Diamonds Are Forever (novel)
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For other uses, see Diamonds Are Forever.
| Diamonds Are Forever | |
 First edition cover. |
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| Author | Ian Fleming |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Pat Marriott |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | James Bond |
| Genre(s) | Spy novel |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
| Publication date | 26 March 1956 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| ISBN | NA |
| Preceded by | Moonraker |
| Followed by | From Russia with Love |
Diamonds Are Forever is the fourth novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series. It was first published by Jonathan Cape on March 26, 1956.[1]
In 1971 it became the seventh film in the EON Productions film franchise and the last film in that series to star Sean Connery as James Bond. It was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman.
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[edit] Plot summary
The novel takes place just over two months from the end of Moonraker, which ended with James Bond taking a short holiday in France to recover from injuries received on that assignment. When Diamonds Are Forever begins, M, acting on information received from Special Branch, tasks Bond to infiltrate a smuggling ring, which is running diamonds from African mines to the United States. Bond's job is to travel down the "pipeline" as far as he can and find out who is behind it all.
Using the identity of Peter Franks, a country house burgular who decided to become diamond smuggler, he meets a mysterious "go-between" named Tiffany Case, with whom he eventually falls in love. Bond discovers that the smuggling ring is operated by a ruthless American gang called "The Spangled Mob", which is run by the brothers Jack Spang and Seraffimo Spang. Also part of the Spangled Mob are the 'torpedoes' Wint and Kidd who, along with Tiffany and certain parts of how the smuggling pipeline works, are the only things retained for the film.
As Bond learns, the pipeline begins in Africa where a dentist would pay miners to smuggle diamonds in their mouths which the dentist would extract during a routine appointment. From there the dentist would take the diamonds and rendezvous with a German pilot who would transport the diamonds to London via helicopter. In London, Tiffany would get an assignment from a phone contact only known as ABC, she would then meet with "the hire" (in this case, Bond masquerading as Peter Franks) and explain to that person how to smuggle the diamonds to New York City. After an attempt to pay Bond surreptitiously through a rigged horse race in nearby Saratoga fails, the pipeline leads to Las Vegas where Bond finally receives his payment through a rigged blackjack game. Seraffimo Spang owns the Tiara hotel, headquarters of the Spangled Mob, and an old Western ghost town, named "Spectreville", that he has restored into his own private vacation retreat. (Spectreville actually has no connection whatsoever to Bond's nemesis SPECTRE, which appears later in Thunderball and is established at the start of the James Bond film series in Dr. No).
Felix Leiter plays a major part in the story, assisting Bond with inside information on crooked horse racing. They find that they are both investigating the same people. Leiter has left the CIA due to injuries sustained in Live and Let Die and is working for Pinkerton's as a private detective. It is through Leiter's actions they make sure the rigged horse race plot fails, so that Bond can then demand his still outstanding payment from the Spangled Mob.
But Spang suspects that Bond may be a 'plant' and has him captured and tortured. Assisted by Tiffany and Leiter, he escapes from Specterville aboard a railroad pushcar with Seraffimo in pursuit aboard an old Western train. The diamond train is rerouted to a side line and Bond shoot Saraffimo Spang before the resulting crash.
Bond and Tiffany then travel back to London aboard the Queen Elizabeth. However, Wint & Kidd kidnap Tiffany, planning to kill her and throw her overboard, but Bond kills them both with his pistol during her rescue.
Later, Jack Spang (who turns out to be the mysterious ABC) shuts down his diamond smuggling pipeline by killing its participants. He, himself, is killed when his helicopter is shot down by Bond, right where the story started out, in Africa.
[edit] Characters
- James Bond
- Tiffany Case: A diamond smuggler who is gang-raped as a teenager and, as a result, has developed an antipathy towards men.[2] But despite this, she falls in love with Bond and after living in, leaves him in From Russia With Love.[3]
[edit] Adaptations
In 1971 the novel was adapted into a film starring Sean Connery as Bond. It had little in common with the novel, with the most notable difference being Ernst Stavro Blofeld as the villain, instead of the Spang brothers. While the book featured a straight-forward diamond smuggling plot, the film featured the diamonds being used in a laser satellite. Though many of the book's character's appear in the film (including Tiffany Case, Felix Leiter, and Shady Tree) they often have little in common with their screen counterparts besides their names.
Fleming's original novel was adapted as a daily comic strip which was published in the British Daily Express newspaper and syndicated around the world. The adaptation ran from August 10, 1959 to January 30, 1960. The adaptation was written by Henry Gammidge and illustrated by John McLusky. The James Bond 007 Fan Club published a reprint of the strip in 1981. Diamonds Are Forever was published again in 2005 as part of the Dr. No anthology by Titan Books.
[edit] Related works
Diamond smuggling was a topic of great interest to author Ian Fleming. In 1957 Fleming wrote a non-fiction book on the subject, titled The Diamond Smugglers, which was published in the same format as his Bond novels and, as a result, is often erroneously listed as a Bond book.
Additionally, an aborted commissioned novel, Per Fine Ounce by author Geoffrey Jenkins was to be the first James Bond continuation novel. The book was completed circa 1966, but was never published. Claims have been made, notably by Andy Lane and Paul Simpson in their book The Bond Files, that the subject of Per Fine Ounce dealt with diamond smuggling.
[edit] Publication history
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Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (August 2007) |
[edit] References
- ^ MI6 :: The Home Of James Bond 007
- ^ Fleming, Ian (1956). "ch. 8", Diamonds Are Forever. MacMillan.
- ^ Fleming, Ian (1957). "ch. 11, 12", From Russia, With Love. MacMillan.
[edit] External links
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Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (August 2007) |
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