The James Bond Bedside Companion (32 page)

(MOONRAKER, Chapter 5)

The novel also brings back the moodiness of CASINO ROYALE, but without the cynicism. The plot involves the solving of a mystery rather than an action-filled, country-hopping pursuit of a super villain. This in itself adds to the sinister atmosphere of the book. There is also a distinct feeling of melancholy in the writing; perhaps this is due to Fleming's own sensitivities to middle age which he has passed on to his leading character.

The major theme of the novel is, again, gambling. Bond takes a number of chances, hoping that his own resourcefulness and timing will prevail over fate. He literally gambles in a high-stakes game at Blades by attempting to out-cheat Drax at bridge. Bond wagers on Drax's trustworthiness during his first two days at the Moonraker plant, and risks burning his face terribly when he lights a blowtorch with his teeth. Finally, the biggest gamble occurs when Bond resets the gyros to
charge the
Moonraker's course
to aim
for
the homing device aboard Drax's submarine in the North Sea.

Fleming seems to be emphasizing the need to take risks in order to receive full satisfaction from life's adventures. These risks may be dangerous, and may ultimately be fatal. But each new day might contain an adventure filled with such a challenge, and one must be a gambler to face it with any hope of survival.

Early in the novel, Fleming hints at impending doom, not only for Bond and England, but for the entire world. This occurs at the end of Chapter 3, when Bond notices a flashing neon sign and is alarmed by what he believes it says:

Startled at the great crimson words, Bond pulled in to the curb, got out of the car and crossed to the other side of the street to get a better view of the big skysign.

Ah! That was it. Some of the letters had been hidden by a neighboring building. It was only one of those Shell advertisements. "SUMMER SHELL IS HERE" was what it said.

Bond smiled to himself and walked back to his car and drove on.

When he had first seen the sign, half-hidden by the building, great crimson letters across the evening sky had flashed a different message.

They had said: "HELL IS HERE. . . HELL IS HERE. . . HELL IS HERE."

(MOONRAKER, Chapter 3)

The novel was written in 1954 and published in 1955, in the middle of the Cold War. Fear of the Bomb was worldwide. Fleming was perhaps a little too critical of the Russians during this period of political paranoia; but at the time, the threat of a nuclear war was felt widely. Today the plot seems somewhat contrived.

CHARACTERS

I
n MOONRAKER, for the first time, James Bond becomes something more than a cardboard figure. Glimpses of a personal life are seen, such as a visit to Bond's flat off King's Road in Chelsea. We meet his secretary at the office, Loelia Ponsonby, and learn what he does at headquarters while not on an assignment. We ride with him in his Bentley. But most important, the author shares with the reader Bond's inner thoughts and feelings. As John Pearson observes in his biography of Fleming:

MOONRAKER
was the most serious novel Fleming had written so far. Here the James Bond books begin to reveal them
selves as the undercover autobiography of Ian Fleming. MOONRAKER
completed his identification with his hero and gave him the chance of stating what he saw as the central problem of his own life, the malaise of middle age. It showed him attempting to map out some sort of solution in the dream of action, daring, maleness, sex, and high living.

(John Pearson, The Life of Ian Fleming)

Bond also reveals the first touch of a sense of humor. When M tells him that Drax's employees number fifty-two, Bond visualizes a "pack of cards and a joker."

Hugo Drax is one of Fleming's most successful villainous characters. German-born Drax was educated in England. How such an ugly, boisterous, and mysterious man could work his way up England's social and political ladders to become
Sir
Hugo Drax, knighted miner of columbite and defender of Britain, is highly questionable. Nevertheless, Drax is a fascinating character. He is larger than life—"physically big—about six foot tall" and he has a large square head with "tight reddish hair parted in the middle." His hair dips down in a curve toward his temples to cover as much as possible the scar tissue from plastic surgery that Drax had during the war. A bushy red mustache and long bushy whiskers growing at the level of his ear lobes completes the image. Bond reflects that Drax resembles a "ringmaster at a circus." The man is a loudmouthed vulgarian and his flamboyance brings a richness to the novel that the characters of Le Chiffre and Mr. Big lack. There is also a childishness to Drax that makes him even more interesting. He loses his temper at the end of the celebrated bridge game at Blades, causing quite a scene. The image of a knighted social figure such as Drax ranting and raving in an elegant public place only heightens his colorfulness.

While Drax is a superior villain, the heroine of the book is relatively weak. Gala Brand seems to be a throwback to the rather stiff characterization of Vesper Lynd. She has no real interest in Bond (she's engaged to be married, although we don't learn this until the end of the book), which automatically dampens the sexual interest of the story. (She is one of the few women in the series that Bond fails to bed.) She is a policewoman and keeps her attitude professional and businesslike. She does loosen up a bit when Bond accompanies her to the beach for a swim (before being almost buried alive by a landslide), and after the couple's escape from their captors toward the end of the novel. Shortly after Bond meets Gala, he attempts to engage her in conversation but fails miserably. She answers only with polite monosyllables and refuses to meet his eye. Bond feels that her "frigid indifference" is overacted. At one point, he would like to give her a "sharp kick on the ankle" in order to get a response. But, he admits, Gala has
probably been well chosen by Scotland Yard. She's "another Loelia Ponsonby. Reserved, efficient, loyal, virginal—a professional."

M is more fully developed in MOONRAKER. For the first time, M appears outside of the office for a social gathering. Bond is only too happy to accept M's invitation to dine at Blades, and as a personal favor determine how Drax is cheating at bridge. M is very cordial and pleasant at the dinner table, and for once, he seems more like a warm human being than the cold, crusty old admiral behind the desk at Universal Export. But the morning after Bond humiliates Drax at Blades, M becomes his usual self. Bond enters the office with a hangover, and M says, curtly, "You look pretty dreadful, 007
.
. . Sit down." But M reveals an appreciation for Bond at the end when the Prime Minister phones to congratulate the Service on a job well done. The Prime Minister wants to honor Bond with an award for saving England, but it is against the Service's regulations for an agent to accept medals and decorations. This pleases M anyway, and he tells Bond of the P.M.'s wishes.

M. gave one of the rare smiles that lit up his face with quick brightness and warmth. Bond smiled back. They understood the things that had been left unsaid.

(MOONRAKER, Chapter 25)

HIGHLIGHTS AND OTHER
INGREDIENTS

T
he major feature of MOONRAKER is the bridge game at Blades. Though it's not essential to the plotline, it serves to reveal an excellent insight into Hugo Drax's character. It also showcases Fleming's talent for describing gaming contests. The few chapters concerning the bridge game are exciting, suspenseful, and fascinating, surpassing the baccarat game in CASINO ROYALE. Bond prepares for the card battle by first reading up on cheating tricks in
Scarne on Cards.
He stacks decks of two colors (since he's unsure which color deck Drax will be using) and uses one to deal a "Culbertson hand." This leads Drax to believe he has the winning hand, when in reality, Bond has the superior one. The bidding builds to a high pitch until Bond calmly reveals his hand to a much surprised Hugo Drax. The writing of the scene is nothing short of brilliant.

Another highlight is the car chase toward
the
end of Part Two. Krebs' newsprint roll ploy is ingenious, and it's one of the few action sequences in the story. The blowtorch incident and subsequent events leading to the blast-off of the Moonraker are also exciting and fast-paced. It is in Part Three that the novel begins to resemble the style of the previous books, as Bond and Gala frantically attempt to alter Drax's plans of destroying London. There is one tense moment when the couple hides in a ventilation shaft to avoid Drax's guards. The guards search for the couple by spraying steam hoses into each shaft. Bond and Gala bravely withstand the intense heat without giving themselves away. The guards eventually give up and evacuate the area for the liftoff.

The final unique element in MOONRAKER, which is exemplified especially at the end, is its undertone of melancholy. This moodiness is brought about by Bond's thoughts and reflections about his job, Gala Brand, and women in general. For once, we get a sense that James Bond may be a very lonely man; this melancholy is nowhere better exhibited than in the final paragraphs. Bond has just learned that Gala Brand is engaged and plans to marry the very next day:

And now what? wondered Bond. He shrugged his shoulders to shift the pain of failure—the pain of failure that is so much greater than the pleasure of success. An exit line. He must get out of these two young lives and take his cold heart elsewhere. There must be no regrets. No false sentiment. He must play the role which she expected of him. The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette.

She was looking at him rather nervously, waiting to be relieved of the stranger who had tried to get his foot in the door of her heart.

Bond smiled warmly at her. "I'm jealous," he said. "I had other plans for you tomorrow night"

She smiled back at him, grateful that the silence had been broken. "What were they?" she asked.

"I was going to take you off to a farmhouse in France," he said. "And after a wonderful dinner I was going to see if it's true what they say about the scream of a rose."

She laughed. "I'm sorry I can't oblige. But there are plenty of others waiting to be picked."

"Yes, I suppose so," said Bond. "Well, goodbye, Gala." He held out his hand.

"Goodbye, James."

He touched her for the last time and then they turned away from each other and walked off into their different lives.

(MOONRAKER, Chapter 25)

Quite a downbeat ending for James Bond. But in a way, these final paragraphs present a summation of the solitary life a secret agent must lead. Fleming dubs his character "the man who is only a silhouette." It is here that the shadowy, cold world of James Bond becomes a lonely reality.

F
leming's fourth novel, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, zips from location to location at a breakneck pace. Like LIVE AND LET DIE, the new novel is another country-hopping story which is fueled by the Fleming Sweep. In the former novel, there are logical reasons for the action moving from one locale to another as the plot develops; but in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, this is not the case. Both plot advancement and change of locale seem contrived here, and as a result, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, although it has some tense moments and some interesting character developments, is probably the weakest of the early Bonds.

The story concerns a diamond smuggling operation running from a British-owned mine in French Guinea to America. The British Treasury suspects the House of Diamonds of controlling the pipeline. James Bond impersonates one of the pipeline's carriers and meets a contact in London, the scintillating American blonde named Tiffany Case, and together they smuggle the diamonds to New York. Meanwhile, the Service learns that the European vice president of the House of Diamonds, Rufus B. Saye, is none other than Jack Spang, who with his twin brother, Seraffimo Spang, runs a syndicate in America known as "The Spangled Mob." Bond's assignment, then, is to follow the pipeline to Las Vegas, where Seraffimo is located. Seraffimo Spang soon learns that Bond is an imposter and instructs his hoods to kidnap the agent and bring him to Spectreville, a ghost town near Las Vegas which Spang had purchased and decorated as a Wild West "resort." Bond is brutally beaten by Spang's henchmen, Wint and Kidd. But with the help of Tiffany, Bond escapes and manages to derail Spang's locomotive, with Spang inside, during a nocturnal chase out of Spectreville. Tiffany and Bond board the
Queen Elizabeth
for London, unaware that Wint and Kidd are also on board. Tiffany is captured by the hoodlums, but is eventually rescued by Bond in a furious battle
with the killers.
Finally, Bond traces the pipeline back to French Guinea, where he encounters Jack Spang attempting to close down his operation. With a Bofors artillery gun, Bond knocks Spang's helicopter out of the sky.