(YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, Chapter 19)
But the most revealing facts about Bond in this novel are in the form of an obituary that M writes for The Times when Bond is presumed dead. The obituary, for the first time, sketches out Bond's early life, his schooling, and even gives the only hint to his birthdate.
At the end of the novel, Bond is a new man. He has lost his memory, and Kissy Suzuki talks him into believing he is Taro Todoroki and that he lives with her on Kuro Island. Bond stays with Kissy for many months until he finds a Russian newspaper which jars his memory. Bond takes off for Russia at the novel's end in search of his true identity. But he is unaware that he leaves an heir, which, sadly, is never mentioned again in the series.
Tiger Tanaka is an extremely colorful character and ally. He is immediately likable, and most of the novel's humor is derived from his conversations with Bond. Fleming has created mannerisms and patterns of speech that make Tanaka vivid and believable. He is a "big, square figure," with glittering eyes and long dark lashes that are almost feminine. Tanaka, head of the Japanese Secret Service, hides his headquarters behind a front called the Bureau of All-Asian Folkways, a kind of historical documentation society for the East. Behind closed doors, however, is a Secret Service which seems much more advanced than the British Service. At least the Japanese are in control of Magic 44, the secret deciphering formula which the British need. Tanaka is resourceful, pleasant, but, true to his samurai heritage, he can be a very tough character if he chooses.
Kissy Suzuki is a most appealing heroine. Kissy, an Ama girl, has "almond eyes and a rosy-tinted skin on a golden background." She is healthy and strong. Kissy was once chosen to make a film in Hollywood because of her great beauty. There, she learned English and a few Western customs, but she disliked Hollywood and returned home to Kuro Island after the film was completed. She says that the only man she liked in Hollywood was David Niven (who happened to be a friend of Ian Fleming), after whom she named her pet cormorant. Kissy is a little selfish—she wants to keep Bond for herself when she realizes he has lost his memory at the story's end. She plots with the local priest to allow Bond to stay on the island until he wishes to leave on his own accord. And she doesn't reveal to Bond what she knows about his past. Kissy, who apparently loves Bond very much, does finally give in when he wishes to leave at the end. She is intelligent, warm, and a far more interesting woman than many of Fleming's other female characters.
Richard "Dikko" Henderson, who is based on Fleming's true-life Australian friend Richard Hughes, is another amusing character who appears briefly in the book. Henderson, another ally, is always drinking and cursing. When he arrives at Bond's hotel one morning to accompany Bond to Tanaka's headquarters, the first thing Henderson does is order a drink at the bar. Henderson is like a middle-aged prize fighter who has retired and taken to the bottle. He has a craggy, sympathetic face, blue eyes, and a badly broken nose. He is a man who is "always sweating," and who barges his way through a crowd. The conversations the man has with Bond are amusing and informative.
The M/Bond scene in the novel is a classic. M does his best to control his temper, as well as to hide the fact that he's practically given up on Bond. M's bluffing about the assignment covers what he really feels—that the mission actually is impossible, and that Bond had better get his act together. When Bond offers his resignation, M explodes:
M did something Bond had never seen him do before. He lifted his right fist and brought it crashing down on the desk. "Who the devil do you think you're talking to? Who the devil d'you think's running this show? God in Heaven! I send for you to give you promotion and the most important job of your career and you talk to me about resignation! Pigheaded young fool!"
Bond was dumbfounded. A great surge of excitement ran through him. What in hell was all this about? He said, "I'm terribly sorry, sir. I thought I'd been letting the side down lately."
"I'll soon tell you when you're letting the side down." M. thumped the desk for a second time, but less hard.
(YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, Chapter 3)
Throughout the scene, one can sense the tension underneath M's bravado, and the Admiral's concern for Bond. M doesn't want to lose his best agent, or be forced to fire him.
Last but not least are the villains, Ernst Blofeld, aka Dr. Shatterhand, and his "wife," Irma Bunt Blofeld takes on the role of "the root of all evil" here. The man even admits to Bond that he is mad:
"So was Frederick the Great, so was Nietzsche, so was Van Gogh. We are in good, in illustrious company, Mister Bond. On the other hand, what are you? You are a common thug, a blunt instrument wielded by dolts in high places. Having done what you are told to do, out of some mistaken idea of duty or patriotism, you satisfy your brutish instincts with alcohol, nicotine, and sex while waiting to be dispatched on the next misbegotten foray. Twice before, your chief has sent you to do battle with me, Mister Bond, and by a combination of luck and brute force, you were successful in destroying two projects of my genius. You and your government would categorize these projects as crimes against humanity, and various authorities still seek to bring me to book for them. But try and summon such wits as you possess, Mister Bond, and see them in a realistic light and in the higher realm of my own thinking."
(YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, Chapter 20)
Blofeld goes on to say that he is providing public services with his projects. For example, his suicide program is only a convenient way for the Japanese to commit suicide in pleasant surroundings. Indeed, the man is mad, and egocentric. Like the other major villains before him, his attitude toward Bond is one of father to son, and he is correcting the son for disagreeing with his omnipotent authority.
HIGHLIGHTS AND OTHER INGREDIENTS
Besides the M/Bond scene, other highlights include almost everything that happens after Bond arrives on Kuro Island. But one thrilling moment previous to this occurs when Bond discovers the true identity of Dr. Shatterhand. Bond experiences an emotional explosion when he sees Blofeld's photograph:
The superintendent went to the bottom of his file, extracted what looked like a blown-up copy of Doctor Guntram Shatterhand's passport photograph, and handed it over.
Bond took it nonchalantly. Then his whole body stiffened. He said to himself, God Almighty! God Almighty! Yes. There was no doubt, no doubt at all! He had grown a drooping black moustache. He had had the syphilitic nose repaired. There was a gold-capped tooth among the upper frontals, but there could be no doubt Bond looked up. He said, "Have you got one of the woman?"
Startled by the look of controlled venom on Bond's face, and by the pallor that showed through the walnut dye, the superintendent bowed energetically and scrabbled through his file.
Yes, there she was, the bitch—the flat ugly wardress face, the dull eyes, the scraped-back bun of hair.
Bond held the pictures, not looking at them, thinking. Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Irma Bunt So this was where they had come to hide! And the long strong gut of fate had lassoed him to them! They of all people! He of all people! A taxi-ride down the coast in this remote corner of Japan. Could they smell him coming? Had the dead spy got hold of his name and told them? Unlikely. The power and prestige of Tiger would have protected him. Privacy, discretion, are the heartbeat of Japanese inns. But would they know that an enemy was on his way? That fate had arranged this appointment in Samarra? Bond looked up from the pictures. He was in cold control of himself. This was now a private matter. It had nothing to do with Tiger or Japan. It had nothing to do with MAGIC 44. It was an ancient feud.
(YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, Chapter 12)
Additionally, all of the sequences in the Garden of Death are eerie, full of frightening imagery. The last third of the book takes on a nightmarish quality that is unusual for Fleming. The final battle with Blofeld is excruciatingly intense. When Bond has Blofeld's throat in his hands and is screaming, "Die, Blofeld, die!" the effect is exhilarating.
And finally, a major highlight is Bond's obituary, which M writes for The Times. There is eve
n a brief moment of self-parody within the obit:
The inevitable publicity, particularly in the foreign press, accorded some of these adventures, made him, much against his will, something of a public figure, with the inevitable result that a series of popular books came to be written around him by a personal friend and former colleague of James Bond. If the quality of these books, or their degree of veracity, had been any higher, the author would certainly have been prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act. It is a measure of the disdain in which these fictions are held at the ministry that action has not yet—I emphasize the qualification—been taken against the author and publisher of these high-flown and romanticized caricatures of episodes in the career of an outstanding public servant.
(YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, Chapter 21)
This paragraph only shows that Fleming's tongue has always been in his cheek Fleming considered the Bond novels particularly funny himself; although for the most part, they are serious on the surface. The obit also contains the proposed epitaph for James Bond, put forth by Mary Goodnight, which can be applied to Fleming himself: "I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time."
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE is an Ian Fleming masterpiece. It's also an incredibly appropriate final work with its exploration of attitudes toward death and rebirth—Bond comes to terms with death and begins a personal voyage of rediscovery and re-evaluation which should lead to a new James Bond, able to reaffirm the value of life.
THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (1965)
The last James Bond novel by Ian Fleming is a major disappointment and is the weakest book in the series. It is not the author's fault. He died before he could revise, polish, and add the rich detail he always incorporated after he had completed the first draft. Glidrose Productions finished the book for him, and released it posthumously in 1965. Likewise, Glidrose cannot be blamed for the weak book; they were obligated to publish the book because Fleming's fans were entitled to learn what happens to their hero, since YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE ends with a cliffhanger. The series simply couldn't end with James Bond waltzing off to Russia with no idea who he was! But sadly, the novel is extremely sketchy; it lacks detail, suspense, an adequate villain, an adequate girl, and an adequate plot. Only a couple of passages capture the excitement and thrills one expects from the series.
The story opens with James Bond arriving in London after being found in Vladivostock. Bond was brainwashed there, and is now requesting permission to see M. Once alone in the familiar office, 007 attempts to assassinate his chief, but the ever-ready M presses a button on his chair and a bullet-proof glass sheet falls in front of the desk from a slit in the ceiling. After six months of "de-brainwashing," Bond is himself again and ready to tackle his latest assignment. A certain "Pistols" Scaramanga, a freelance assassin under KGB control in Cuba, the Caribbean, and Central America, has been responsible for the deaths of many Secret Service men. Scaramanga is known as The Man With the Golden Gun because he uses a gold-plated Colt .45. Bond is sent to Jamaica to find him and terminate his activities. Through a lead found at the airport, Bond locates Scaramanga at a house of prostitution. There, Bond introduces himself as Mark Hazard, and strikes up a conversation with the killer. Scaramanga is impressed with Hazard, and offers him a job for the weekend as bodyguard at a conference at his hotel. The conference is a hoods' convention. As time goes by, Bond learns that Scaramanga's group is responsible for the recent sugarcane fires which will benefit Castro's regime; that the KGB is involved with the Group; that the Group is planning extensive drug smuggling into America; that they plan to sabotage Jamaica's bauxite industry; and that Bond's identity has been discovered. Later, a gun battle erupts on a train ride after Scaramanga fools Bond into believing that heroine Mary Goodnight is tied to the railroad tracks ahead. But Felix Leiter, who has been hiding on the train, wounds Scaramanga. Bond, Leiter, and Scaramanga jump from the train before it is derailed by an explosion prepared earlier by Leiter. Bond locates Scaramanga lying in a swamp, where they have a final duel.
STYLE AND THEMES
THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN is a short novel (only sixteen chapters), but each chapter is fairly dense with material. The story begins with a bang: James Bond has been brainwashed by the KGB and sent to assassinate M. After this terrific and unusual opening, the novel reverts to a familiar formula: a dossier on the villain (Scaramanga) is presented; Bond is sent after the adversary; a flashback explains the events which lead Bond to the villain; and Bond finally establishes contact with Scaramanga.
The Fleming Sweep, thankfully, is intact. This is one stylistic element that was inherent in Fleming's first drafts. The novel is never boring; it moves just as quickly as the others. But sometimes it moves too quickly. The opening two chapters, which deal with the assassination attempt on M, are over far too soon. It's almost as if this sequence were tacked on after the main story had been written. The explanation in Chapter 4 that reveals how Bond recovered from his ordeal with psychiatrists and the de-brainwashing procedure is not satisfactory. It might have been far more interesting had the author illustrated the procedure in one or two additional chapters. To say, "after six months Bond was cured," excludes the reader from an important part of the story.
But, the opening assassination attempt does begin the novel explosively; in fact, the book never quite regains this energy level. It is certainly an offbeat opening, and had Fleming been able to flesh it out fully, it might have been one of the best novels of the series.
Several key elements are missing from THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN—not only the rich detail and descriptions that were always worked into the second draft, but also that distinctive inner voice of the author which permeates the other novels. For once, it doesn't seem as if one is experiencing Fleming's world through Bond, as is usually the case. This time, the narrative voice speaks more often in the third person. Gone is the identification with the character which succeeded in giving Bond the well-rounded traits that had become so familiar. The novel is simply too stiff; it comes off as what it is—a first draft.
Another curious aspect of the novel is its use of cruder language and more violent deaths. Vulgarities are used for the first time in a Fleming novel (e.g., "screwing"), and the descriptions of the shootout on the train are overly gory. One wonders if this is Fleming's writing or Glidrose Productions' embellishments.
Many critics complained that the story contained several reworkings of old devices. For example, The Group (the shareholders) having a weekend conference is a direct steal from the hoods' congressin GOLDFINGER. The train sequence, although much more exciting here, is a reworking of the railroad scene in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER. The plot is too thin: Bond poses as Mark Hazard, who is inspecting the sugar cane fires. Scaramanga is impressed with Hazard's bravado and offers him a job as his bodyguard for the conference. This is unbelievable, considering Scaramanga is the highest paid assassin in the Western Hemisphere—why should he even need a bodyguard? And how did he happen to be stupid enough to hire Felix Leiter and Nick Nicholson as hotel managers? There are a few moments in the novel that promise to lead to something original but never pan out For example, it is revealed that Scaramanga has a third nipple as a distinguishing mark. Nothing is ever made of this. We are also told that Scaramanga is sexually impotent, which is one reason why he releases his frustrations by murdering people. Again, nothing is ever made of this. And finally, the moment in which Bond removes a bullet from Scaramanga's gun promises a tense scene to come, presumably involving a showdown between Bond and Scaramanga. But it never occurs. Scaramanga carelessly fires the empty chamber into the air at the train station. The only result is Bond's amusement at Scaramanga's confusion. This device could have been used more deftly in the actual final showdown between Bond and the villain.
The gambling theme is present again. Bond constantly takes chances throughout the story. He pretends he is someone he's not and risks being discovered several times. Even when Bond learns that Hendriks and Scaramanga know his true id
entity, Bond keeps up the gamble and decides to wait and see what happens. He even overhears their plot to kill him on the train ride. But Bond, almost enthusiastically, tags along to discover how they plan to murder him.
Bond was told to get in the back of the car. They set off. Once again that offered neck! Crazy not to take him now! But it was open country with no cover and there were five guns riding behind. The odds simply weren't good enough. What was the plan for his removal? During the "hunting" presumably. James Bond smiled grimly to himself. He was feeling happy. He wouldn't have been able to explain the emotion. It was a feeling of being keyed up, wound taut. It was the moment, after twenty passes, when you got a hand you could bet on—not necessarily win, but bet on. He had been after this man for over six weeks. Today, this morning perhaps, was to come the payoff he had been ordered to bring about It was win or lose. The odds? Foreknowledge was playing for him.
(THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, Chapter 13)
Other gambles include Bond removing the bullet from Scaramanga's gun; his allowing Mary Goodnight to enter his hotel room despite the danger of being discovered; and the blowing of his cover when the train is about to run over the mannequin tied to the railroad tracks (whom he believes to be Mary).
CHARACTERS
James Bond is robotlike in this novel. He's simply not the same man as in the previous books. Is this because Fleming was unable to finish the novel, or was it the author's intention to make Bond a "new man" since his ordeal with amnesia and brainwashing? If the latter is the case, the experiment does not work. Bond, in THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, has lost the sense of humor he gained in the preceding books; he is colder, more emotionless than he has been of late (it's almost as if he's been thrown back to the Bond of CASINO ROYALE); and he is, in general, simply carrying out the action of the plot with no feelings one way or the other toward his mission. He does, however, have a moment of doubt when he is face to face with Scaramanga at the novel's end. Scaramanga is lying wounded in the swamp, supposedly helpless, as Bond prepares to execute him in cold blood. But Bond has trouble carrying out his assignment. Bond has always had trouble killing in cold blood, and in this instance, the prospect of doing so impedes his reflexes and better judgment. This hesitation proves to be near fatal for Bond.
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