Quantum of Solace: the complete James Bond short stories - Ian Fleming

FilmClub: 26 de març a les 19 h a la Biblioteca Mestra Maria Antònia.

BookClub: 27 de març a les 19 h a la Biblioteca Mestra Maria Antònia.

Excerpt of an article in The Guardian (05/10/2008) by Charlie Higson:

Fleming was essentially no different [to Bond] –although he did know how to pose for a photograph; he was never snapped without a lit cigarette in his hand, his sardonic features wreathed in clouds of photogenic smoke (how he would have railed against the ban, even though the fags probably killed him). Plus, of course, there was the reflected glamour of Bond. Fleming posed several times with a gun and played up to the idea that there was only a thin line dividing him from his fictional hero. (…) For a start, Fleming didn't like guns and hated shooting, even though, as part of a wealthy Scottish family, he should have liked nothing more than tramping over the moors blasting away at small birds. It was ironic, then, that he died on August 12 –the glorious 12th– start of the grouse shooting season.

Fleming enjoyed gambling, but was cautious and none too successful. He loved fast, powerful cars, but, unlike Bond, was stopped for speeding in the United States, and his most serious accident was when he reversed into a milk float. So did he share Bond's taste in food? The books are filled with mouth-watering descriptions of lavish and exotic meals, but Fleming was a conservative and undiscerning eater who liked nothing more than a plate of scrambled eggs. His tastes in women were closer to Bond's. Fleming was certainly a womaniser, charming and witty but callous. Ben Macintyre quotes one of his conquests as saying: "For Ian women were like fishcakes. Mind you, he was very fond of fishcakes, but he never pretended there was any mystique about eating them."

Read the rest here.

The Film: For Your Eyes Only

Director

• John Glen

Cast

• Roger Moore ... James Bond
• Carole Bouquet ... Melina
• Topol ... Columbo
• Lynn-Holly Johnson ... Bibi
• Julian Glover ... Kristatos

Other books by the same author that you can find in English at the Public Libraries of Catalonia (link):

• Casino Royale
• Doctor No
• For Your Eyes Only
• From Russia With Love
• Goldfinger
• Lionel Constable

Other 007 films that you can find at the Public Libraries of Catalonia (link):