James Bond

Meet the real James Bond — Ian Fleming

The name’s Bond….James Bond.

Imagine a dashing alpha, masquerading behind the luxurious suite, sipping a martini, maneuvering the moves of his enemies pre-hand. When your left hand doesn’t know what your right hand is doing. From the high-tech equipment to the futuristic cars to the gorgeous women. It’s a deadly mixture of pleasure. And when pleasure becomes an adventure — it gives rise to an adrenaline rush — it’s another name of James Bond. Behind the click-clack of his typewriter, behind the curls of smoke of a cigarette, and away from the world, on the third largest island in the Caribbean Sea — in Jamaica— is the real James Bond — unveiling parts of his personality through his novel.

Having been a spy your entire life, what would you write? It’s every writer’s dream to disappear to some unknown destination and write until there is nothing to write within. When your wife wants you to spend time with her, but you’re in your own world, giving life to the lifeless characters. And only come to the room when you’re done writing, and ask her to thumb through the pages. And after skimming through the pages she looks at you with gleaming eyes as if you’ve portrayed your own personality in the character of your novel. ‘It’s not me’, you reply back. But she insists and then comes out the real James Bond within you —from beneath the cloak of a writer— That was Ian Fleming.

Life Of The Real James Bond

Born in London in 1908, Fleming was brought up in a wealthy family — connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co.. His father, Valentine Fleming was the MP for Henley. While his mother was an English socialite known for her flamboyant beauty. The name “M — the fictional head of secret service” was in fact inspired by his mother. He’d nicknamed his mother as “M”.

His novels revolve around James Bond, an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service, known as MI6. Bond is also known by his code number, 007, and was a commander in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve — that was Ian Fleming in reality. He was working for Britain’s Naval Intelligence Division in the Second World War, Fleming was involved in planning Operation Goldeneye — name of one of his books.

Fleming himself stated, ‘the experiences put in the characters of James are ninety-percent my own personal experiences”.

Books

All the bond novels were written in Jamaica, in a cottage shown in the above picture. Fleming followed a disciplined life here, a strict routine to be precise — a morning swim, scrambled eggs in breakfast in the garden and then spending maximum time in his study.

Fleming himself mentioned, “these books wouldn’t have been born if I’d not have chosen this isolated Jamaican cottage”.

Casino Royale (1953) was the first of his James Bond novels. Packed with violent action, impossible escapes, international espionage, futuristic spy gadgets, intrigue, and gorgeous women, his books gathered him the status of international best seller.

Why the name James Bond?

Fleming took the name for his character from that of the American ornithologist James Bond, an expert on Caribbean birds and author of the field guide Birds of the West Indies. Fleming, himself been a keen birdwatcher, had a copy of Bond’s guide, and later told the ornithologist’s wife, “that this brief, unromantic, Anglo-Saxon and yet very masculine name was just what I needed, and so a second James Bond was born”. Even the ornithologist thanked Fleming for using his name as protagonist’ name in his novels.

Movies

Fleming didn’t want Sean Connery playing the character of James Bond. Fleming had shortlisted seven actors, including Cary Grant as his first choice — Connery didn’t even make the shortlist! Connery said Ian Fleming’s first choice had been Cary Grant, but he was “quite expensive”.

Women

Fleming’s Bond girls have unique traits. All the Bond girls have plenty of characteristics in common — age: The typical Bond girl is in her early to mid-twenties, approximately eight to ten years younger than Bond, who is always in his mid-thirties. Apart from her beauty, she has the traits of an alpha female — quick-wittedness, smart, lone lioness, confident in abilities, even with things you’re not familiar with, risk-taking, and having an admiration for James Bond.

The characters of these bond girls have taken inspiration from real life. A collection of love letters written by Fleming, and sold at an auction, reveals a lot about his relationships with women and depicts his attitude to his lovers and how sex had its prime importance in his novels and into the characters of his Bond Girls.

Casino

Casino scenes must’ve been inspired from a Casino in Portugal — where Ian Fleming and another spy named Popov met during World War II.

It is believed the real James Bond was inspired from Popov — another spy . He was regarded as a womaniser. Even, Popov himself mentioned that the character of James Bond got inspiration from his personality. We can take this information into consideration but Ian Fleming himself resembled the fictional James Bond. During World War-II, there were many spies who would gather in hotel bars. They’d smile at each other, greet one another to get a whiff of what the other has store in his memory — secrets.

Hotel Estoril Palácio has a suite — ‘Suite James Bond’. The real James used to stay here. Estoril Palácio Hotel guests, where Fleming was staying at the time of the World War II. Afterwards, the Hotel served for the sixth film of James Bond saga, named “On Her Majesty´s Secret Service”

Whenever you get a chance to visit Portugal you know what not to forget. If you want to transform the mundane life to an aristocratic one, just spend a day or two in the ‘Suit James Bond’, and order martini “Shaken, not stirred”……

List of some of James Bond books

• Casino Royale (1953)
• Live and Let Die (1954)
• Moonraker (1955)
• Diamonds Are Forever (1956)
• From Russia, with Love (1957)
• The Diamond Smugglers (1957)
• Dr. No (1958)
• Goldfinger (1959)
• For Your Eyes Only (1960)
• Thunderball (1961)
• The Spy Who Loved Me (1962)
• On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1963)
• You Only Live Twice (1964)
• The Man with the Golden Gun (1965)
• Octopussy and The Living Daylights(1966)