The Life of Ian Fleming

This is flat out a brilliant book. The life of Ian Fleming reads like a... Dare I say " James Bond novel." What a story. To see how many of Flemings real life experiences formed the greatest cinema hero of all time is fascinating reading. So many incredible twists of fate and living as a man of his times created our beloved 007. As a value - 2 dollars and change on kindle takes this book for me to the top of the charts. Epic story. Epic character. Great Read!

John Pearson worked with Ian Fleming, the dashing creator of James Bond, as an assistant when Fleming was writing a column for a British paper in the early sixties. The James Bond movies had finally taken off and Fleming was able to enjoy just a taste of the fabulous success which to this day has not flagged a whit fifty years later.When Ian Fleming died of poor health and a weak heart in 1964, Pearson decided to write his biography, and did so, drawing upon not only his personal memories and observations, but the timely interviews of dozens of the players in Fleming's life and career. The result, "The Life of Ian Fleming," published in 1966, is a perfect study of a man, his life, and his work. Long out of print, it has been revived due to the astonishing success of James Bond and the ever growing interesting in his creator, and at $2.99 for a Kindle edition, how can you go wrong?Was Ian Fleming a great writer, or even a master of the spy genre? I have to say no, he wasn't. The Bond books are simple, almost crude, and James Bond is barely given a real presence, (Fleming himself worried about that) but remains through every book as a two dimensional figure. If not for the overlaying presence of Sean Connery (or pick your own favorite Bond) the books would be outdated and out of print long ago.However, what Ian Fleming did possess was the imagination, style, and experience, to not only create James Bond, but to lay out the basic guidelines for a successful James Bond experience. As complicated and technologically outrageous as the films have become, they have remained true at their core to the essence of the Bond books. Ian Fleming lives on, not only in the Bond movies, but in the myriad movie and television hybrids inspired by his creation.Popular myth has it that Ian Fleming--itself as fantastic and romantic a name as James Bond--was a "spy" during the second world war and used his wartime experiences in his writing. Well, yes and no, and mainly no. But I'll let John Pearson tell the story himself, which he does in great detail. Ian Fleming's life turns out to be interesting and intriguing, and the man himself as much a character as his famous creation.Ironically, I give this book four stars instead of five only because it really did its job TOO well. There was far more information on Ian Fleming that I feel is necessary for me to absorb. Not to say that the next reader won't absorb it all greedily, but a book half the size of this and with half the information would have been about the right size for my taste and interest.I will point out that it is important always to research, find, write about and publish all that can be obtained about public figures, and it is best to let the reader pick and choose what is important, rather than assume to edit a public life down to a wikipedia entry. The more information the merrier! So good work, John Pearson, and well done. I heartily recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Bond and his creator, the suave and illusive Ian Fleming.

Once I started reading this account I could not put it down! A thorough examination of the man, soldier, writer, and husband. I recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of the Bond franchise or good writing. Very entertaining!

Fantastic book! Even being a little dated (I purchased a used first edition copy) made it an even more enjoyable read! So, make a Vesper Martini, put on a Gieves & Hawkes smoking jacket, put a triple gold band Morland in your cigarette holder and sink into your favorite leather chair and delve into 'The Life Of Ian Fleming' by John Pearson!

Ian Fleming was no Sean Connery but Sean Connery couldn't write either. Pretty good bio of a very, very strange man. Ian went his own way and I admire that. Couldn't say much about his character but he did enough in his lifetime that someone should write a book about him....oh, wait a minute John Pearson did and he did a bang up job of it. One of the better biographies that I have read and that's saying some. Worth the money.

Until the publication of Lycett's Ian Fleming, this John Pearson biography was the most definitive biography of Ian Fleming available. It is unfortunate that Pearson knew Fleming personally and whitewashed aspects of Fleming's life, because this book remains by far the most readable work available on Fleming.Fleming's life was actually quite boring. Another Amazon reviewer is accurate when he says that Fleming was too involved with womanizing and high living to have led a really interesting life. Most of the facts are to do with betrayals, failures in business, law-suits, and other tedious matters. So Pearson arranged his book partly chronologically, but also partly thematically, in order to show how Fleming's life influenced the content of the James Bond novels. This is a good writing strategy, and Pearson manages to make a pretty humdrum life of desk journalism, gin and golf seem interesting. From the perspective of readability, this book is head and shoulders above the Lycett biography.What you miss in Pearson are the less savory aspects of Fleming's life. For example, in his chapter called "Marriage," Pearson makes it appear as though Fleming and his wife were old friends who fell in love when Fleming comforted her after she had surgery and who eventually were drawn together despite his wife's marriage to another man, Rothermere. In fact, as we learn from Lycett, Fleming's wife was carrying on all along with both Fleming and Rothermere even while previously married to a third man, and Fleming's marriage had more to do with an illegitimate pregnancy. However, Pearson doesn't lie, he just draw's the reader's attention away by jumbling timelines. It is entirely possible to read this biography without getting a "wrong" picture of Fleming's life.In fact, Pearson does a much better job than Lycett of giving an impression of the total personality. My sense is that Fleming had many things in common with those who have Attention Deficit Disorder, but this is much more clear in Pearson. By highlighting themes such as the importance to Fleming of establishing routine in his life, Pearson gets much closer to revealing a whole person, rather than the simple alcoholic sadist that Lycett writes about.On the whole, I feel this is an excellent introduction to Ian Fleming for James Bond 007 fans. And for those who aren't 007 fans, why would you want to read about Ian Fleming? This 1967 paperback edition of Pearson's book has very small print very close to the margins and contains no photographs. A current reprint of the book is now available in hardcover, called The Life of Ian Fleming, but I don't know if it may have been revised.

Intriguing, bought to fill some vacation time. Very pleased with my purchase, this is an interesting account for someone wanting to delve into Fleming's inspiration and his early career prior to writing the Bond books. Key names that recur in the Bond films as characters (or film titles ) take on new meaning now. I liked the descriptions of Fleming's hideaway retreat in the Caribbean, and it was interesting to see that up to the end of his life, people were utterly fascinated by and devoted to him. Much like the fictional Bond.

Ian Fleming war in WWII für den britischen Geheimdienst tätig. Er war weder in der Schule noch beim Militär besonders erfolgreich, hatte aber ein Talent für Sprachen. Außerdem liebte er die Frauen. Sogar die anderer Männer ...Im Geheimdienst schien er seine Berufung gefunden zu haben. Er kannte die Tricks, und deswegen sind die Romane mit James Bond an einigen Stellen durchaus authentisch.G E THALLER

A fascinating account of Fleming's life: bit like a Bond Novel. Fleming attended Eton with his elder brother but developed something of an attitude, excelling at athletics and truancy, finally leaving under a cloud. No University yet, but a spell at Sandhurst where he hated the discipline and resigned after a year. Private tuition in Austria followed, where he learned to ski, had a good time and treated the local girls with the same casualness as James Bond.Ian flunked a Foreign Office exam but did report freelance for Reuters on the mid 30's Moscow industrial spy trials. Then a period in London when the club life developed and finally his contacts allowed him entry to the Intelligence Service at the start of the war. After WWII he write the Bond books.Well written and researched, easy to read, holds your interest.

having just seen a TV series on Ian Fleming I decided to download the kindle copy of this book.Very interesting.I enjoyed every word of it.Mr Fleming was avery interesting man.Now I must read the Bond books if available.

An enjoyable read. Contains a great deal of insight into the world and psyche of James Bond's creator in relatively broad strokes by an author who knew Ian Fleming personally. Entertaining and amusing in places and as with a lot of books perhaps a bit 'dry' in others.Fleming lead a very active and interesting life but seems was never completely satisfied or ever quite reaped the full fruits of his labours. Even though Bond was clearly not completely based on any one real-life individual (such as Ian Fleming himself or WWII operatives such as Forest Yeo Thomas) I'm of the view that when Fleming died the literary James Bond died with him. Ian seems to have been a strong character in some ways. Set backs such as a plagiarism law suit and increasing health problems did not prevent him from writing some of the finest instalments in the series, i.e. On Her Majesty's Secret Service and You Only Live Twice.