Ian Fleming Publications, in a statement issued Feb. 27, said alterations in new editions of the author’s stories are “something Ian Fleming would have wanted.”
IFP specifically said changes to Live And Let Die, the second Bond novel, were in line with changes made in the original 1950s U.S. edition.
“We consulted with a number of external parties but ultimately decided that, rather than making changes in line with their advice, it was instead most appropriate to look for guidance from the author himself,” IFP said.
Live And Let Die, featuring a Black villain with part of the story taking place in New York City’s Harlem, has various racial issues. The title of chapter five in the original British edition contains the n-word. It was changed to “Seventh Avenue” in the U.S. edition.
“The original U.S. version of Live And Let Die, approved and apparently favored by Ian, had removed some racial terms which were problematic even in mid-1950s America, and would certainly be considered deeply offensive now by the vast majority of readers,” IFP said.
IFP said it would apply similar standards to other Fleming stories.
“We thus decided to apply the sensibilities of the original U.S. edition of Live And Let Die consistently across all the texts,” IFP said. Racial words “likely to cause great offense now, and detract from a reader’s enjoyment, have been altered, while keeping as close as possible to the original text and period.”
IFP said changes are “very small in number.” Some books, including Casino Royale, Fleming’s first novel, have not been changed.
IFP has taken over the publishing of Fleming novels and short stories. New e-books are out now and new paperbacks are to be issued in April for the 70th anniversary of the publication of Casino Royale.
Fleming’s “books deserve to be read and enjoyed as much now as when they were written,” IFP said. “We believe the new Bond editions will extend their pleasure to new audiences.”
UPDATE: Andrew Lycett, a biographer of Ian Fleming, weighed in via a commentary in The Independent.
“I feel strongly that what an author commits to paper is sacrosanct and shouldn’t be altered,” Lycett wrote. “It stands as evidence of that writer’s – and society’s – attitudes at a particular moment in time, whether it’s by Shakespeare, Dickens, or Ian Fleming.
“But there’s no way Bond’s character in the Fleming books can be modified to make him politically correct. Fleming created a sexist, often sadistic, killer, with anachronistic attitudes to homosexuals, and to a range of people of different nationalities. These stand as evidence of how Britons (or at least some of them) thought at a particular moment in time.”
Filed under: James Bond Books | Tagged: Andrew Lycett, Casino Royale, Ian Fleming, Ian Fleming Publications, Live and Let Die |
The Spy Command 
I’m sure Ian would have loved to have his book titles, text and movies worked over… Hmmm. New titles…except the first three letters of the word titles will have to go, too. Can’t have tits anywhere… Octopussy = Octomewmew Man with the Golden Gun = HimHe with the Colorful Firearm Goldfinger = Metallic Digit Ahhhh yes… The Spy Who Loved Me = The Activist who Appeared to Adore Me
My 1973 Pan film-poster-cover paperback edition of Live And Let Die has chapter 5 listed as N-word Heaven. So Fleming’s supposed “this is what he would have wanted” didn’t apply 9 years after his death with this printing, purchased in Toronto. This edition, although sold in Canada, was published and printed in Great Britain. Canada apparently got the UK printings and not whatever was being served up for the U.S. market. I understand why – Commonwealth and such – but it’s still whacked as Toronto circa 1973 had far more cultural affinity with big east-coast American cities than it did with any burb in Britain, so ideally we should have got the same versions as NYC or Detroit etc. If indeed the U.S. market did get altered versions (supposedly according to Ian’s wishes of course (eye roll)) I guess I should feel offended that our Canadian sensibilities got lumped in with those of Brit readers located away across a vast ocean, rather than with American neighbors, just a short drive away. But this discrepancy does at least illustrate how how farcical such sentiments were even then. I don’t know what was actually published stateside when Fleming was alive, but my sense is that he would have played along with whatever the deep-thinkers of the day thought would max out sales. Fleming was most interested in getting books to market.
Back to the present, IFP is being disengenuous. They are misrepresenting the long deceased author, in order to rationalize their own butt-covering and cave-in to woke-mob pressure, real or imagined. Yawn. Good news though, is that those of us with authentic Fleming editions now have added value. If IFP is to act with integrity (which is a big if) there will be prominent disclaimers displayed on the front covers of all newly “adjusted” printings. This would naturally tank sales and prompt searches for uncensored printings of the author’s famous works, so don’t hold your breath. But anything less would be a slight to the author. But as we see, they instead contrive the long departed Fleming to be actually on board. Ain’t woke wonderful.
We know what’s coming next – more sensitive versions of the films! This is a lock, when you consider there are actually well-voiced Bond fans, who should know better, who have been hoodwinked into believing Bond’s on-screen seductions of both Pussy Galore and Pat Fearing were somehow rapey, when anyone actually paying attention, understands the girls were essentially saying “well played”. Film audiences for decades have understood this as did the actresses in question.
So hang on to your Eon originals!
Mind you I could care less what alterations were made to anything from the Craig oeuvre. Those films about the Bond whose 00 number is re-assigned AND gets killed in action aren’t worth preserving.
IFP is being savaged in the comments of it’s Instagram page. Over 80 comments, almost 100 % very passionately against the rewrites. No need really to comment there. The Bond fans that have already, have done a great job. You could just scroll the comments and “❤” what’s already there.
Does Eon ie Barbara have control of IFP?That would explain a lot. If so, that’s just further indication that Bond, both books and films, is truly dead until she moves on.
Someone there mentioned that a petition exists. Will have to find that.
Tom Cruise and the MI bunch, must be howling at the destruction the Bond franchise is wreaking upon itself.
To clarify, the 70th anniversary reissue will be altered for both UK and US releases?
IFP claims that “from his letters, it seems Fleming preferred the amended US version.”
Here’s a letter Fleming sent to his American literary agent Naomi Burton in May 1955, which was reprinted in Chapter 19 of Pearson’s biography:
“By the way and sucks to you, I had a drink with Raymond Chandler last night and he said that the best bit of Live and Let Die was the conversation between the two negroes in Harlem, which he said was dead accurate. Perhaps you remember that you nearly sneered me into cutting it out on grounds that ‘Negroes don’t talk like that.'”
Chandler’s copy of LALD came directly from Fleming, so it was the British version. And the conversation alluded to was cut from the American edition. If Burton didn’t succeed in pressuring Fleming to cut the it, Al Hart did. In any case, the letter makes clear that Fleming was proud of the scene and did NOT prefer this edit to the original British version.
If Fleming preferred the American edits, why didn’t he incorporate them into the British reprints? He had many opportunities to do so, especially after the books became best-sellers.
And yet the only edit Fleming made to the British version of LALD was a factual correction regarding a perfume manufacturer. So Fleming had the opportunity to incorporate the rest of the American edits into the “home” version of LALD but chose not to.
It’s clear that Fleming was eager to break into the American market and agreed to any edits suggested by American editors. That’s why the first American paperback edition of Casino Royale was retitled You Asked For It, and Moonraker was christened Too Hot to Handle. Fleming approved of those changes too. Does anyone regard them as definitive?
And it’s not just LALD that’s being edited. So are DN, GF, TB, FYEO and presumably more. The only book confirmed untouched is CR.
Removing offensive material from Fleming is like closing the barn door 60 years after the horse left. First-time readers will get a distorted version of the books, and they’ll likely feel betrayed after learning they’d read a censored version that gave a dishonestly innocuous version of Fleming’s racial attitudes.
It’s pointless to censor the books and pretend they don’t have racist passages. Who’s going to be fooled by this, when the original texts have been circulating for more than 60 years and will continue to do so in used bookshops and online? Anyone who comes away from the new editions thinking the Bond books don’t have offensive passages will quickly be disabused by reality (and a quick look at the internet). The project is incredibly patronizing to any intelligent reader.
What IFP seems to be doing is “protecting the brand” by sanitizing its mass market editions. I’ve heard it plans to release deluxe hardcovers with the original text, presumably meant for well-heeled collectors rather than the general public. If so, this sort of cynical marketing makes one regret the books ever “came home.”
The comments are interesting as is the subject itself.
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