James Bond by Ian Fleming - Essay Example

James Bond The official creator of James Bond, Ian Fleming, brought his hero to life in 1953. The rank title Fleming gave to James Bond was a Royal Naval Reserve Commander whose father was Andrew Bond and mother’s name was Monique Delacroix. The spouse’s name was Teresa di Vicenzo who was widowed. The son was named after James Bond’s name James USzuki Bond who was Kissy’s son in fact. Ian Fleming’s James Bond is a British national. This fictional character is the protagonist of James Bond series of films, novels, video games, and comics (Cork, 100-120). In Fleming’s novels, Bond is born in London but he is active all around the globe with his Secret Service Mission and a code number 007. He is made up of many characteristics and is based on various commandos whom Fleming was acquainted with during World War II in the service for National Intelligence Division. Fleming added salt to pepper by creating his own style and tastes to suit the character of James Bond. An American ornithologist was the inspiration for James Bond’s name. His character has varied tastes that are prevalent in all of the books such as his love of drink and food, enjoyment of cars and charisma, and also an approximate intake of 60 custom designed cigarettes per day (Cork, 100-120). There have been many writers following the legacy of Ian Fleming in writing James Bond novels. Some of these are John Gardner who wrote two novelizations and fourteen novels, and Raymond Benson who wrote three short stories, three novelizations and six novels. Other authors also wrote James Bond stories included Kingsley Amis, Jaffrey Deaver, and Sebastian Faulks. Furthermore, many novels were based on Bond’s adolescence such as Young Bond which was a work of Charlie Higson (Cork, 125-135). The very first Ian Fleming novel was adapted by the television arena which was called Casino Royale, in which James Bond was an American agent. Daily Express also posted a comic strip series following this book. Twenty five James Bond films have been telecasted and seven actors have scrupulously played their roles in these films (Cork, 125-135). A description of James Bond by Ian Fleming presents him as a person with a weight of 76 kilograms, 183 cm height, an elegant build and posture with blue sparkly eyes and thick black hair. He has a scar beneath his right cheek and one on his left shoulder. There are evident signs of plastic surgery on the back of his right hand. He is an all rounder athlete who can play every game, an expert in pistol shot, a connoisseur boxer, a skilled knife thrower, and does not make use of disguises as were the norm of that time. Besides English, James Bond can speak German and French and is a heavy smoker who uses three gold brands. Women are his compassion and he drinks a lot but is reluctant towards bribes (Cork, 150-170). Raymond Benson’s James Bond was born in Zurich in the beginning of 1920s whose parents were Andrew Bond and Monique Delacroix, from Canton de Vaud in Switzerland. This family separated their time between a huge house outside Basel which allowed James to get fluent in German and French and an apartment in Chelsea. Sadly, both James Bond’s parents expired in climbing catastrophe on a holiday in France when he was eleven years of age (Cork, 160-170). After the demise of Bond’s mother and father, he was kept under the custody of aunt Charmian and subsequently he went to live in Kent with her. On passing the Common Entrance Exam for Eton College, he was admitted into the school. But after two school halves were completed, he was made distant from the school because he came in a supposed incident with a Boys’ Maid. Following this incident his aunt Charmian sent him back to his old school called Fettes College. The Young Bond series talk about his childhood exclusively (Cork, 170-180). Bond became a devoted golfer at the age of fifteen, a hobby which is also Ian Fleming’s hobby. Considering his hobby, he was often found at Royal St Marks Golf Course playing golf and also spending his time in Switzerland and Austria. At the age of seventeen, a senile friend of his father sent introduction letter for James to be admitted into Admiralty where he began to work before Second World War began (Cork, 190-200). During the Second World War, James Bond joined the Special Operations Executive, a secret service, which became the SO (Special Operations). James Bond embarked many missions abroad as well for quite a number of years before he was reassigned to London in 1949. After he came back to London, he was awarded the permit to kill, and that was the time he got famously known as agent 007. This double-o-prefix was a huge admiration for James which is hardly earned by anyone (Cork, 190-200). The period of Raymond’s Bond began in the early 1996 and came to an end on 2003. After three film novelizations, six original novels, and three short stories, Raymond decided he wanted to come up with some of his own things. At the same instance, the Ian Fleming Publications Ltd. wished to explore an entirely diverse direction with “Young Bond” series for young adolescents which were written by Charlie Higson (Cork, 190-200). The Union Trilogy, a remarkable outbreak of James Bond novels by Raymond Benson, described the “blue-collar edition of Spectre”, adding up just like Fleming’s formation. They functioned more like Mafia rather than low-rent jobs. In Union trilogy, James Bond tackles one of the most sinister enemies that he has ever met - the Union of thrillers. The Union, a strange and dangerous firm for the criminal recruitment, hires criminals. This high octane escapade takes this detective from one of England’s most expensive golf clubs to metropolitan city of Brussels, and subsequently to a voyage on the third highest peak of icy heights of Himalayas. In the Union trilogy, there was a promised revenge on James Bond which has pretended a complicated and clever plan to devastate him. The only way out for Bond according to his wisdom is to go abroad on a mission that pervade him off London to Tangier souks and from a training Union camp in Morocco to lethal Spanish beauty. In the last part of trilogy, James Bond lastly comes face to face with the most enigmatic leader of Union. This voyage took James 007 to a splashing underwater encounter ornamented with transience, a revelation encounter with a senile friend, and pursue towards Corsican wilderness (Benson, 90-120). Raymond became the first authorized legal writer of James Bond writing short stories for James Bond. These official stories were simply the only pieces of literature of James Bond published in Great Britain. Furthermore, between the years 2001 and 2002, he wrote a story which was called ‘The Heart of Erzulie’ but it was never published (Cork, 198-220). Play Boy was the first publication of ‘Blast from The Past’ was published in 1997. In the newspaper, it follows the Cold and heralds Zero minus Ten. He began Play Boy by cutting one third of the story for reasons related to space. The first story of James Bond by Benson, “Blast from the past” is a straight continuation to Fleming’s You Only Live Twice and is found to exist outside Benson’s or John Gardner’s time line or other stories of James Bond. (Benson, 90-120). In You Only Live Twice, James Bond gets a message from James Suzuki whose mother is Kissy Suzuki and died because of ovarian cancer. James Suzuki asks him to come to the city of New York on a pressing issue. When Bond comes, he is devastated to find his son killed. James Bond as a character is very much family oriented and family loving person. With the assistance of an SIS Blofeld and another woman who, as Bond suspected, died along the side of Blofeld in You Only Live Twice, he realized that James was actually murdered by leading him to drink fugu syrup forcefully similar to a murder again in You Only Live Twice. The triumph of Bond over Bunt is void, due to him having to take on grips on account of his dead father and also not taking out time for his blood relation. Obviously, Bond is embarrassed and flabbergasted on the thought of his father and mother’s demise and wanted to keep his only relative alive by all means. He was taken aback by this sudden demise and wanted to do anything to reveal the mystery (Fleming, 86-90). The name James Suzuki for James Bond son was taken from John Pearson fake biography called James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007. Blast from the Past is included in the compilation series of The Union Trilogy which comprises of three further novels of Benson Bond. This creates Blast from the Past, the very first non-Fleming story which is published in a form of book (Pearson, 86-90). Talking about the Midsummer Night’s Doom, The Facts of Death heralds and High Time to kill follows it. A 1999 issue, it also followed the special story custom-built to assist rejoicing PlayBoy 45th anniversary. By the permission of Benson, it was just a joke. In this story, James Bond is asked to attend a party at the Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion in the affluent area of California, Beverly Hills. Here, the Ministry of Defence is expected to be given to a Russian Mafia representative clandestinely (Benson, 86-90). Bond is shown as a party loving person, always around women and pleases women in the most beautiful ways. His passion for work and secret life are all unknown to the flashy women who surround him everyday like butterflies. He attends opulent parties and shows his classy looks as an excessive money spender. In Midsummer Night’s Doom, on one side he gets acquainted with Hefner who gives several gadgets to Bond for his mission and on the other side, he pleases his genuine life Playmate Lisa Dergen and also with other playmates such as Victoria Zdrok and singer Mel Torme (Benson, 78-89). In this story, his sex appeal is mostly towards Dergen who is named Bond Girl in the story and only playmate that stands out for this entitlement. This story was included in 2010 compilation release of Choice of Weapons, having three other Benson Bond novels as well. He is always inclined towards girls and his secret life, adventures; extreme voyages have never prevented him from pertaining to his lavish lifestyle (Benson, 100-110). The Live at Five, a November 13-19 1999 American edition TV Guide heralds’ novelization of The World is Not Enough and follows Double Shot. It was released in cinemas in the United States of America and is the tiniest of all James Bond stories. It is even though tinier than the record breaking 007 in New York. A couple of thousand words is all what the story is about. It is a concise episode that oversees Bond, in an attempt to date a female TV news reporter anchor and remembering how he once assisted a Russian figure which was skating champion imperfection in a variety of TV Channels. This reporter, Janet Davies, in this story is the second genuine person to be known as a Bond girl who was telecasted everyday on Chicago local ABC station Channel 7 WLS (Benson, 110-130). The problem with this issue of TV guide was that it was only for the people of America and that only for a little time. This story was never printed anywhere else. This book Live at Five is tough to find among all Bond stories. When comparing the two issue of Play Boy which are given above, they are easily available via collector’s market and also in used book shops, and also magazines being distributed in Britain, even though these stories are not the same as those of that country. The issue of Bond is readily collectable and collector’s market is available for TV guide back issues. This market goes beyond the market of the United States. Nonetheless, Live at Five was in the end reprinted in 2010 compilation release, Choice of Weapons, which has the Benson Bond novels mentioned above (Benson, 130-140). Works Cited Benson, Raymond. James Bond, Choice of Weapons: Three 007 Novels. New York: Pegasus Books, 2010. Print. Cork, John, and Bruce Scivally. James Bond. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2002. Print. Benson, Raymond, and Ian Fleming. James Bond, the Union Trilogy: Three 007 Novels. New York: Pegasus Books, 2008. Print. Fleming, Ian. You Only Live Twice. New York: New American Library, 1964. Print. Pearson, John. James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1973. Print. Read More