Back in the summer of 2018, I found myself trapped in a humdrum job in a company that underwrote insurance policies. A likely more direct reference, however, is the closing sequence of Quantum of Solace which depicts Bond on a mission to warn a Canadian agent that her boyfriend is an enemy, paralleling Bond's mission in "007 in New York"; in addition, the character name Solange from the short story was given to a character in the 2006 Casino Royale film.

As for "007 in New York", some aficionados feel that, though unfilmed, the story's spirit is in the New York City segment of the 1973 film Live and Let Die. On the whole, though, this collection is worth reading, even only to be convinced that there is more to Mr. In 1904 he joined the Territorial Army in the Derbyshire Yeomanry, where he was later promoted to major in March 1916 and colonel in 1924.

The mission, while successful, is also considered a failure due to Bond's last second decision to spare her, and it ends with Bond hoping that M fires him for it. First edition: octavo; hardcover, with gilt spine and upper board titles and decorative endpapers; 95pp. First editions thus, first impressions, one of 1,000 sets, of this set of the original James Bond titles, issued to commemorate the half century of the completion of Casino Royale in 1952. Ian Fleming passed away in 1964 and Octopussy and The Living Daylights was published posthumously in 1966 after Fleming had taken the world by storm, introducing us to his master spy James Bond. I cannot remember if the movie version of this story had anything to do with Cold War Berlin, but it does include Bond encountering a blonde Cello player, which was in the movie.

The best is the ending - very vivid, which goes back to what I was saying yesterday after reading For Your Eyes Only - Fleming really seems to blossom in his short stories in ways that he did not in his novels. Bond attends the auction, spots the man, and leaves to make arrangements for his expulsion from London as persona non grata. Overall, I found the Bond books interesting in how they are not like the movies which are oh so familiar. This is my first taste of Bond, and the four short stories or 'scraps' as I came to see them, was a nice introduction to Fleming's work. Fleming's brand name-dropping account of the high life is on full display here, and I very much enjoy tidbits like these for the sort of snapshot of a time they provide.

While hunting for scorpion fish to feed Octopussy, Smythe suffers a sting and is dragged underwater by Octopussy as the poison sets in.