Ian Fleming's final Bond book, written just before his death, has been criticised for its plot holes and 'insipid' baddie. But, writes William Boyd, there is plenty to admire in The Man With the Golden Gun
Ian Fleming in his study. Photograph: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS
Goldeneye, Jamaica, February 1964. Ian Fleming, in chronic ill health, his heart condition worsening, is trying to complete what will prove to be his last James Bond novel, The Man With the Golden Gun. He is so unwell he can only manage one hour a day at the typewriter. His wife, Ann – a reluctant companion at Goldeneye – writes to her brother, Hugo Charteris: "It is painful to see Ian struggle to give birth to Bond, and manage but half the typewriter-banging of last year."
Only six months later, in August, Fleming died. The typescript of The Man With the Golden Gun was completed and delivered, but only partially revised. Consequently this last Bond novel may not be in exactly the form that Fleming would have wished – he was a strenuous reworker of his novels, always conscious of the deficiencies of his first drafts, which were written quickly, with dogged and disciplined application, during his two‑month Jamaican sojourns while he escaped the English winter
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Only six months later, in August, Fleming died. The typescript of The Man With the Golden Gun was completed and delivered, but only partially revised. Consequently this last Bond novel may not be in exactly the form that Fleming would have wished – he was a strenuous reworker of his novels, always conscious of the deficiencies of his first drafts, which were written quickly, with dogged and disciplined application, during his two‑month Jamaican sojourns while he escaped the English winterMore
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