Bond Novels | Ian Fleming | Fleming Essays | The Literary Bond | Book Club

Welcome

Come join the Licensed to Kill community as we work our way through the James Bond canon. The book club begins in January 2009 and we'll start off with the Fleming novels. Each month we'll cover a different novel, which equates to about 50 pages of reading each week. If this is too much or too little, we'll adjust it as we see fit. The discussions will be lead by joshiorio and JustinAtheropinion, so if you have any suggestions for discussion topics, please let us know. The major topic of the discussions will be to analyze how the literary Bond is similar to and different from the cinematic Bond. Also, let us know if you'd like to be considered for the role of discussion leader one week (or for an entire novel). Future discussion leaders will be chosen at our discretion, based on the quality of the applicant's contributions to previous discussions.

Here's how it works... on the first of the month, the discussion leaders will post the monthly schedule. The schedule will consist of the chapters that should be read each week. On the Sunday beginning each week, the discussion questions will be posted for the chapter that should be read the following week. The purpose of the discussion questions is to give you something to think about while you're reading. Discussions of this nature have a way of taking on their own character, so the questions are meant to guide your reading, not dictate what you're supposed to be thinking about. We're not really trying to "answer" these questions, but they're designed to get the discussion going. The reading assignment for each week is due on Friday, and the discussion will take place over the weekend. Have a look at the schedule for Casino Royale in order to get a sense of the timing and the kinds of questions we'll be working with. At the end of each month, we'll get together as a group and work on filling out the content of the novel pages.

The purpose of the book club is to spark interest in the literary James Bond, and to try and understand some of the differences between the Bond of the books and the Bond of the movies. Moreover, we're concerned with developing an understanding of who Bond is, which will inevitably be a blend of our experiences reading the novels and watching the films. In many cases, we'll see similarities, but more often than not, the two portrayals are quite different. With that being said, we expect the discussions to be serious, thoughtful, and relevant. Discussions shouldn't be based solely on your opinion, but rather your opinion supported by some passage from the novel or a scene from the film. While the purpose of the discussion is to explore some of the more complex aspects of Bond's personality, it can also be a place to clarify any part of the plot or characters that's confusing. Our goal here is to explore James Bond and to think critically about our favorite secret agent. Since we'll be discussing how the novels relate to the films, it might be a good idea to brush up on the film before you read the novel.

In the end, we'll all have a more nuanced understanding of James Bond as we work together to develop an insight into how Ian Fleming's creation and the cinematic adaptations relate to each other and have changed over the years.

Schedule and Instructions:

To contribute to the Book Club, click the chapter links below for discussion and click the novel title to visit that novel's homepage. Each discussion will be associated to the corresponding novel's page, so you can get to the discussion that way as well. Questions are meant to guide the discussion. You don't have to answer any or all of the questions. Feel free to introduce a topic or respond to any other topic that comes up on the discussion board. Please keep your responses on topic and on the appropriate discussion board. Tell us exactly what you're responding to and use examples from the books or films in your response to support your ideas. We're not looking for the "right" answers; we're working together to understand Bond.

January 2009: Casino Royale (1953)
Due Date:	Assignment:	Question 1:	Question 2:	Question 3:
January 9th, 2009	Chapters 1-7	What are your first impressions of Le Chiffre? How is he described? What three adjectives do you think best reflect Le Chiffre's personality/history?	Since we all have an image of Bond in our mind, were you surprised about the way that Fleming describes him in the first few chapters of the novel? Why or why not? Can you identify any passages that describe Bond in a way that was surprising for you?	What kind of relationship does Bond have with M, Felix, and Mathis? Can you point to specific passages that demonstrate these relationships? How are the relationships similar to or different from the film?
January 16th, 2009	Chapters 8-15	The conspiracy with "the Bulgars" has never made it into the films. Why do you suppose that is? Can you think of a scenario that might work just as well with the same element of surprise and double-cross?	We have two dinners with Vesper Lynd: Compare and contrast. Pick out sections of description and dialog to support your view. Compare them with their similar scenes in the 2006 film.	The game: think about the battles interior and exterior--within the game and without. Why do you think Fleming provides so much dialog with the peripheral characters? The "night-stick" incident: How do you feel about that, and why do you suppose it's not in the film?
January 23rd, 2009	Chapters 16-22	How is the torture scene different in the novel than in the film? How are they similar? How does Bond handle himself? How is he able to deal with the pain? Compare his capture in the novel with your favorite capture scene from any of the films. What do we learn about SMERSH during this scene?	Bond doubts whether he's cut out for the secret agent profession during his conversation with Mathis at the beginning of his recovery. What does Bond struggle with? How does Bond understand the relationship between "good" and "evil"? What's Mathis' perspective? Do their perspectives match your own? Why or why not.	Bond and Vesper have their third substantive conversation together in CH 21-22. How does it differ from the previous conversations? What do we learn about both Bond and Vesper? How do they react differently to the "hastening saloon"? Is this significant? Why or why not.
January 30th, 2009	Chapters 23-27	What do you think of Vesper's decision? Despite its obvious effect on Bond (which she knew), do you think it was enough to save his life? Was there a better alternative? What might it have been?	Do you think of James Bond differently now that you've read this book? I'm thinking of the key phrase: "The business of espionage could be left to the white collar boys. They could spy, and catch the spies. He would go after the threat behind the spies, the threat that made them spy." What does that say about his job? What does that say James Bond thinks his job is?	The booksbook's final, famous line. Is thatDo you think that's what he really thinks? Why, do you suppose? What does that say about James Bond? Finally, that line is so controversial--do you think the recent film got away with including that lineit without making the audience mad? What can you point to that made it work? The End of "Casino Royale" James Bond will return in: "Live and Let Die" (1954)