Diamonds really are forever! Today Lexington Books published “The Many Facets of Diamonds Are Forever.” Edited by Florida Atlantic University professor of English Oliver Buckton, and featuring ten original essays written by established scholars, bloggers, and new emerging critics, the book is the first to examine every aspect of Ian Fleming’s fourth James Bond novel…
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…
The Folio Society’s Ian Fleming James Bond series continues with Diamonds Are Forever in the sixth volume in the collection, featuring the distinctive and stylish binding design inspired by the secret agent’s impeccable suits, and a stunning illustrated slipcase. Writing to a friend, Fleming commented with typical humour that for this novel he had included:…
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…
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…
Article by Revelator 2016 marks the 60th anniversary of Ian Fleming’s novel Diamonds Are Forever. During what’s left of the year Artistic Licence Renewed wishes to pay tribute to its heroine, Tiffany Case, arguably Fleming’s best female character. Diamonds Are Forever suffers from weak plotting and its main villains–the Spang twins–appear too briefly to join…
Submitted by: Oliver Buckton, Professor of English, Florida Atlantic University, South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA) Conference, Jacksonville, FL, November 4-6 2016. The 88th South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA) Convention—held in Jacksonville, Florida, from November 4-6, 2016– proved to be, among other things a festival of James Bond and Ian Fleming. There were two panels…
Continuing with the 60th anniversary celebrations of ‘Diamonds are Forever’, we bring you the latest offering to the Bond temple with Gerry Wadsworth‘s homage to the great novel. The Inspiration Iconic Ian Lancaster Fleming at his best, Diamonds are Forever is one of those stories that suck you into the pages of the book and…
Sophie is also well known throughout the world for designing the legendary Algerian Love Knot necklace and earrings for the James Bond film Casino Royale which further endorses her British credentials. How did the collaboration with the Bond film franchise come about and what was the inspiration behind the designs? The Bond collaboration came about…
To mark the 60th anniversary of the publication of Ian Fleming’s Diamonds Are Forever (and 45th birthday of the film version) a panel discussion will be held on the novel/film for the SAMLA conference held in Jacksonville, Florida from Nov 4-6 2016. Following the all-English setting of Moonraker (the third Bond novel), Fleming sought to…
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Ian Fleming’s 1956 novel Diamonds Are Forever on March 26, 1956, we asked American artist and Bond fan Gerry Wadsworth, to take us on a tour of some of the Americana found in the novel. *** Ian Fleming was a master of description with an ability to convince the…
By Matthew Chernov “Never say ‘no’ to adventures. Always say ‘yes’, otherwise you’ll lead a very dull life.” – Ian Fleming In 1959, at the behest of The Sunday Times’ features editor Leonard Russell, Ian Fleming set out on a five-week, all-expenses-paid trip around the world. One of his first stops was the city of…
Additional quotes by Michael May; Illustrations ©George Almond where indicated – Courtesy of http://www.007magazine.com With each new James Bond film (including the upcoming SPECTRE) there is always speculation about how much source material is left to use. In some cases, merely the title of one of Fleming’s books was used, with the original story left…
If you’re a James Bond or Ian Fleming fan, then you probably appreciate a well-made drink; just perhaps not in the bibulous daily amounts of Bond or Fleming! Despite the reputation of James Bond as a vodka drinker, Ian Fleming – who was a known bourbon and gin drinker – toured the drinks cart comprehensively in his novels.…
Words by Revelator Here is part 1 of 3 that we’re calling “the three ages of Bond.” Thanks to Daniel Craig (and his underrated predecessor Timothy Dalton) we’ve heard a lot of the phrase “Fleming’s Bond,” as in “Craig comes closest to Fleming’s Bond, the ruthless government assassin” and so on. This phrase has always rang…
If James Bond was on Facebook, you could be sure his relationship status would be set to ‘it’s complicated.’ Of course Ian Fleming famously hadn’t married until he was 43, so putting it off for Bond was easy. Much like his own life, Fleming’s man can count being married once and nearly once prior. In Diamonds Are…
There is a certain paradox about James Bond’s relationship with all things America. Devoted to the Anglo-American war against Communism, there is a level of contempt that runs through the novels during a time when the British Empire was winding up and the new American one was burgeoning. The contempt tended to be about material…
In August 1954 he flew to the US for research his next novel – Diamonds Are Forever – visiting Saratoga Springs after his friend, William Stephenson, sent him a magazine article about the spa town. In the US, Fleming travelled with two friends, Ivar Bryce and Ernest Cuneo, whose name was changed to ‘Ernie Cureo’ for the role of Bond’s…
Ian Fleming had many homes from home but none more so than at his great friend’s farm in southern Vermont. He used to visit his friend Ivar Bryce at Black Hole Hollow Farm right on the border between New York and Vermont. Fleming’s first visit to Vermont was to visit Bryce who he had first met…
Artistic Licence Renewed 