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Who do you picture when reading Bond novels?

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  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    If well written, Dalton.
  • JWESTBROOKJWESTBROOK
    Posts: 5,745
    Sometimes I try to picture myself. Like visualize me going through the actions. But usually it's some stranger, none of the actors.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    JWESTBROOK wrote:
    Sometimes I try to picture myself. Like visualize me going through the actions.
    Clearly you are part of the generation most suited for a Holodeck Bond scenario. :))
    My Son will be right there with you.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,331
    I picture Bond in the Books as like a mix of Brosnan and Connery. However when I read the Young Bond books, I pictured myself as Bond. It was the most visual experience I had reading a book.
  • DRESSED_TO_KILLDRESSED_TO_KILL Suspended
    Posts: 260
    I'm currently reading TMWTGG for the first time and I'm imagining a Conneryish type figure but more muscular and broader in shoulder length with medium long black hair.

  • mdo007mdo007 Katy, Texas
    edited November 2012 Posts: 259
    When I first read Casino Royale, I had Sean Connery image in my head. After that, I read 2 more Bond book:

    High time to Kill: I saw Pierce Brosnan when I read that novel. Probably because Benson's book came out the same time Brosnan was Bond. For Hope Kendal, I had Rosamund Pike. For Roland Marquis, I had Toby Stephens in my mind.

    Carte Blanche: definitely Daniel Craig. Because Carte Blanche is a modern-day literary reboot of James Bond. I keep associating Carte Blanche to Casino Royale (which is a reboot of the Bond film) hence why I see Daniel Craig as Bond (can Bond 24 be based off of Carte Blanche). For M, well I just see Bernard Lee. For Bheka Jordaan, I had Charlize Theron in my mind.

  • MalloryMallory Do mosquitoes have friends?
    edited November 2012 Posts: 2,058
    Having only read Casino Royale (I'm slowly finding time to read the others, ok!), I picture them as they appear in the film, so Craig as Bond, Eva Green as Vesper etc...

    Though I do tend to replace Dench with Lee. Favourite M and what not....

    I suspect it will be the same when I read the others.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Mallory wrote:
    Having only read Casino Royale (I'm slowly finding time to read the others, ok!), I picture them as they appear in the film, so Craig as Bond, Eva Green as Vesper etc...

    Though I do tend to replace Dench with Lee. Favourite M and what not....

    I suspect it will be the same when I read the others.

    Oy, that would confuse me. I don't like switching up the genders in the text. Makes it weird to read "he said" while thinking of a woman.
  • JimThompson45JimThompson45
    Posts: 803
    For some reason, I generally picture Admiral Nimitz when thinking about M.
  • MaxRebo120MaxRebo120
    Posts: 136
    For Bond, it depends on the book, and what actor played him in the film adaptation. Or at least sometimes. I usually picture a dark haired man like Fleming described. As for M, I picture Bernard Lee all the way, though I do prefer Dench in the role.
  • doubleonothingdoubleonothing Los Angeles Moderator
    Posts: 864
    everett.jpg
    upstairs-downstairs-ed-stoppard-1.jpg
    Ben_Cross_27921_Medium.jpg

    Some kinda blend between these guys
  • CharlesDreyfusCharlesDreyfus
    Posts: 55
    I'm working my way through the Fleming novels for the second time. I just finished DN. DN and FRWL I basically imagined the film casts, because they're so close (even a lot of the same dialogue).

    I pictured Craig as Bond in CR, but generally Connery in the others. I'm more convinced than ever that Connery's portrayal is still the closest to Fleming (particularly in DN, when you actually see him sweat and bleed). I love Craig and Dalton; but Bond in the early books, while often conflicted about his work, is not really an angry or rebellious guy.

    I picture Jack Lord as Leiter in CR, where the character isn't really well-defined. In LALD and DAF I picture Hedison. Even though the physical description doesn't tally, Fleming's Leiter is such a cheerful, funny dude; I don't think any other actor quite captured that side of him.

    Always, always Bernard Lee as M. I wish he'd gotten to do the "Blades" stuff from MR. It's so easy to visualize Lee and Connery in those scenes, Lee raising his eyebrows in exasperation as Bond gets progressively drunker. I also wish Lee had been able to deliver some of the hilariously out-of-touch dialogue from FRWL ("I believe they refer to it as, 'having a crush.'").
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,894
    Dalton as he looked in TLD, but sometimes a little of the Paul Gulacy Bond creeps in
  • ChevronChevron Northern Ireland
    edited November 2012 Posts: 370
    This chap: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Horak007.jpg
  • 00Zenon00Zenon Perth, Australia
    Posts: 44
    Carte Blanche

    Bond: Daniel Craig
    M: Bill Nighy (dunno why?) if not Bernard Lee
    Hydt: Hugh Laurie
    Dunne: Tom Hardy
    Philly: Karen Gillan (the most beautiful woman in the whole world!)
    Felicity: Charlize Theron
    Bheka: A chick I saw in Doctor Who once...dunno why i went British though..
    Mathis: Giancarlo Ginannini
    Felix: Jeffery Wright



    Devil May Care
    (horrible...horrible book)

    Bond: Daniel Craig
    M: Benard Lee
    Gorner: Guy Pierce
    Scarlett: Some chick, like Rose Byrne or the chick from the cover


    Any other book with movie title
    their respective Bond
    Eg, Goldfigner, FRWL, YOLT = Connery
    However I read CR with Craig and it was allright

    But whenever in doubt I always go to Connery

    I did find however that when I was doing my Bond marathon in prep for Skyfall, the Bond in the book i was reading would be the Bond from the film I'd watched that night
  • 00Zenon00Zenon Perth, Australia
    Posts: 44
    ^ this was a massive post...it's time for bed...
    :o
  • LicencedToKilt69007LicencedToKilt69007 Belgium, Wallonia
    Posts: 523
    It depends on the book : I read "Dr No" the first and I totally got into picturizing Sir Sean ! I read "Casino Royale 2006 novelization" then Craig and...Connery came in my mind. After this, "Diamonds Are Forever", which was hard to follow, in descriptions mostly, with a Connery/Brosnan parts James Bond.

    "Carte Blanche" is my first non-Fleming and I imagined Brosnan 1999 and Craig.
    In "Devil May Care" (already one of my favourite), Pierce Brosnan, mostly and Timothy Dalton were my 007.

    Currently, I'm reading the original "Casino Royale" and again I see in this order, mostly : Pierce, Sean and Tim. Craig ? I remember him barely for some scenes.
  • TimothyDalton007TimothyDalton007
    Posts: 42
    Chevron wrote:
    This chap: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Horak007.jpg

    Spot on, @Chevron, my thoughts exactly.

    When reading Fleming that is - when I read the continuation novels, for some obscure reason I see the various actors (for example, when reading any John Gardner novel I see TLD-era Dalton, in Devil May Care I see Connery, and in Carte Blanche I see Craig).
  • SkyFall2012SkyFall2012
    Posts: 6
    I picture a young Hoagy Carmichael, as Fleming explained. For Moneypenny, I imagine her as depicted in THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS. M - Bernard Lee. But I actually use the characters as depicted in the 1950s classic comics, which are so brilliant. The characters in that are great references for the books, so I recommend checking them out. For CARTE BLANCHE, though, I imagine the Bond in the 007 Cologne ad in 2012!
  • SuperheroSithSuperheroSith SE London
    Posts: 578
    I picture this guy when reading Le Chiffre's bits in Casino Royale
    chiffre.jpg
    I know, right? Peter Lorre's Le Chiffre!
  • SuperheroSithSuperheroSith SE London
    edited December 2012 Posts: 578
    SkyFall2012 wrote:
    For CARTE BLANCHE I imagine the Bond in the 007 Cologne ad in 2012!
    ROFLMFAO

    or

    Rolling on the floor laughing my ____ing _ss off!
  • Goldeneye95Goldeneye95
    Posts: 546
    When I read a James Bond novel, I always think of Pierce Bronsan's epic run as 007.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    edited December 2012 Posts: 11,189
    I'm listening to an audiobook of FRWL at the moment and, to be honest, no actor comes up consistantly. However certain actors do come to mind at different times.

    In many scenes with Kerim Bay (like the "tunnel with rats") Sean Connery inevitably comes to mind. Craig very occasionally pops into my head when he downs a drink in one at the gypsy camp and calls Kerim a "bloody fool" after the gun battle....but I think, on the whole, while he he's perfect with certain traits of Bond's personality, DC is too rough looking in terms of appearance to reflect Fleming's character who was sometimes described as "clean cut"

    When SMERSH are looking at Bond's file and at the photographs Pierce Brosnan comes to mind

    I still think Brosnan's stern pose on The Ghost poster has a rather Bond-esque feel

    So far Dalton hasn't come to mind much suprisingly but he did feature more in other books - like LALD.

    However the actor that I always find myself picturing least is Roger Moore.

    This maybe going slightly off topic but I found myself noticing more things in the audiobooks (traits regarding Bond's character) that I'd missed when reading them in paperback.

    -Bond is more casual than he's ever been in the films (he shrugs his shoulders suprisingly regularly - something I don't remember him doing at all onscreen)
    -He is on the whole quiet and passive - watching events around him - but has sudden outbursts of anger when things push him.
    -He is extremely cynical ("we don't show teeth...only gums")
    -He's a big softy sometimes (the way he looks tenderly at Tanya when she sleeps)
  • josiahjosiah
    edited February 2016 Posts: 1,386
    When I was reading the Fleming novels & short stories I usually pictured Tmothy Dalton with the scar down the cheek. When I was reading OHMSS I pictured Dalton and then when he was masquerading as the geneologist I pictured Roger Moore.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 6,790
    Either Connery or Dalton.
  • MilovyMilovy
    Posts: 676
    I started reading the books before I saw most of the movies, so I generally just imagine Fleming's descriptions. I do picture Bernard Lee as M. For Bond, I'd say something close to Christopher Plummer:

    tumblr_n1906owj_Oe1t1g01wo6_500.jpg

    battle_of_britain.jpg
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