From Thunderball to coloring books

Inspired by JFK’s endorsement, I read all Ian Fleming’s Bond books when I was a teenager. Recently I read a book of Fleming’s letters written contemporaneously with the publication of each Bond book. It fascinated me to learn about how uncertain Fleming was about 007, about how much advice he required, about how much support he needed to flesh out the details about the cars, locations, plants and animals he included in his books.

Concurrent with reading Fleming’s letters, I decided to read one of my favorite Bond books – Thunderball, the ninth of the 13 Fleming published. I was amazed at how thin it is, how flimsy the plot, how bare the dialogue, how one-dimensional the characters. It took Fleming just two months to write each of his books; he would retire to Goldeneye, his home in Jamaica, and write them each year in January and February.

Fleming’s formula was simple: An evil character threatens the world through some form of technology and Bond – at considerable risk to himself – uses his wile and physical talents to defeat him. And of course he gets the girl. While the books are set in different locations and the bad guys and weapons vary, the bones are identical. But the stories carry little suspense – they’re predictably pure escapism, paint by numbers.

Speaking of which--I recently noticed my son and his friends – all twentysomethings – spending considerable time with adult coloring books marketed, according to CNN, “to stressed-out, work-addled adults, who want to benefit from the quiet zen that a coloring session can bring.” Several coloring books even sit among the top ten Amazon best sellers.

By today’s standards Fleming’s Bond series are barely comic books, but they mutated and evolved to become the foundation of a giant book and movie business and icons of our culture.

Maybe adult coloring books will follow a similar path – increasingly complex patterns, the leap to apps, and finally “Coloring Book – The Movie.” In 3-D.