Book #56: James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me by Christopher Wood

 

James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me

Christopher Wood

 Released: January 1st, 1977

My 26th book for 2024 was Christopher Wood’s “James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me”.

I've been meaning to go back and reread the James Bond novels, and while "out of order" to some extent, and not an actual Fleming novel, I definitely wanted to read this one before year's end.  

“Why do we seek to conquer space when seven-tenths of our own universe remains unexplored?”

I love this quote.  It feels very literary in nature and fits the Stromberg character quite well.  The quote gives a great glimpse into his aspirations and motivations.  The irony of the quote is that the next James Bond adventure literally took him into outer space.  The book and the film are both full of great quotes, and things that stand out.  It plays out as a nice classic, and I really appreciate the storytelling.

Ian Fleming penned the original "The Spy Who Loved Me" novel back in 1962.  However, when the producers of the Bond films went to make the film, Fleming had a special clause inserted before selling them the rights that stated they were only permitted to use the title for the film and nothing else.  Fleming felt the book would not make a good movie.  

In the original, the story is told from a female POV.  Vivienne Michel is watching a hotel in Canada over the winter, when 2 thugs come in and hold her hostage.  James Bond, fresh off his Thunderball mission, just happens to be in town and gets caught up with a flat tire when he arrives to save the day.  While different in structure, the novel is a good read, and I intend to reread it soon and put a post up here as well.

Quick side note: I'm going to be lazy here and mostly refer to the story as "TSWLM" from here on out as the title is quite lengthy.

Flash forward to 1976 as the producers were doing preproduction work for the movie, they allowed screenwriter Christopher Wood to write a novelization of the film version.  So, there exist 2 different TSWLM stories out there.  

The 10th James Bond film was considered the one that "saved the franchise" after disappointing yet still profitable returns from the previous 70's Bond outings after staggering success in the 1960's.  If you've never seen the movie, I highly encourage you to go out and watch it as it stands as one of the best James Bond movies ever made.  The story is very solid, and very Bond-ish in style.  2 nuclear submarines have been captured, and the bad guy wants to destroy New York and Moscow with their bombs and restart the global population under the sea.  Bond is sent to investigate, and eventually it leads to a team-up with the KGB (SMERSH in the novelization).  It is often highly praised as Moore's definitive Bond film and really captured the electricity that some fans felt had been missing since the end of the first Sean Connery era.

The novelization plays out more like a traditional James Bond novel in the Ian Fleming style.  I could see Timothy Dalton exceling in several of the scenes depicted in the book.  There are some cold-blooded scenes, references to Bond's smoking addiction, and some more internal things that feel very naturally James Bond.

This book (and the ensuing movie) features my favorite Bond henchmen of all time: Jaws.  In this book, we learn he is a Polish man named Zbigniew Krycsiwiki.  He was a basketball player with a penchant for violence.  He was arrested by the secret police in the 1972 Bread Riots, and beaten mercilessly by a police squad, breaking his jaw.  He escaped and stowed away on one of Stromberg's vessels.  Stromberg felt sympathetic to his plight and had a new metal jaw created for him by an old Nazi-era doctor and offered him a job as a hired assassin.  Of all the bad guys James Bond has ever matched up against, this is the one that I always truly wondered how he would escape.  While Jaws did comeback in the movies for Moonraker, the killer element was watered down to a more comedic effect, where the Jaws of TSWLM was dark, menacing, and deadly. 

If I saw a man that looked like this coming towards me, I'd be pretty terrified.

Something that bothered me is that some of the charm from the movie is missing from the novelization.  This leads me to wonder about just how far into 1977 some elements of the film materialized.  

As a child, I was forever haunted by Jaws hiding in Anya's closest on the train before jumping out and attempting to kill her and Bond.  The scene is well done, and at a point, you truly wonder how Bond is ever going to beat this monstrously huge human being, let alone if he's going to live to do it.  This was a very effective scene and seeing that it didn't make the book leads me to believe it was written later on and not planned when the book was written.

Jaws was arguably the most intimidating henchmen Bond ever faced.

Also, the significance of the phrase "Au Revoir, Anya" is lost in the book, but at least the movie holds the meaning true.  For those who are unfamiliar with the term, "Au Revoir" is the French farewell which translates to "Until we meet again."  In the film, when Bond and Anya first meet up socially, Anya says "Goodbye Mr. Bond." to which Roger Moore's 007 suggests "Well, let's say au revoir.  I have the oddest feeling we'll be meeting again sometime."  Later in the film, Bond and Anya are captured and held hostage by Stromberg's men.  As Stromberg takes Anya with him and instructs them to say goodbye, Bond quickly remarks "Au Revoir, Anya."  This foreshadows his victory in the ensuing battle and giving her hope that they will meet again and survive this complicated situation.  Bond still says it to her when held hostage, however without the prior context, one would have to understand what the translation means.

Another notable omission is the character of Naomi.  She is the femme fatal who sparks mild jealousy in the Anya character, and pilots the helicopter in the car chase before being taken out via a missile courtesy of "Wet Nellie".  (A nice subtle nod to the 1967 Bond film, "You Only Live Twice").

On the plus side, we get more context as to how Bond was setup at the beginning of the story, which led to the death of Sergei Borzov.  We learn more about Fekkesh, and his lady.  The latter suffers a far more tragic death, passing away in Bond's arms as she helps him in her final moments.  Jaws is given a more thorough backstory.  We learn about what happened to him to cause his disturbing appearance, how he recovered, and how he came to work for Stromberg.  Stromberg is also given a true backstory, where we learn how he made his millions in shipping.  

There also features a scene where M shows Bond the significance of the submarine tracking system in his office.  I've always been a fan of Roger Moore's scenes in M's office during his tenure, and always felt a bit robbed that TSWLM did not feature a scene in his office (not counting the remote MI6 location in the Egyptian desert).  This would have made for a great scene if shot, however they instead had other military personnel and Q explain it to Bond in the movie aboard a British ship.  We also see an appearance by Bond's live-in maid May at the end of the story.  Something that was never translated to the film series.  Good stuff.

Here is what I learned:

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• Anya’s lover is Sergei Borzov.

• Anya is not typically a promiscuous woman.

• Women you pick up in casinos are either straightforward whores or have run out of money playing some ridiculous system.

• The skiing at Tignes is excellent.

• Bond wears Rod 88 goggles.

• The name of the woman in the cabin is Martine Blanchaud.

• Bond uses Kerma Zicral sticks.

• SMERSH is a contraction for “Smiert Spionam” which means “Death to Spies”.

• SMERSH employs 60,000 people.

• Otdyel 4 of SMERSH is the section responsible for internal security in the armed forces. 

• Anya is the youngest of 4 children.

• Blanchaud died in a cabin fire.

• The HMS Ranger is a Resolution-class, nuclear-powered, ballistic missile submarine.

• It carry’s 16 Polaris surface-to-surface intercontinental missiles with a range of 2,500 miles.

• In the book, the villain’s name is Sigmund where the movie changes his name to Karl.

• Stromberg hails from Northern Sweden.

• The Ingemar is the largest tanker in the Stromberg fleet.

• Stromberg’s secretary who betrayed him was Kate Chapman.

• James Bond keeps his Walther PPK firearm in a typewriter when he flies on a mission.

• Bond drinks Noilly Prat and tonic.

• Different from the novel, Bond is captured and tortured after finding the deceased Fekkish in the Egyptian temple.  He escapes when Anya orders the Russian agents to release him.

• Anya reminded Bond of Tracy.

• Max Kalba likes to shoot billiards.

• Kate Chapman was meant to leave Stromberg and join Kalba in South America where he planned to have her killed.

• Jaws’ real name is Zbigniew Krycsiwiki.

• He attended college at Kracow.

• Police destroyed his jaw with hollowed steel clubs.

• Jaws stowed away on one of Stromberg’s vessels.

• Stromberg had side income from blackmailing Nazi war-criminals.

• Dr. Ludwig Schwenk built Jaw’s steel teeth and rebuilt his jaw. 

• Jaws vocal cords had to be severed for the teeth to work, rendering him mute.

• Both Bond and Anya shoot at Jaws in the Egyptian Desert.

• Anya stabs Bond with a needle until he passes out compared to the movie where she blows a paralyzing dust in his face.

• Colonel General Nikitin is the head of SMERSH as opposed to General Gogol.

• Bond’s appetite for women was well-known to SMERSH.

• Anya had a one-room flat on the sixth floor of the Sadovaya-Chernogriazskay Ulitz.

• She made a monthly salary of 2000 roubles (1977).

• Bond drives a Red Lotus Esprit in the novel.

• “Why do we seek to conquer space when seven tenths of our own universe remains unexplored?”

• The newest tanker to the Stromberg line is the Lepadus.

• Anya pronounces “James” as [Shems]

• “All those feathers and he still couldn’t fly.”

• “Wet Nellie” is the name of Bond’s submarine Lotus.

• Q Branch refers to Wet Nellie as “QST/A117 Submersible”.

• Naomi does not appear in the novel.

• During the car chase, Jaws is in the helicopter.

• SMERSH sends roses to Anya to reveal her lover’s assassin.

• The train scene does not occur.

• “Au Revoir, Anya.”

• Jaws has romantic lust for Anya.

• Bond’s arm is injured by gunfire during the fight in the Lepadus.

• Breakfast was Bond’s favorite meal of the day.

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Overall, this was a solid book.  If you're looking for a captivating thriller, then this is a book for you.  The tagline for the film was "It's the biggest.  It's the best.  It's Bond and beyond!"  The novelization holds that true as well.  I also highly suggest watching the film if you have not already as it is truly a classic masterpiece of British cinema.  

Highly recommended.

On to Book #57: "The Omen" by David Seltzer.