001. Octopussy, Ian Fleming I read this one over and over. The short story which gives us the title is a deep and sad, yet beautiful, tale. I have often felt that Ian Fleming was talking to himself. The major plot points, of course, did not happen to him (as far as we know he never…
This week we head Stateside to talk to Frieda Toth, to discuss Ian Fleming’s visits to New England and his inspirations for novels such as The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only. 001: What began your interest in Fleming and Bond? My High School boyfriend–whom I eventually married!– loved James Bond movies and…
Words by Jeffrey Susla, Nichols College It hardly seemed fair that after the ravages of Hurricane Ian, the weekend of 10-11 November 2022, found parts of Florida suffering the wrath of Hurricane Nicole, which closed regional airports and hotels, causing the South Atlantic Modern Language Association organisers, along with the Bond section co-chairs, Dr. Oliver…
Article by Frieda Toth James Bond is the most famous spy in the world. It doesn’t take much deep thought to parse that, in the words of the satirical musical Spies Are Forever, that makes him the WORST spy in the world. Bond’s flashy dress, catchphrase, and need to win at every game he plays make…
Article by Jeffrey Susla, Nichols College For the past six years, James Bond has had a prominent place at the annual South Atlantic Modern Language Association conference. In November 2021, it was held virtually and the sessions on Bond “Networks” were co-chaired by Oliver Buckton, Professor of English at Florida Atlantic University, and Matthew Sherman,…
Article by Frieda Toth Looking back, it was ludicrous. I took a motor scooter on a solo trip through the Adirondacks, re-creating the trip of the beautiful and adventurous Bond girl in Ian Fleming’s lesser-known thriller The Spy Who Loved Me. I primitive tented by the river, I befriended a bunch of Harley riders, and…
Article by F. L. Toth Ian Fleming might not sing it out the way they did, but a good case can be made that Ian, like the Schuyler sisters, thought New York City was the “greatest city in the world.” Just look at how much space he devoted to it. Bond is known for jetting…
Article by Frieda Toth (an abridged lecture originally for the SAMLA92 conference). It is amazing to me, in light of Bond’s tomcatting around, that so little attention is paid to his creator’s attitudes toward reproductive freedom. Although he might have resisted the labels at the time, Fleming’s work is unashamedly pro choice and pro reproductive…
Article by F. L. Toth Among Bond and Fleming aficionados, it is almost as much fun to cluck our tongues affectionately at his mistakes as to delight in what Fleming does right. Fleming creates sumptuous feasts, but, some say, the author really didn’t know food all that well. His product placement is riddled with incorrectly…
Article by F. L. Toth Ian Fleming was often criticized, sometimes rightly, for getting the facts wrong about the things for which he is best known, such as fine food, guns, wine, and bath products of all things. He seems, in fact, to have been the most annoying of dilettantes: the man who learns just…
Article by Frieda Toth Let’s say you want to recreate Bond experiences, and you have a lot of cash. Vegas may be the first place that comes to mind: the thrill of the roulette wheel, the beautiful women bringing you martinis, the sense of danger that comes with a lot of money tossed about casually…
Article by Frieda Toth “. . . Bond’s refined tastes and effortless embrace of the high life form an important aspect of his image.” JFK and the Masculine Mystique: Sex and Power on the New Frontier In 1962, Ian’s masterpiece came out. The Spy Who Loved Me was everything he had striven for, and he’d jettisoned everything tiresome. …
Article by Frieda Toth “[There is] such a diverse depiction of Bond that almost any praise or criticism of him can find some justification in book or film.” – Taliaferro and Le Gall, “Bond as Chivalric, Comic Hero”, Questions Are Forever. I’m a librarian and a feminist, and a sweet little middle-aged lady, and my…
This week’s castaway is Robert ‘Raki’ Rakison. He is a lifelong aficionado of the spy genre, particularly Ian Fleming and James Bond. He said: ‘I was brought up on Buchan, Rider Haggard, Conan Doyle, Kipling, Tolkien and Dumas. I then became a voracious reader of fiction like Faulkner, Hemingway, Huxley, Orwell, Graves and Waugh, as…
Article by Frieda Toth For armchair traveling, you can’t beat Bond, and there’s no more delightful pastime than retracing the steps of a fictional hero, especially knowing that there is no bad guy trying to kill you during your vacation. In 1955, Diamonds Are Forever took James Bond to Saratoga Springs, New York. Here, Bond…
Artistic Licence Renewed 