Fleming`s 128 page notebook contained his personal and creative thoughts, details of proposed Bond exploits and even brief outlines of plots that he had prepared for future use. The notes themselves were either typed or jotted down, sometimes under such headers as “people”, or “crime” or even “food”.
In February 1964, shortly before Fleming died, he allowed a reporter from the Daily Expressto have a look. The reporter copied several entries:
“There was a notation of the name “Mr. Szasz,” which Fleming thought would be ideal for a villain. He had somehow come across the Bulgar proverb “My Enemy`s Enemy (is my friend),” and if he had lived, it would probably have turned up on the lips of some inscrutable villain.” (Quoting from Henry Ziegler`s The Spy Who Came In With The Gold)
Many of Fleming`s later titles feature pronouns, i.e. For *YOUR* Eyes Only, The Spy Who Loved *ME*, On *HER* Majesty`s Secret Service, *YOU* Only Live Twice, so it`s possible that “My Enemy`s Enemy” was a prospective title. Kingsley Amis had previously used it for a short story, and this may have been Fleming`s way of repaying Amis`s literary respect.
Fleming had also outlined prospective Bond work(s):
“Bond, as a double agent, has to shoot his own assistant in order to keep his cover…”
“A battle under Niagara Falls”
Some of the ideas even had a touch of Hitchcock:
“A masquerade ball in which the benign clown is the Russian killer and the crowd thinks that a real fight is part of the buffoonery.” (Which satisfies those of us who believed that the political 1983 film Octopussy was Fleming-like.)
“Fight in a fun fair with a man on the rollercoaster being shot at by another on the Big Wheel.”
The notebook shows that Fleming first came up with the name “Blofeld” for a villain in 1958, thereby disproving Kevin McClory`s claim to have invented the character. Elsewhere Fleming writes that the Japanese word for “top secret” is gokuhi, which translated into English means You Only Live Twice.
The notebook also features descriptions, which Fleming admirers will immediately recognize:
Kamagra Fizz This is the effervescent form of Kamagra and is taken by mixing it in a glass of water. ED or erectile dysfunction has become the most popular all over the world. cialis line order This pill has proven to be effective in keeping cardiovascular system healthy, which is essential for addressing almost any disorder. And this is http://cute-n-tiny.com/cute-animals/elke-the-baby-francois-langur-monkey/ purchase levitra only achieved when you have the ability to achieve and sustain an erection during sexual intercourse. “She had a blunt, short-lipped mouth, proud like a half-healed wound.”
“You won`t have a lover if you don`t love,” presumably spoken by a future heroine.
“Most people are unconcious up to 17, dreaming until 25, awake to 39, mad after 40, dead after 60.”
There are florid, almost laughable passages, yet Fleming`s aplomb just about saves them: “Pain is a private address. Only those who have been that way before know the unlisted number.”
Fleming even contemplated branching out from Bond. The book contains a synopsis for what might have been another Quantam of Solace style story: A story of revenge is contained in a sample nutshell synopsis: “Millionaire wants baby. Kidnaps girl. Rapes her. Keeps her prisoner until baby is born. Makes huge settlement on baby. She signs. He throws her out. She gets her revenge by proving the baby started a week before he kidnapped her.”
Fleming intended to expand the Octopussy collection with at least two other stories that he was at work on shortly before he died. In the first, Bond met the real-life card dealer, whom Fleming had met:
…”It was like this, Mr Bond.” Zographos had a precise way of speaking with the thin tips of his lips while his half-hard half-soft Greek eyes measured the reaction of his words on the listener… “The Russians are chess players. They are mathematicians. Cold machines. But they are also mad. The mad ones forsake the chess and the mathematics and become gamblers. Now, Mr Bond.” Zographos laid a hand on Bond`s sleeve and quickly withdrew it because he knew Englishmen, just as he knew the characteristics of every race, every race with money, in the world. “There are two gamblers… the man who lays the odds and the man who accepts them. The bookmaker and the punter. The casino and, if you like” – Mr Zographos`s smile was sly with the “shared secret” and proud with the right word – “The suckers.”
Fleming never got beyond the first page and a half.
From the second story:
In the early morning, at about 7.30, the stringy whimperings of the piped radio brought visions of a million homes waking up all over Britain… of him, or perhaps her, getting up to make the early morning tea, to put the dog out, to stoke the boiler. And then will this shirt do for another day? The socks, the paints? The Ever-ready, the Gillette shave, the Brylcreem on the hair, the bowler hat or the homburg, the umbrella and the briefcase or the sample case?
Then “Dodo”, the family saloon out on the concrete arterial, probably with her driving. The red-brick station, the other husbands, the other wives, the clickety-click of the 8.15 round the curve by the gold course. Hullo Sidney! Hullo Arthur! After you Mr Shacker… and the drab life picking up speed and flicking on up the rails between the conifers and the damp evergreens. Bond switched on his electric blanket and waited for his hot water with a slice of lemon and contemplated the world with horror and disgust.
Ian Fleming`s step-daughter, Fionn O`Neill, who owned the manuscript, sold it at Sotheby`s in December 1992 in part to benefit the London Library. Ian Fleming`s nephew and nieces, Nichol, Kate and Lucy bought the work for far less than the estimated 30,000 pounds some had thought it would sell for.