''Octopussy and The Living Daylights'' (sometimes published as ''Octopussy'') is the 14th and final

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

book written by Ian Fleming in the Bond series. The book is a collection of short stories published posthumously in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape on 23 June 1966. The book originally contained two stories, " Octopussy" and " The Living Daylights", with subsequent editions also including " The Property of a Lady" and then " 007 in New York". The stories were first published in different publications, with "Octopussy" first serialised in the '' Daily Express'' in October 1965. "The Living Daylights" had first appeared in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'' on 4 February 1962; "The Property of a Lady" was commissioned by

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

for the 1963 edition of their journal, ''The Ivory Hammer''; while "007 in New York" first appeared in the '' New York Herald Tribune'' in October 1963. The two original stories, "Octopussy" and "The Living Daylights", were both adapted for publication in comic strip format in the ''Daily Express'' in 1966–1967. Elements from the stories have also been used in the

Eon Productions Eon Productions Ltd. is a British film production company that primarily produces the ''James Bond'' film series. The company is based in London's Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the UK. ''Bond'' films Eon was started ...

Bond films. The first, '' Octopussy'', starring Roger Moore as James Bond, was released in 1983 as the 13th film in the series and provided the back story for the film Octopussy's family, while "The Property of a Lady" was more closely adapted for an auction sequence in the film. '' The Living Daylights'', released in 1987, was the 15th Bond film produced by Eon and starred

Timothy Dalton Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett (; born 21 March 1946) is a British actor. Beginning his career on stage, he made his film debut as Philip II of France in the 1968 historical drama '' The Lion in Winter''. He gained international prominence a ...

in his first appearance as Bond. "007 in New York", meanwhile, provided character and plot elements for the first two films starring

Daniel Craig Daniel Wroughton Craig (born 2 March 1968) is an English-American actor who gained international fame playing the secret agent James Bond in the film series, beginning with '' Casino Royale'' (2006) and in four further instalments, up to '' ...

as Bond, '' Casino Royale'' and '' Quantum of Solace''. In 2008, the stories in ''Octopussy and the Living Daylights'' were combined with those of '' For Your Eyes Only'' to form a new

Secret Service operative James Bond, code name 007, is assigned to apprehend a hero of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

implicated in a murder involving a cache of Nazi gold. Bond appears only briefly in this story, which is told mostly in flashback from the perspective of Major Dexter Smythe, the man Bond has been sent to bring in. Smythe remained in Kitzbühel, Austria, after the war, found the gold with the help of a mountain guide, and killed the guide to keep the gold for himself. Bond was put on the case after the guide's body fell out of a glacier, over 15 years after the murder, and he recognised the man as a ski instructor and father figure from his youth. Smythe is now a melancholy alcoholic widower living alone on the beach, interacting mainly with the residents of its coral reef – including the titular Octopussy, a beloved 'pet' octopus that he feeds and talks to. Bond chooses not to take Smythe into custody immediately, but leaves him to contemplate his options – suicide or a

court martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

. While hunting for

scorpion fish The Scorpaenidae (also known as scorpionfish) are a family of mostly marine fish that includes many of the world's most venomous species. As their name suggests, scorpionfish have a type of "sting" in the form of sharp spines coated with venomo ...

to feed Octopussy, Smythe suffers a sting and is dragged underwater by Octopussy as the poison sets in. Bond views the death as a suicide, but classifies it as an accidental drowning in order to spare Smythe's reputation.

"The Living Daylights"

An unusually morose Bond is assigned sniper duty to help British agent 272 escape from East Berlin. Bond's duty is to safeguard his crossing into

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

by eliminating a top

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

assassin Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

codenamed "Trigger", who has been dispatched to kill him. Bond takes up a position on the western edge of the border, in a hotel overlooking the no-man's land of broken, brightly lit ground that 272 will have to cross. On each of three nights, he sees a female orchestra arrive for rehearsal and leave, taking particular notice of a beautiful blonde cellist. Once 272 starts to cross the border, Bond sees Trigger get in position to kill him and realizes that it is the cellist. He adjusts his aim at the last moment and shoots her weapon instead of killing her, allowing 272 to reach safety. Afterward, Bond admits to his spotter that he did not try for a kill shot only because Trigger had been a woman. The spotter is obliged to include this fact in his report, but apologises for having to do so. Bond muses that even though 272 is safe, the mission will be considered a failure because he did not kill Trigger, and he hopes that M will strip him of his 00 number for it.

"The Property of a Lady"

The Secret Service learns that Maria Freudenstein, an employee known to be a double agent working for the Soviet Union, has just received a valuable item of jewelry crafted by Peter Carl Fabergé and is planning to auction it at

. Bond suspects that the resident director of the KGB in London will attend the auction and underbid for the item, to drive the price up to the value needed to pay Maria for her services. Bond attends the auction, spots the man, and leaves to make arrangements for his expulsion from London as '' persona non grata''.

"007 in New York"

A brief tale in which Bond muses about New York City and his favourite recipe for

scrambled eggs Scrambled eggs is a dish made from eggs (usually chicken eggs) stirred, whipped or beaten together while being gently heated, typically with salt, butter, oil and sometimes other ingredients. Preparation Only eggs are necessary to make scramble ...

, he is on a quick mission to the titular city to warn a female

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

employee that her new boyfriend is a KGB agent. It is notable for including a rare humorous conclusion and for its mention of Solange, a young lady of Bond's intimate acquaintance who works in a shop, Abercrombie's, "appropriately employed in their Indoor Games Department".

Characters and themes

The author of the "continuation" Bond stories, Raymond Benson, noted that in "The Living Daylights", Bond's thoughts on killing are examined once again, showing that although 007 did not like doing it, he considered that he must kill as part of his duty to complete an assignment. Once the mission is completed, with Bond deliberately not killing the assassin, an attitude of complacency arises, with Bond shrugging off his colleague's complaints about the incident. Academic Jeremy Black sees the colleague, the officious Captain Sender, as the antithesis of Bond and an echo of Colonel Schreiber, the head of security at

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the military headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) that commands all NATO operations worldwide. ACO's and SHAPE's commander is t ...

, who appeared in "

From a View to a Kill ''For Your Eyes Only'' is a collection of short stories by the British author Ian Fleming, featuring the fictional British Secret Service agent Commander James Bond, the eighth book to feature the character. It was first published by Jonathan ...

". In the act of not killing the assassin, the theme of disobedience is raised in "The Living Daylights", with Bond calling what he has to do "murder" and subsequently dismissing his actions by saying "with any luck it will cost me my Double-0 number". Raymond Benson considered "Octopussy" to be a morality tale, with greed bringing repercussions years later to the main protagonist, Dexter Smythe.

Background

On the morning of 12 August 1964, Fleming died of a heart attack; eight months later, ''The Man with the Golden Gun'' was published. The rights to Fleming's works were held by Glidrose Productions (now Ian Fleming Publications) and the company decided that two short stories, "Octopussy" and "The Living Daylights", would be published in 1966. The story "Octopussy" was written in early 1962 at Fleming's Goldeneye estate in Jamaica. The story is told in the manner of "Quantum of Solace", with Bond as catalyst for story told in flashback, rather than as a main character for action. The topics chosen by Fleming were familiar ground for him to cover, with hidden gold, tropical fish, and the wartime exploits of commandos all coming from elements of his past. Also from the past, or from his acquaintance, were other references used in the story and Miscellaneous Objectives Bureau was a fictional version of Fleming's 30 AU unit. One of Fleming's neighbours in Jamaica, and later his lover, was Blanche Blackwell, mother of Chris Blackwell of Island Records. Fleming had previously used Blackwell's name as the guano-collecting ship in ''Dr. No'', calling it ''Blanche''. Blackwell had given Fleming a

coracle A coracle is a small, rounded, lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales, and also in parts of the West Country and in Ireland, particularly the River Boyne, and in Scotland, particularly the River Spey. The word is also used of ...

called ''Octopussy'', the name of which Fleming used for the story. ''Octopussy'' was posthumously serialised in the '' Daily Express'' newspaper, 4–8 October 1965. Fleming originally titled "The Living Daylights" as "Trigger Finger", although when it first appeared, in ''

'' colour supplement of 4 February 1962, it was under the title of "Berlin Escape". It was also published in the June 1962 issue of the American magazine ''Argosy'' under the same name. For ''The Sunday Times'', Fleming had commissioned

Graham Sutherland Graham Vivian Sutherland (24 August 1903 – 17 February 1980) was a prolific English artist. Notable for his paintings of abstract landscapes and for his portraits of public figures, Sutherland also worked in other media, including printmaking ...

to undertake the artwork to accompany the piece, at a cost of 100

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

, although the artwork was not used in the published edition. As background research to the story, Fleming corresponded with Captain E.K. Le Mesurier, secretary of the National Rifle Association at Bisley for information and to correct some of the more specialist areas of knowledge required for sniper shooting. Part of the background to the plot, of using the noise of the orchestra to cover the crossing over no-man's land, was inspired by

Pat Reid Patrick Robert Reid, (13 November 1910 – 22 May 1990) was a British Army officer and author of history. As a British prisoner of war during the Second World War, he was held captive at Colditz Castle when it was designated Oflag IV-C. Reid wa ...

's escape from Colditz prisoner-of-war camp, with two escapers having to run across a courtyard under the cover of the noise from an orchestra. The conductor of the Colditz orchestra was

Douglas Bader Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, (; 21 February 1910 – 5 September 1982) was a Royal Air Force flying ace during the Second World War. He was credited with 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared p ...

, who played golf with Fleming on a number of occasions. The assassin, Trigger, was partly based on Amaryllis Fleming, Ian's half-sister, a concert cellist with blonde hair, and Fleming managed to get a passing reference to her in the story, saying: "Of course Suggia had managed to look elegant, as did that girl Amaryllis somebody." "Property of a Lady", which was written in early 1963, was commissioned by Sotheby's for use in their annual journal, ''The Ivory Hammer'', and was published in November 1963 and later in ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

''; Sotheby's chairman Peter Wilson is mentioned by name in the story. Fleming was so unhappy with the final piece, he wrote to Wilson and refused payment for something he considered so lacklustre. In 1959, Fleming was commissioned by ''The Sunday Times'' to write a series of articles based on world cities, material for which later was collected into a book entitled '' Thrilling Cities''; while travelling through New York for material, Fleming wrote "007 in New York" from Bond's point of view. "007 in New York" was originally titled "Reflections in a Carey Cadillac" and it contains a recipe for scrambled eggs, which came from May Maxwell, the housekeeper to friend Ivar Bryce, who gave her name to Bond's own housekeeper, May. The story was first published in the '' New York Herald Tribune'' in October 1963 as "Agent 007 in New York", but was subsequently renamed as "007 in New York" for the 1964 US editions of ''Thrilling Cities''.

Release and reception

''Octopussy and The Living Daylights'' was published in Britain on 23 June 1966 by Jonathan Cape and cost 10s.6d. The hardback edition of the book contained only the two stories mentioned in the title, although when the paperbacks editions were published, "The Property of a Lady" was also included. Once again, artist Richard Chopping provided the cover art, although his fee rose, to 350

. The book was published in US by

New American Library The New American Library (also known as NAL) is an American publisher based in New York, founded in 1948. Its initial focus was affordable paperback reprints of classics and scholarly works as well as popular and pulp fiction, but it now publish ...

with illustrations from Paul Bacon. By 2002, "007 in New York" had been added to the book by

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Philip Larkin Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, ''The North Ship'', was published in 1945, followed by two novels, ''Jill'' (1946) and ''A Girl in Winter'' (1947 ...

wrote in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'', "I am not surprised that Fleming preferred to write novels. James Bond, unlike Sherlock Holmes, does not fit snugly into the short-story length: there is something grandiose and intercontinental about his adventures that require elbow room and such examples of the form as we have tend to be eccentric or muted. These are no exception." The critic for ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'' wrote that the book was "slight and predictable, and usual sex and violence yield to a plausible use of ballistics and marine biology". Writing in ''The Listener'',

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his dystopian satire ''A Clockwork ...

thought that "in their fascinated poring on ''things''...remind us that the stuff of the anti-novel needn't necessarily spring from a thought-out aesthetic", going on to note that "it is the mastery of the world that gives Fleming his peculiar literary niche". On a personal note, Burgess added "I admired all the Bond books and I'm sorry there'll be no more. A sad farewell to Fleming".

Adaptations

;Comic strip adaptation (1966–1967) Two of the short stories were adapted for publication in comic-strip format, which were published daily in the '' Daily Express'' newspaper and syndicated worldwide. ''The Living Daylights'' ran from 12 September to 12 November 1966, adapted by Jim Lawrence and illustrated by Yaroslav Horak; the same pair also worked on ''Octopussy'', which ran from 14 November 1966 to 27 May 1967. The story lines for the strips were altered from the original Fleming version to ensure that they contained a glamorous reason for being Bond involved and to include Bond in action. The strips were reprinted by

Titan Books Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of Titan Entertainment Group, which was established in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cinema reference books; and graphic novels and c ...

in 1988 and then again in ''The James Bond Omnibus Vol. 2'', published in 2011. ;''Octopussy'' (1983) In 1983,

loosely adapted elements of two of the stories, "Octopussy" and "The Property of a Lady" for the

13th In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave pl ...

film in their Bond series, starring Roger Moore as Bond. "Octopussy" provided the title of the film and the background for the character Octopussy, the daughter of a character Bond had allowed to commit suicide, rather than face the shame of arrest and imprisonment. The film also used the plot device of auctioning of a

Fabergé egg A Fabergé egg (russian: link=no, яйцо Фаберже́, translit=yaytso Faberzhe) is a jewelled egg created by the jewellery firm House of Fabergé, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. As many as 69 were created, of which 57 survive today. Virtua ...

at Sotheby's from "The Property of a Lady", and as with the story, the auction item was described as being the same "property of a lady". ;''The Living Daylights'' (1987) In 1987, Eon used the plot of "The Living Daylights", almost unchanged, for a section of their 1987 film of the same name. The film starred

in his first role as Bond, whilst the character of Trigger became that of cello player Kara Milovy. ;''Casino Royale'' (2006) In 2006, Eon used the plot of Fleming's first novel, ''Casino Royale'', for its 21st film of the same name. However, a main character was named Solange, after the woman featured in "007 in New York". ;''Quantum of Solace'' (2008) In 2008, Eon used the basic premise from the short story "007 in New York" as part of the film ''Quantum of Solace'', specifically its epilogue, in which Bond warns a female intelligence employee that her boyfriend is an enemy agent. ;''Spectre'' (2015) In '' Spectre'', Hans Oberhauser, a background character in "Octopussy", is revealed to be the father of

Ernst Stavro Blofeld Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a character (arts), fictional character and villain from the James Bond series of novels and films, created by Ian Fleming. A criminal mastermind with aspirations of world domination, he is the archenemy of the Secret In ...

and a former caretaker of Bond in his youth. The film strongly hinted that Blofeld killed Oberhauser because he felt that Oberhauser loved Bond more than he loved his own son.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * *

External links

* * *
Ian Fleming Bibliography
of James Bond 1st Editions {{DEFAULTSORT:Octopussy and The Living Daylights 1966 short story collections Books published posthumously James Bond books Jonathan Cape books Octopussy Short story collections by Ian Fleming The Living Daylights Thriller short story collections