![]() ![]() ![]() Where we would once get M briefing Bond on a mission, we now see him lecturing him on his “unnatural way of life”. It may not gel with what is to come but as a short Bond adventure it’s an entertaining read. Thunderball has a complex conception, the novel sprouting from an unproduced screenplay Fleming co-wrote, and the opening feels very much like a bizarre addition barely connected to the rest of the story to stretch the narrative into one long enough for a novel. This all plays like an episode of a classic British sitcom – the irritable lead character sent off somewhere far out of his comfort zone to react to and mock the treatments. The agent may think overindulging in cigarettes and alcohol is a remedy for the stresses of his profession but M disagrees and sends Bond to Shrublands, a health clinic, to detox from food, alcohol, and women. It all stems from Bond’s medical which reveals aliments including high blood pressure, liver issues, and fibrosis. ![]() The James Bond novels up to this point have had smarmy witticisms and ludicrous names that may elicit an occasional smile, or more likely a facepalm, but in Thunderball Fleming tries his hand at genuine situational comedy and shockingly it works. Nine books into the series, Ian Fleming gains a sense of humour. ![]()
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