When the title of the forthcoming James Bond film was announced, the Internet simultaneously asked, “WTF is a QUANTUM OF SOLACE?” Die-hard 007 fans knew exactly what it was: a short story in the Bond canon. The movie takes it title from the tale, and presumably nothing else. That’s good, because otherwise, it could kill the franchise.
Nevertheless, a tie-in is a tie-in, and so Penguin has issued QUANTUM OF SOLACE: THE COMPLETE JAMES BOND SHORT STORIES (there are 009 of them), complete with the exquisite Richie Fahey cover art that adorns the rest of its reissues of Ian Fleming’s superspy.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with “Quantum of Solace.” It’s just that Bond is barely in it at all; his action is limited to sitting quietly and listening. It’s essentially a story within a story, as “the Governor” gives 007 an account of one Philip Masters, a one-time fellow member of Her Majesty’s Secret Service who married a really hot chick — well above his average looks — and ended up paying for it.
At first, I wondered, “Where is this going? What’s the point?” but as the pages progressed, all my reservations disappeared and I was hooked. There’s no adventure to it, no daring feats, no exercising one’s license to kill. It’s merely a moral, and yet oddly intoxicating.
I can’t say the same for the seven-page “007 in New York.” It seems to exist simply to appease citizens of that city whom Fleming had managed to piss off by dissing the Big Apple in an essay. In this brief peacemaker, Bond does little more than wander the streets, visit the zoo, make some love and scramble some eggs — recipe included.
“The Hildebrand Rarity” is another comparatively little-known shortie, which I’d first encountered in the recent NEW BEDSIDE PLAYBOY anthology. The title refers to a rare specimen of the squirrel-fish family, and the plot involves a man who’ll stop at nothing to acquire it.
However, the better of the water-drenched narratives is to be found in “Octopussy.” (It, too, has nothing to do with the hit film whose title made me and my brother snicker back in 1983.) This “Pussy” is the pet octopus of a retired major with heart problems, whom Bond comes to interview about his time in the service. The end is pretty twisted.
Three other entries — “From a View to a Kill,” “For Your Eyes Only” and “The Living Daylights” — found their titles co-opted by the movies, and their plot elements to varying degrees. However, they offer more of the exciting exploits for which Bond is known and loved.
To the Fleming newcomer, adjusting to his style make require a transitory period. He writes in paragraphs that dawdle too long, yet are peppered with British phrases like “the old snip-cock.” Fleming was no literary master, but there’s a peculiar poetry to his sentences. —Rod Lott
“It was perhaps five minutes later that Major Smythe felt a curious numbness more or less in the region of his solar plexus.”
and
“He measured the distance to Mr. Krest’s solar plexus.”
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• THE DIAMOND SMUGGLERS by Ian Fleming
• FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE by Ian Fleming
• OCTOPUSSY AND THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS by Ian Fleming
• ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE by Ian Fleming
