Moonraker

by Ian Fleming

Per la seconda parte di questo romanzo, in cui Bond tenta di scongiurare l'attacco nucleare che il diabolico Hugo Drax ha pianificato contro Londra, Fleming aveva fatto ricerche molto accurate, sfruttando la consulenza sia del­l'ente spaziale britannico sia del futuro autore di «2001: Odissea nello spazio» Ar­thur C. Clarke. Per la lunghissima e tormentosa partita a bridge – contro Hugo Drax, naturalmente –, invece, così come per i molti e preziosi dettagli sulla vita notturna londinese, e per la fisionomia della terza Bond Girl della serie, la formidabile Gala Brand, aveva attinto a quella che comunemente si chiama «esperienza personale». Quanto alla routine quotidiana – in origine il libro si intitolava «I lunedì sono un incubo» – e allo stile di vita di Bond a Londra, qui svelati per la prima volta, erano, con pochi ritocchi, gli stessi del suo autore. Il risultato è la storia più complessa e autentica (oltre che più ferocemente inglese) di Fleming, che sulla sua copia personale di «Moonraker» aveva scritto una riga da considerare, come sempre, la miglior guida possibile alla «Ispirato al copione di un film cui ho pensato per molto tempo e alla strada di Dover, su cui ho guidato per anni quando abitavo a St Margaret's Bay».

247 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 16, 2024

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Ian Lancaster Fleming was an English writer, best known for his postwar James Bond series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his father was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Henley from 1910 until his death on the Western Front in 1917. Educated at Eton, Sandhurst, and, briefly, the universities of Munich and Geneva, Fleming moved through several jobs before he started writing.
While working for Britain's Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War, Fleming was involved in planning Operation Goldeneye and in the planning and oversight of two intelligence units: 30 Assault Unit and T-Force. He drew from his wartime service and his career as a journalist for much of the background, detail, and depth of his James Bond novels.
Fleming wrote his first Bond novel, Casino Royale, in 1952, at age 44. It was a success, and three print runs were commissioned to meet the demand. Eleven Bond novels and two collections of short stories followed between 1953 and 1966. The novels centre around James Bond, an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6. Bond is also known by his code number, 007, and was a commander in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. The Bond stories rank among the best-selling series of fictional books of all time, having sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Fleming also wrote the children's story Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang and two works of non-fiction. In 2008, The Times ranked Fleming 14th on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Fleming was married to Ann Fleming. She had divorced her husband, the 2nd Viscount Rothermere, because of her affair with the author. Fleming and Ann had a son, Caspar. Fleming was a heavy smoker and drinker for most of his life and succumbed to heart disease in 1964 at the age of 56. Two of his James Bond books were published posthumously; other writers have since produced Bond novels. Fleming's creation has appeared in film twenty-seven times, portrayed by six actors in the official film series.