John Pearson's Bond biography...

[Warped9]

I read this more than thirty years and lost my copy somewhere along the way. Recently I picked up a hardcover copy off Amazon and I've been getting right into it.

This fictional account of James Bond's life is one of the best Bond books ever written, right up there with the best of the Fleming stories. It has something a a Fleming flavour to it and yet like the books it's also quite different than the cinematic Bond we've grown accustomed to.

We read about a young James Bond amidst personal tragedy and maturing in old pre WWII Europe. There's something of a romantic air to the whole account which somehow not only seems to ground Bond's story with tantalizing historical bits of the era yet also simultaneously larger than life. We follow Bond along and vicariously experience what he is experiencing as he tells the author his story. Soon enough Bond will called to the building in Regent's Park, meet M and others and retell his account of some of those adventures we read of in Flemings books as well as others that Fleming never wrote. What a fascinating read.

I find this book such a page turner and very easy to get lost in. I'm so glad I chose to pick this up again after all these years. It's also giving me an urge to revisit the Fleming novels.

https://www.amazon.ca/James-Bond-Au...1142/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1315158397&sr=8-2

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ I also read it nearly 30 years ago. I didn't really know enough about the mythos to pick up all the references and inside jokes which I'm sure it contained, but it was an interesting read, even as a small kid. I've always wondered why they haven't done that sort of 'biography' for more fictional characters.

 

[AJBryant]

I remember reading that book ages ago myself. It was very convincingly written. I think I need to get it to live on the bookshelf next to my Fleming books.

 

[Warped9]

Part of the fascination is that Pearson doesn't take his cue for Bond's character from the films, but from the actual Fleming books, and even then it's still a bit divergent as if to nail home the idea that Fleming elaborated on Bond's character to make him a bit more larger than life. The "real" Bond comes across as a more complex character than the cinematic version.

We also get into Bond's feelings and introspections which is rarely, barely at all seen in the films.

 

[Warped9]

You have to get halfway into the book before Bond reaches 00 status and earns his number. And it's an up-and-down series of experiences to get there. Bond isn't an all-star who wins at everything. He has runs and moments of bad luck where he makes mistakes and pisses off his superiors and even resigns from the service for a time. At one point he actually hits rock bottom.

 

[Warped9]

Okay, noted a glaring inconsistency that Pearson missed. Many of Bond's familiar (literary) adventures are set in the 1950s. But in making references to Dr. No he slips up badly I think. he makes mention of Bond helping America's space program by defeating Dr. No who was making rockets launched from Cape Kennedy go off course. Dr. No is set sometime in the mid to late '50s and at that time America had no such space program and certainly no Cape Kennedy yet. America doesn't launch any satellites until the very late '50s and it isn't called Cape Kennedy until 1963.

 

[Warped9]

Finished the book and it remains a good read. It's funny how it ends because you're left dangling. After all the Fleming adventures have been touched on we're left to read about Colonel Sun (which is mentioned), but we're interrupted because Bond is off on another assignment.

The last line in the book is, "The bastard's gone."

Anyway, I so enjoyed rereading this that I dug out some of my Fleming books of which I have some in hardcover issue. I reread Casino Royale in one afternoon, and it's tone and style resonate with Pearson's biography treatment of Bond.

Sadly I had long lost the dust jacket for my copy and so this evening I'm playing around with creating one of my own. Here is the first attempt: a young Connery, a winning hand (the one described in the book) and a vintage Bentley similar to Bond's personal car in the novel.

 

[Mysterion]

^ I also read it nearly 30 years ago. I didn't really know enough about the mythos to pick up all the references and inside jokes which I'm sure it contained, but it was an interesting read, even as a small kid. I've always wondered why they haven't done that sort of 'biography' for more fictional characters.

If you like this sort of thing, look for Philip Jose Farmer's "bios" of Doc Savage and Tarzan. Very interesting stuff.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Ooooh, that does sound interesting! Thanks for the tip!

 

[Mysterion]

^^
No probs. I can't find my copy of the Doc Savage book off-hand, but the latest edition of the Tarzan book is:

Tarzan Alive - A Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke
Philip Jose Farmer
University of Nebraska Press, 2006, ISBN 0-8032-6921-8

If I can find the other one, I'll post the details for you.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Much appreciated