April 14, 2013

JAMES SECRETAN AGENT 007

Ian Fleming's niece, Kate Grimond, made portions of Fleming's early draft of Casino Royale public in a press release today. Among the various details that were changed during revisions, it was revealed that Fleming's first stab at a name for his secret agent was James Secretan. Hopefully Fleming's drafts will become more widely available. More details at The Independent. Casino Royale turned 60 on April 13th and was celebrated with special events at the University of Illinois. The title of the new James Bond continuation novel by William Boyd (Any Human Heart) will be announced on Monday, April 15th. 

2 comments:

  1. I think the media sensationalized this a bit. I don't get the impression that Fleming's hero was actually named James Secreten; he was still James Bond. He just used a work name on his mission, like any good spy. Fleming decided to drop that, probably wisely, so people weren't confused. Later on Bond would use a few aliases in his novels, like Mark Hazard.

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  2. agreed! what would make exciting news is the actual release of early manuscripts to study. i just got the "Jonathan Cape" book, which looks like it includes some bits about early revisions :)

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