" it makes me think he's a redneck, because of the word Texas, though I apologize for being so stereotypical."

"this just doesn't seem to fit with Bond or with the setting at the casino royale. "

"Pinging off of this discussion: A writer on another forum (pre-"Casino Royale" release) was opining that Bond's method of handling the "night-stick" problem was "un-Bond-like" and horrible as it made Bond look like a fool at the Big Table, and Bond would never do that. I thought there was a major disconnect there as Fleming wrote it in a novel--the first novel--and that is my measure of Bond. "

"The poster's line was : "Bond is always cool. He wouldn't risk embarrassment by making such a risky move." My reply was: "He has a gun at the base of his spine, and the guy holding the gun is counting down. How are YOU going to get out of it?"

And the response was: "I dunno, but it wouldn't embarrassing."

I moved on to another discussion.

As I do now. The "Bulgar episode:" We find out what caused the explosion outside the Hotel Splendide (Supposedly this is based on a real incident that Fleming heard about during WWII--with his customary embellishments, I'm sure). We've never seen it in a Bond film. Why not, do you suppose? Is there something that comes close?

I've always remembered the sentence where Fleming said the air smelled of high explsoives, burnt wood and...roast mutton."

"There have been some similar situations, but nothing like that in the book. The only one that comes to mind is at the end of DAF when Wint and Kidd attempt to blow up Bond and Case within feet of them. But that isn't exactly like in the book. All I can think of right now."

""Bond's interesting way of dealing with an attempted assassination at the table--which some Bond fans find controversial.

"

"it's very much "un-Bond-like" IF the basis of "Bond" is in the films. If someone develops their notion of "Bond" from the films, then it would be absurd to think about Bond ever looking foolish. The cinematic Bond is always confident, in control, and suave... even when he's being beaten (SPOILER: Bond really isn't in any shape to be making that witty quip he makes during the torture scene). He's really pretty simplistic... he's more of an archetype in the films, whereas in the novels he's much more layered and complex. I think we're getting at some of that in these discussions. "