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 "Goldeneye - Where Bond Was Born: Ian Fleming's Jamaica"

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CJB
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PostSubject: "Goldeneye - Where Bond Was Born: Ian Fleming's Jamaica"   "Goldeneye - Where Bond Was Born: Ian Fleming's Jamaica" EmptySat Feb 23, 2019 2:30 am

Would highly recommend for anyone yet to give it a read. I haven't read any other biographical works on Fleming so can't really compare.

Great insight into Fleming's personal doings, foibles, and other adventures in colonial Jamaica's high society. Perhaps most interestingly the book charts Jamaica's transition from colony to independent state - an ever present and changing landscape for Fleming & co. as he makes his annual two-month pilgrimage to hammer out a Bond book.

There's a fairly constant air of melancholy around Fleming, perhaps a discontentment in that not everything is as good as it could've been. It seems to just barely be abated by the affairs, cigarettes, and copious alcohol consumption. There's a tragedy to it all (most notably his son's suicide a decade after Fleming's own death) but Fleming nevertheless seemed intent on going out on his own terms, not using his days in an attempt to prolong them, as was Bond's own philosophy.

Anyone else read it?
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Hilly
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PostSubject: Re: "Goldeneye - Where Bond Was Born: Ian Fleming's Jamaica"   "Goldeneye - Where Bond Was Born: Ian Fleming's Jamaica" EmptySat Feb 23, 2019 8:18 pm

I haven't unfortunately. I've only read (and indeed, own) Andrew Lycett's book which I'm soon to re-read. I will Goldeneye to the ever growing reading pile.
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Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
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PostSubject: Re: "Goldeneye - Where Bond Was Born: Ian Fleming's Jamaica"   "Goldeneye - Where Bond Was Born: Ian Fleming's Jamaica" EmptySat Feb 23, 2019 11:49 pm

Like Hilly, another to add to the library. Hadn't heard of this one, to be honest. Thanks for the recommendation.
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CJB
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PostSubject: Re: "Goldeneye - Where Bond Was Born: Ian Fleming's Jamaica"   "Goldeneye - Where Bond Was Born: Ian Fleming's Jamaica" EmptySun Feb 24, 2019 2:35 am

Another recurring theme of the book - which may be controversial - is Fleming's supposed anti-Americanism. If it exists, you'd suggest it's as a result of:

1. The sort of anti-American snobbery you might find in upper-class Tory circles which manifests in disdain for America's crass materialism and popular culture (see the way Bond reacts to Romanova suggestion he could be an American film star).

2. The United State's insistence on British decolonisation and lack of support in the Suez crisis.

There does seem to be a generally negative view from Fleming's perspective regarding increasing American influence in Jamaica (political and otherwise). Now that it's spelled out, it does show up somewhat in the novels; see for example, the unspoiled peace and beauty of Jamaica being upturned by Mr Big's legion of American gangsters. The US is routinely portrayed as a hive of criminality throughout the series. Bond is usually sent to the grungiest and grimiest parts of the States (Harlem in LALD, Vegas in DAF etc).
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PostSubject: Re: "Goldeneye - Where Bond Was Born: Ian Fleming's Jamaica"   "Goldeneye - Where Bond Was Born: Ian Fleming's Jamaica" Empty

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