After rereading all the Bond books by Fleming recently, rereading Pearson’s bio is
a revelation. Instead of zeroing in on the authorly side straight away, Pearson
gets right at the heart, that sad shy bitter man lurking in the heart of Bond.
Every would-be writer must have this on their shelf, if only as a warning not
to turn [...]
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. One of Fleming’s better and later books, which makes you wonder what he would have written had he lived…
Ian Fleming. All the Bonds first, in order. I’m up to Thunderball. It’s clear that Bond
is how Fleming saw himself. Very strange man. Women don’t last long, he seems
to react to them the same way as to a fast car, doing rapid gear changes. Some
of his comments are astounding. And as for the implicit racism, [...]