the Daniel Craig reboot Bond? Because I thought that he did capture that “[blunt instrument wielded by a Government Department](http://www.universalexports.net/Movies/no.shtml)” quality. Though I agree with you that the Moore Bond had his moments—[kicking the spectacled baddie’s car off the cliff in FYEO](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIjQZIiORGY)—IMHO, the effect was that of a Golden Retriever that decided to actually nip after growling. I still love FYEO; it’s probably my favorite of the Moore Bond movies. > > _Dr. No._, I think, did capture some of the ruthlessness of the written 007, especially in the [scene where he kills Professor Dent](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTtavgJXa2Q). Not the, “That’s a Smith & Wesson, Professor, and you’ve had your six,” though that’s an AWESOME action movie hero line. > > No, that Bond puts another one in him while he’s motionless on the ground, just to make sure he’s dead. IIRC, Dent was still alive and reaching for the gun he’d dropped after being shot when Bond shot him the second time. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051/53 "2015-06-22T03:53:47Z")
XX ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051/54 "2015-06-22T03:56:33Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Heh, in “Thunderball”, both novel- and movie-Bond get packed off to a clinic/resort to get detoxed. Novel-Bond has a pretty rough time with it, having withdrawals from cigarettes and alcohol. After he gets out, his primary goals are to indulge himself in a really intense bacchanal consisting of, as I recall, a really hard cheap Chianti, a large plate of heavily spiced spaghetti bolognaise, and the body of physical therapist Patricia Fearing. He goes three for three. > > Movie Bond barely breaks a sweat. He gets yanked around on that rack machine like his novel counterpart, but rebounds immediately to nail the therapist in the steamroom. In Goldfinger there is a great orgiastic meal of Crab Legs with Butter and toast that makes Bond disgusted with himself. It’s not so much his taste. It’s they way he orders his food wherever he is. He always knows what he wants. I never knew what a rasher of bacon was before I read the books. (Come to think of it I still don’t know) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051/55 "2015-06-22T04:01:19Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > IIRC, Dent was still alive and reaching for the gun he’d dropped after being shot when Bond shot him the second time. Did you even watch the clip? You don’t recall correctly. After Bond gets the drop on him and makes him drop the gun, Dent stealthily picks up the gun again and tries to shoot him, but it’s empty. Bond knows this because he counted the shots, and delivers his line. Bond then calmly shoots Dent, who collapses on the floor face down but is still alive. Bond then shoots him again in the back, even though Dent’s gun is empty and he’s helpless. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051/56 "2015-06-22T05:06:37Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Did you even watch the clip? You don’t recall correctly. After Bond gets the drop on him and makes him drop the gun, Dent stealthily picks up the gun again and tries to shoot him, but it’s empty. Bond knows this because he counted the shots, and delivers his line. Bond then calmly shoots Dent, who collapses on the floor face down but is still alive. Bond then shoots him again in the back, even though Dent’s gun is empty and he’s helpless. It never ceases to amaze me the things some people around here get pissy about. No, I didn’t watch the clip. I am and have been posting from my phone while out running errands. So I conflated items from a couple a couple of scenes. Big deal. The point was that Dent was still alive when Bond shot him the second time, as evidenced by the way Dent arched his back and flailed his arms. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051/57 "2015-06-22T05:14:18Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > I never knew what a rasher of bacon was before I read the books. (Come to think of it I still don’t know) > **[A Guide to Bacon Styles, and How to Make Proper British Rashers | The...](https://www.thepauperedchef.com/article/a-guide-to-bacon-styles-and-how-to-make-proper-british-rashers)** > > The Paupered Chef ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051/58 "2015-06-22T05:50:34Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Personally, I have my doubts that Niven could have made a good James Bond. Even if we discount the crazy-ass 1967 _Casino Royale_, I’m not sure Niven quite had the toughness necessary. His role in _The Guns of Navarone_ was more of “smart guy who does tech stuff but lacks the spine for truly ungentlemanly behaviour.” Perhaps Niven had some other proto-action-movie roles that suggest otherwise, but I’m not familiar with them. A. Niven was the BESTEST Bond EVAR. 1. The 1967 _Casino Royale_ is the only Bond film I regard as worth watching. iii. In the interest of preserving continuity, it should have been the LAST Bond film ever made. D. Fleming should have concentrated on expanding Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang into a series. 1. In a world where remakes are mandatory, Daniel Craig might have made a decent Caractacus Potts. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051/59 "2015-06-22T05:51:35Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Not only does Book Bond have egregious plot-armor, but the character basically seems aware of the fact that he is the protagonist of his own book series, and so can’t die. His plans generally boil down to him walking in the front door of the heavily guarded enemy lair, getting captured and figuring that once the bullets are done flying he’ll be fine and everyone else will be dead. In _ **The Spy Who Loved Me** _, told from the woman’s point of view, Bond nearly gets both of them killed two or three times in the course of one night and still manages to get laid (of course, the woman loves it when they wind up in bed together). ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051/60 "2015-06-22T10:03:47Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > What’s your opinion of the Daniel Craig reboot Bond? Because I thought that he did capture that “[blunt instrument wielded by a Government Department](http://www.universalexports.net/Movies/no.shtml)” quality. Though I agree with you that the Moore Bond had his moments—[kicking the spectacled baddie’s car off the cliff in FYEO](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIjQZIiORGY)—IMHO, the effect was that of a Golden Retriever that decided to actually nip after growling. I still love FYEO; it’s probably my favorite of the Moore Bond movies. > > _Dr. No._, I think, did capture some of the ruthlessness of the written 007, especially in the [scene where he kills Professor Dent](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTtavgJXa2Q). Not the, “That’s a Smith & Wesson, Professor, and you’ve had your six,” though that’s an AWESOME action movie hero line. > > No, that Bond puts another one in him while he’s motionless on the ground, just to make sure he’s dead. I liked the Craig films, but I thought that they were influenced a bit too much by the Bourne series, especially Casino Royale. For an otherwise lightheated Bond, if you make a list of most coldblooded and assholish thing done in the movie series, then many of them are Moore moments. FEYO has been mentioned. TMWGG, where his interrogation consisted of threatening to shoot off a mans penis and slapping [del]Octopussy[/del] Maud Adams’s character until she broke. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-never-read-flemings-james-bond-books-are-the-movies-true-to-the-books-bond-character-or-not/723051.md?page=4)