The Living Daylights Sees the Light of Day…..Day 35 of Bond 365

I turn to literature for today’s entry for Day 35 of Bond 365. 

On this day in 1962, the short story The Living Daylights first appeared in The Sunday Times (UK) and was posthumously published by Jonathan Cape June 23, 1966 (UK). The Living Daylights was paired with another short story, Octopussy, for that release. In more recent editions, two additional short stories have been added: The Property of a Lady and 007 in New York.

Fleming originally titled this story Trigger Finger and is about Bond’s three-night stake out to kill an assassin. When it was published however, the title was changed to Berlin Escape, which was kept when it was published later that same year in America. In 1966, it was adapted to a comic strip format by writer Jim Lawrence and illustrator Yaroslav Horak. Titan Books re-released the comic strip in their James Bond Omnibus Vol. 2 (2011) and is available from Amazon.

Cover art Richard Chopping (Wikipedia)

It has been a couple of years since I have read this short story, but I remember enjoying the story as well as the other ones. The film includes details from the story: a beautiful cellist with a sniper rifle. In the story, Bond shoots the butt of her gun; in the film, he saves her. In the book, Bond hopes he is fired for making the split second decision to prevent her shot rather than kill her. For the story, Fleming consulted the National Rifle Association for sniper shooting information. The concept of the noise masking an escape was inspired by the real life escape of Pat Reid. And, Fleming profiled his half-sister Amaryllis for the female assassin.

The original cover was illustrated by Richard Chopping, who was himself an author (children’s books and natural history) and illustrator. He created the dust jackets for nine of the James Bond books, starting with From Russia, with Love (1957, Jonathan Cape). Interestingly, Chopping’s correspondence with Fleming went up for auction in 2010. The collection of letters touched on details relating to the dust jacket art. I bet they would have been interesting to read. The lot sold for $57,600.

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Anthology, Upcoming Conference and Blog Updates

It has been a busy few weeks reviewing abstracts and drafting a preliminary layout for my anthology sections. I am initially organizing the book by medium – film, television, videogames, etc. – that I think will work well. It’s not an original or ingenious method, but I think it is effective and efficient. Of course this can, in all likelihood, change once I have the essays in hand this November. In all though, I have chosen twenty abstracts that represent a broad range of mediums influenced by Bond the past six decades.

While the essayists are busily researching and composing, it is that time of year for me to prepare my area’s call for proposals for the Southwest Popular/American Culture Associations (SWPACA) 35^th annual conference being held in Albuquerque next February 19 - 22. I should have that CFP posted in the next couple of weeks here at my blog as well as at the organization’s website for your perusal and consideration. Deadlines have been pushed forward a bit earlier this year to early November, rather than mid December.

And, after having a successful screening and discussion of OSS 117 Cairo Nest of Spies (2006) at last year’s conference, I am waiting for acceptance of my proposed screening and roundtable discussion of The Quiller Memorandum (1966) at this upcoming conference. For those who do submit a proposal for the conference, let me know if you would be interested in being a participant at the roundtable, since I’ll be looking for a few individuals that have expertise in the spy/espionage genre.

If you have not attended an academic conference before, this conference is still small enough to provide an encouraging environment for those who may be hesitant about speaking publicly or sharing one’s academic research.  And, of course, it’s an excellent opportunity to network with like minded individuals.

At the moment, I’m completing research for a few upcoming posts:

Octopussy and The Living Daylights (1966, UK, Literature)

The two short stories plus Property of a Lady and 007 In New York make up current editions of Fleming’s fourteenth and final novel, published posthumously in 1966. This past Sunday (the 23^rd) marked the 47^th anniversary of the release from UK publisher Jonathan Cape.

Najica Blitz Tactics (2001, Japan, Anime)

Studio Fantasia brought A LOT of fanservice to this spy oriented anime. Once getting past all of the knickers and crotch shots, this anime explores the overarching concept of humanity. The two main characters are strong female types – Najica Hiiragi and Lila – as well as an abundance of supporting female characters (all in miniskirts and white undies.

She Spies (2002-04, US, Television)

This spy (term loosely applied) adventure series premiered on NBC and ran a surprising two seasons. It has several similarities to another more popular series, Charlie’s Angels, but is decidedly more comedic in its approach. Season one was available on DVD, culminating in 20 episodes.

In addition, I’m formulating a series of posts on mature spies (think: Red 1 and 2, Crackerjack 3, Agent 88) and spotting Bond’s influence in some unusual places. So, bookmark and visit often. Thanks!