tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post7706055389487288065..comments2024-03-28T09:33:29.705+00:00Comments on Clothes In Books: Casino Royale by Ian FlemingClothes In Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-68999856752219876912016-02-02T00:05:39.362+00:002016-02-02T00:05:39.362+00:00It would be great if you started reading them agai...It would be great if you started reading them again, Prashant - I'd love to compare notes. Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-36043832367275719072016-02-01T06:08:25.149+00:002016-02-01T06:08:25.149+00:00Moira, I'd like to think the Bond films have p...Moira, I'd like to think the Bond films have put me out of reading Fleming's work. It's more than two decades since I last read his paperbacks.Prashant C. Trikannadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16079354501998741758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-34213149030254684992016-01-31T12:29:04.654+00:002016-01-31T12:29:04.654+00:00Thanks D for Doom - I am looking forward to readin...Thanks D for Doom - I am looking forward to reading the whole series. And I love all the helpful comparisons, they are so intriguing. Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-82602674096286590742016-01-31T11:58:28.094+00:002016-01-31T11:58:28.094+00:00I liked CASINO ROYALE but overall I think it's...I liked CASINO ROYALE but overall I think it's the weakest of the Bond books. Not surprising, being a first novel. Although as you say the casino scenes are very well done and quite gripping. LIVE AND LET DIE is a lot better. I'd rate DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER as the best of the lot.<br /><br />I agree with those who see Dennis Wheatley as a major influence on Fleming. He was also somewhat influenced by Sax Rohmer, especially in the matter of diabolical criminal masterminds with incredibly elaborate plans for world domination.dfordoomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-81519735347778794262016-01-30T15:12:21.824+00:002016-01-30T15:12:21.824+00:00I stand corrected!I stand corrected!Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-43062658046161986532016-01-30T10:54:43.198+00:002016-01-30T10:54:43.198+00:00That's a great analysis of the books. I have b...That's a great analysis of the books. I have been reminded myself of Dennis Wheatley by a alter one. I love that idea that each can reflect a different writer, I'll look out for that. And yes, I am repeatedly reminded of how dim Bond is in the plots....Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-78129613829903878202016-01-30T10:53:26.110+00:002016-01-30T10:53:26.110+00:00If you'd asked me, I wouldn't have been ab...If you'd asked me, I wouldn't have been able to tell you much about the Bond books, but once I started reading a lot came back to me, many scenes were familiar. I bet it would be the same for you. Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-52658636587735233202016-01-30T07:55:25.092+00:002016-01-30T07:55:25.092+00:00Great post -- not sure I want to read the book aga...Great post -- not sure I want to read the book again, though. Love the pictures. By the way, your point about the present tense is not actually correct -- phrases containing the verbs ending in 'ing' are adverbial phrases, and thus the whole paragraph is still in the past tense.harriethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04470091985662379182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-19872499403128005002016-01-30T07:21:08.213+00:002016-01-30T07:21:08.213+00:00I think that it's fair to say that Fleming had...I think that it's fair to say that Fleming had read very widely indeed in the adventure genre. There's one school of thought that he borrowed an awful lot from Dennis Wheatley's WWII secret agent Gregory Sallust (he and 007 are suspiciously similar), but the truth is that a lot of the early Bonds feel like Fleming's take on his favorite books. MOONRAKER is like a Bulldog Drummond, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER is a Philip Marlowe story, and so on. One of the things that set Fleming apart was his background as a journalist. He wants to tell you what a place or a situation is like, but it's done very clearly and economically. It's part of why he still reads so well.<br /><br />Re-reading CASINO ROYALE recently I was struck by the fact that it basically about Bond screwing up really badly. He only lives to the end of the book thanks to a massive overdose of luck and he totally misreads the situation that he is in. The final chapter sees him kicking himself for being so stupid. It's a very strange way to introduce a cultural icon and fantasy hero.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-62595962281262837212016-01-30T04:44:43.002+00:002016-01-30T04:44:43.002+00:00I have only read Casino Royale recently enough to ...I have only read Casino Royale recently enough to remember it. And I was very impressed with it, and also impressed that the Daniel Craig movie followed the story so closely.<br /><br />The Ian Fleming Bond books fall in the same category as Agatha Christie novels. I know I read them when I was much younger but which ones I don't know, and the stories are entirely forgotten ... so I will enjoy reading them through also. I look forward to your review of Live and Let Die.<br /><br />Those images are wonderful.TracyKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303342674824383688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-90185625002965908362016-01-29T20:09:39.548+00:002016-01-29T20:09:39.548+00:00Thank you Chrissie. I am proud of this cultural cr...Thank you Chrissie. I am proud of this cultural cross-referencing....Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-70603946300934967702016-01-29T20:09:07.749+00:002016-01-29T20:09:07.749+00:00Oh good - I wasn't sure if Biggles would be kn...Oh good - I wasn't sure if Biggles would be known in the USA. But I should have known you'd get the cultural reference. Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-53788694305981110932016-01-29T16:59:54.571+00:002016-01-29T16:59:54.571+00:00Biggles! Brilliant, yes! Biggles with sex . . . Wh...Biggles! Brilliant, yes! Biggles with sex . . . Why did it never occur to me before? Christinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16510409974009816550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-62847726892255025532016-01-29T12:35:06.216+00:002016-01-29T12:35:06.216+00:00I think you make a very good point, Moira, about t...I think you make a very good point, Moira, about the way the bond stories just burst on the scene. They were different to anything people had read before. And all that glamour and swashbuckling - who wouldn't be drawn in. I love that comparison to Biggles, too!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-10629404497905283732016-01-29T10:42:03.984+00:002016-01-29T10:42:03.984+00:00I love Clare McCardell, the queen of a certain way...I love Clare McCardell, the queen of a certain way of dressing, which I would love to aspire to! I would SO wear both those dresses, now (today in fact as am going out lunch).<br />Fleming (or Bond) always likes the same kind of shape in a woman, I'm discovering. In a later book there's a woman whose bottom has been reshaped by too much ice-skating. He's full of unexpected and unlikely details. I wonder if he had women friends (or his wife) to consult about what the Bond girls wore?Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-41565061427048379482016-01-29T10:37:38.464+00:002016-01-29T10:37:38.464+00:00I also think a narrow, but not thin waist would be...I also think a narrow, but not thin waist would be a waist that wasn't wasp-like all round - I imagine her being relatively wide shouldered, not ridiculously so, but with a distinct taper to the waist, and with a naturally streamlined appearance, without giving a trussed/corseted look.<br /><br />Maybe the belt was something like this - I do like Claire McCardell, her clothes were designed for normal bodies without trussing and/or constriction.<br /><br />http://blog.fidmmuseum.org/museum/2009/09/claire-mccardell.htmlDaniel Milford-Cottamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07387407272852763234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-21234906157687086732016-01-29T10:34:02.358+00:002016-01-29T10:34:02.358+00:00Oh that's amazing Daniel, that's exactly w...Oh that's amazing Daniel, that's exactly what I would have wanted, perfect. All readers should go and look - it's in copyright so I can't reproduce. Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-65579172634560607932016-01-29T10:29:54.761+00:002016-01-29T10:29:54.761+00:00A grey wild silk dress with a flaring pleated skir...A grey wild silk dress with a flaring pleated skirt, wide black belt, and black and gold accessories and jewellery. Sounds trés chic to me. I imagine the sabretache was carried as a handbag rather than as a belt adjunct.<br /><br />Here's a great casino image from 1954 for you, just so you know they're out there. ;) (And it's a Grés dress again!!)<br /><br />http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O82824/sunny-harnett-evening-dress-by-photograph-avedon-richard/Daniel Milford-Cottamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07387407272852763234noreply@blogger.com