007 Adventures

Fleming himself had been part of the British Naval Intelligence during World War II, and as the Cold War escalated he stayed involved in current events by heading foreign bureaus of various newspapers. He was an adventurous, creative man, and eventually retired to the Caribbean on an estate called Goldeneye in Jamaica. Here he wrote the 14 James Bond novels beginning with Casino Royale in 1952. He died in 1964, two years after the first Bond movie Doctor No was produced.

There have been additional novels and short stories added to the Bond franchise by other fine writers, and the thrilling films are timeless classics in representing the spirit of Bond, regardless of the actor or period. The original novels, however, tell a distinct story and are meant to be read in chronological order.

We are introduced to James Bond in Book 1: Casino Royale. World War II has just ended, and Bond is a tired soldier who suffers from a number of emotional stresses resulting from his combat experiences. He is asked by the British Secret Service to continue his career in the military by assisting in a mission to bring down an agent of SMERSH (the Soviets) in Europe, and he reluctantly agrees.

As most remember from the 2006 Daniel Craig film adaptation, Bond falls in love (true love) with his partner Vesper Lynde, and fully intends on quitting his job as an agent to marry her and settle down into a comfortable civilian life. This is a significant moment in the novels, because as we find out, Vesper was trapped into becoming a double agent by the Soviets in order to save her loved ones, and commits suicide rather than work against Bond. It’s a tragic scene written beautifully by Fleming, and the heartbreaking end of Vesper is too much for Bond to handle. He turns into a cold, hard assassin, pledges his loyalty to M, and vows to spend his life avenging her death by bringing down SMERSH… here we have the setup for 13 tremendous Bond adventures.

Because Fleming was himself in the military, the novels are highly technical and detailed, outlining the many strategies and people involved in executing a mission. And because Fleming stayed abreast of current events during his following journalistic career, the Bond novels are written more or less in real time, with various footnotes that clarify for the reader certain events or background information. (The novels are similar to how the television show Law & Order is written today – fictional characters and stories inserted into true current events.) James Bond lives and works during the early years of the Cold War. He is given only one mission per year (because they are so dangerous) and has the remaining year to recover and vacation anywhere he desires with an unlimited budget as reward for accomplishing and surviving the mission. Although he usually desires taking his Bond Girl on these vacations (always feeling a pain of loneliness from losing Vesper), it is not always possible, and the beginning of the following book often fills in the story of what happened to the previous Bond Girl.

Another fascinating aspect to the novels are the settings. James Bond travels the world in his missions, and each novel generally takes place in two or three locations. Like any good secret agent, Bond is meticulous in learning the local culture, and these descriptions of foreign lands are perhaps the best parts of the novels. Fleming writes with amazing clarity, and through Bond’s missions the reader meets interesting people, learns new and exotic customs, and sees breathtaking sites that bring to life the location in a striking way. In my opinion, Fleming is (unexpectedly) one of the best travel writers of our time, and I’ve been inspired to travel to locations I’d never considered after reading a Bond adventure. Indeed even after going, the spot tends to forever exist in my mind under the first impression I was given by James Bond.