I've been re-reading the Ian Fleming James Bond series and I
was inspired by the discussion here of whether or not Bond
was noir. Fleming is writing in the hard-boiled tradition,
but the main difference is that Bond is a WINNER. Bond smokes
70 cigarettes a day, drinks like a sailor (although only the
good stuff... no cheap rotgut for M'sieur Bond) and he always
falls for a dangerous woman, all good noir traits. But in
Casino Royale Bond wins the big baccurat game, and that's
when I realized he was not noir, despite what else goes on in
the books.
However, Bond is definitely Hard-Boiled. I know he's got his
designer suits, his slick cars and his special martini he
invented, but in most of the Bond books he takes a beating.
Whether it's in the excruciating torture scene in Casino
Royale, or the Endurance Test in Dr. No, Bond goes through
hell in the novels and pays the price physically and
psychologically.
Fleming's style is very readable and the books are enjoyable
thrillers. I'm having a ball re- reading them 15 years later
in the swank Penguin edition nostalgic covers with the hot
chicks and guns on them.
--Chan
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