Vintage Octopussy and The Living Daylights Book Cover
Ian Fleming’s Octopussy & The Living Daylights, published posthumously in 1966, often finds itself categorized as a novel. However, delving into its pages reveals a different truth. This isn’t a sprawling narrative, nor even a duo of novellas as some might suggest. Instead, it’s a pairing of two substantial short stories, cleverly bound together to extend the lifespan of the James Bond literary franchise and perhaps, generate further revenue.
The original 1966 edition, a slender volume spanning just 95 pages, contained only the titular stories. Later releases broadened its scope with the inclusion of short stories Property of a Lady and 007 in New York. My own copy, a well-loved 1966 hardback, bears the marks of its past life as a library book, stamped with a bold red declaration: SOUTH TYNESIDE LIBRARIES – WITHDRAWN FROM STOCK. But enough of my bookish diversions; let’s turn to the stories themselves.
The first story, Octopussy, is arguably a James Bond story in name only. It centers on Major Dexter Smythe, a disgraced British Army officer haunted by wartime misdeeds. Now living in comfortable exile, his days are a haze of smoking, drinking, and scuba diving, a deliberate defiance of his doctor’s warnings. His secluded existence is disrupted when a Secret Service agent arrives, revealing that his past has caught up with him and demanding his return to face the consequences in Britain.
This agent, predictably, is James Bond. Yet, his presence feels almost incidental to the narrative. He serves primarily as a messenger, informing Major Smythe of his impending reckoning with Her Majesty’s Government. Stripped of context, this agent could easily be any anonymous figure within the Secret Service; the story’s core is the unraveling of Major Smythe’s life, a character study far removed from the typical exploits of a British secret agent with a license to kill. While Octopussy stands as a well-crafted character-driven short story, its connection to the James Bond universe feels tenuous at best. One might suspect Fleming conceived Octopussy independently and later grafted in Bond to enhance its commercial appeal. However, any perceived lack of 007 in the first half is certainly compensated for in the collection’s second offering, The Living Daylights.
The Living Daylights plunges us into a more familiar Bondian scenario. British Intelligence anticipates the defection of a double agent, codenamed Number 272, but fears a Soviet assassination attempt during his crossing from East to West Germany. Bond is tasked by M to act as counter-assassin, eliminating the Soviet gunman before he can strike. Positioned in a hotel room overlooking the border, Bond awaits the opportune moment. In a moment of uncharacteristic distraction, his attention drifts to a female cellist he observes through his sniper scope, a detail that adds an unexpected layer of intrigue.
Fans of the Timothy Dalton era will recognize this plot immediately. The 1987 Bond film, The Living Daylights, directly adapts this short story, expanding upon it and diverging into new storylines. Octopussy too received a cinematic adaptation, but the 1983 Roger Moore film bears little resemblance to Fleming’s original story, borrowing only the title and perhaps a loose connection suggesting Major Dexter Smythe as a potential, albeit significantly altered, precursor to the film’s titular antagonist.
The Living Daylights resonates far more strongly as quintessential James Bond. It encompasses the expected elements: a briefing from M, a high-stakes mission, and a glimpse into 007’s mindset. Even the somewhat unsettling notion of Bond contemplating a visit to a brothel to pass time reveals a darker, more complex facet of the agent. Both stories are undeniably products of their time. Indeed, this 1966 edition of Octopussy employs outdated scuba diving terminology, an aspect that might be revised in contemporary editions. It would be interesting to know if such language nuances have been updated in modern publications.
Octopussy & The Living Daylights is ultimately more of a literary curiosity than a gripping page-turner. It’s easily digestible in a single sitting, perhaps best enjoyed as such. Few would argue for its place among the best Bond novels, and it likely functions more effectively as a short story collection when paired with the additional tales mentioned earlier. It’s certainly worth exploring for Bond aficionados, but it remains a distant entry in the essential James Bond canon.
This edition of ‘Octopussy & The Living Daylights’ was published by Jonathan Cape (1966). Current UK edition published by Vintage Classics.
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