007: Long Live the Spy

January 30, 2012

I have always enjoyed watching James Bond movies and usually try to steer clear of the "who’s the best James Bond actor" conversation (although secretly I believe it to be Sean Connery). But even as much as I like to read, I have never read any of the original books by Ian Fleming, the author who, in 1953, created the much loved, roguish, "shaken, not stirred," British MI-6 super spy.

Ian Fleming died in 1964, but the Bond character continues to thrive in the pages of fiction. How can that be after so many years? Well, four years after Fleming’s death, Kingsley Amis (under the pseudonym of Robert Markham) wrote a Bond novel titled Colonel Sun. Almost 16 years after that, the Fleming estate commissioned English spy novelist John E. Gardner to continue the Bond legacy. Gardner went on to write 16 books in the series, beginning with License Renewed (published in 1981) and ending with COLD (published in 1996). These are the books that rekindled my personal interest in "Bond, James Bond."

After John Gardner laid down his pen, American author Raymond Benson went on to write six novels, three short stories, and three novelizations of movies (Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, and Die Another Day). After Benson, there was a six-year break from all things Bond until the Fleming estate commissioned Sebastian Faulks to write a new Bond novel. His book, Devil May Care, was released on May 28, 2008, exactly 100 years after Ian Fleming’s birth. The most recent Bond author is American, Jeffery Deaver; his book, Carte Blanche, was published in 2011.

MCPL is your prime source for all things James Bond. We have many of Fleming's original Bond novels, Bond's movie adventures, and many of the newer titles, including a glimpse inside his secretary’s world in The Moneypenny Diaries written by Samantha Weinberg under the pseudonym of Kate Westbrook.

I have a feeling that James Bond will always be with us. A new generation is getting introduced to Bond through Charles Higson’s Young Bond series, which I am a huge fan of and have read every book. This series takes place before Bond was a 007, when he was still in boarding school. He gets up to plenty of mischief and frequently ends up in danger, which makes for loads of reading fun.

One final fun-fact related to my personal history with James Bond: I once wrote a letter to Bond actor, Pierce Brosnan, asking for an autographed photo for my daughter. After waiting patiently for several months, it came in the mail. My daughter had a bit of a crush on him after watching re-runs of Remington Steele on television. That photo still hangs in her room.

Yes, I think Bond will live on forever…

Debbie A.
Blue Ridge Branch