Originally posted by richardfinegold
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I think that the most interesting books in relation to their film adaptations are Ian Fleming's "James Bond" novels. In my opinion they are absolutely fascinating. The best film was "YOu only live twice" yet I would argue that the book is one of the worst pieces of fiction put to paper. When they made the film, the story was jettisoned and the screen play was written by Roald Dahl. By the same token, I think that the best two book are "From Russia with Love" and "On her majesty's secret service." Both films fail to live up to the books with the former being filmed in a mad rush which is why it now seems one of the weakest of the films. The reference to difference books in the films is also quite interesting with the most recent taking it's end fro, "You only live twice" wth the poisonous plants in the castle. On top of this, I feel that Fleming was a writer who was quickly bored with his creation and sought to try all sorts of different options in later books. I think "The spy who loved me" is fasctinating as it is essentially quite feminist and takes the story from the point of view of a woman who encounters James Bond. The film has nothing to do with the book. in "The man with the golden gun" Fleming changed tack and produced something more racy which reflected the swinging sixties. I would also day that the short stories are fascinating as the James Bond character in those is different to the full novels , producing a nore hard-edged and ruthless edge that I feel Daniel Craig nailed spot on. The James Bond books are endlessly fascinating . The best efforts use a lean and economic style of prose whereas I think some of the books reflect the 1950s and not the 1960s that most people assume. I am always intrigued as to how film directors take the limited scope of the Bond novels and run with it albeit I still feel that William Boyd's "Solo" is probably the most original interpretation of this character , reflecting a spy who is increasingly out of sorts as the 1960s merges in to the 1970s. i just feel that James Bond is an excellent character to riff on.
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