The Creative Life Adventure

Welcome back to the Creative Life Adventure.

I’m slowly re-visiting Ian Fleming’s James Bond books, as I tend to do every few years. This time, I’m preparing informal reader’s guides to answer a few questions of context and background; the same questions I’ve had every time I’ve read these books but was too lazy to answer previously. I’ve now completed one for Fleming’s fifth Bond novel, From Russia with Love (1957), and it can be found here: From Russia with Love. All of the guides completed so far can be found under “Selected Writings” at the top of the page. I expect to update these guides from time to time but with no set schedule.

The previous novel, Diamonds Are Forever, was influenced by Fleming’s first-hand travels, and this is even more evident in From Russia with Love: the reader is taken to Moscow, to Istanbul, and for a journey on the famous Orient Express. These are all places Ian Fleming visited, and it shows in the writing.

I’m focusing on the books, not the movies, which any fan knows are quite different. The books (according to Fleming) were primarily intended as entertainment, so my intent in filling in some blanks regarding historic events, brand names, etc., is to enhance my own entertainment from the stories. If this reader’s guide gives you more entertainment from the book also, so much the better. I plan to post similar documents on the subsequent novels over time. Enjoy!