Thrilling Cities

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Having made my way through a couple of his excellent and headily indulgent James Bond novels, I was tempted to read what Ian Fleming, a compellingly stylish, even subversive master of brainy pulp had to tell about his globe-trotting exploits in some of the world's most exciting and enigmatic cities. I was expecting only love or wide-eyed admiration because that is what marks his nuanced and wonderful portrayals of the zingy hotspots in each of his James Bond adventures. But 'Thrilling Cities' is thrilling travel writing, not just for the candor but also the cutting and razor-sharp observations and reflections that he lends to each place he lands in. Fleming is surprised that such a frivolous and beautiful country as Vienna has an international body that helps less advanced countries in developing atomic energy. The book is a collection of articles originally written for the London Sunday Times examining 13 cities throughout the world based on two trips Fleming took between 1959 and 1960. As Fleming states in the opening of the book, the idea originated in October 1959 when Sunday Times features and literary editor Leonard Russell suggested that he should make a ’round trip of the most exciting cities in the world and describe them in beautiful, beautiful prose.’

Discover more hotels in the Cotswolds Gaudí’s Casa Battlo in Barcelona (Alamy) 5. Barcelona & Matarraña, Spain Where to stay Among the best of those farmhouse-set spa hotels is Babylonstoren*, near Franschhoek. Plumly positioned on Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront, the Victoria & Alfred Hotel* provides fine Table Mountain views. Fleming planned to drive most of his second tour of cities, which concentrated on places he wanted to visit in Europe. [16] For the trip he took his own car, a Ford Thunderbird convertible, crossing the channel and journeying through Ostend, Antwerp and Bremen before arriving at his first destination: Hamburg. [16] He stayed only briefly in the city, praising the sex industry by writing "how very different from the prudish and hypocritical manner in which we so disgracefully mismanage these things in England". [17] Fleming moved on to Berlin, where he was shown round the city by The Sunday Times correspondent Anthony Terry and his wife Rachel. Terry took Fleming into East Berlin and told him many of the details about Operation Stopwatch, the Anglo-American attempt to tunnel into the Soviet-occupied zone to tap into landline communication of the Soviet Army headquarters. [17] In comparison to Hamburg, Fleming thought Berlin was "sinister". [18] This is a book that is a collection of newspaper pieces written before I was born, by someone who died before my 3rd birthday about places that probably aren't there anymore or if they are certainly aren't the insanely low prices he quotes in the articles.That apart, what makes this book entertaining is that Fleming seems to have been a completely louche character who, in the cities he visits, seeks out casinos, bars, nightclubs etc, as well as meeting up with his celebrity friends or, wherever possible, people who can give him an insight into the local crime scene. At the beginning he describes himself as “the world’s worst sightseer” adding that “I have always advocated the provision of roller skates at the main doors of art galleries and museums”.

Accaptivating title, but the inside is a complete whine about how much he was "forced" to write this book and he didn't enjoy quite a lot of cities. (Even if, on the author's note at the end of the book, he declares he actually did.) Here are some quotes. I won't say they're the best, just a few I grabbed from the online text to show his style.

UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth . Retrieved 11 June 2022. Things he loathed (spoiler: they're a lot): people who talk to him during travels, communism/communists, many genres of music (jazz and gypsy music above all), "boring" museums, winter, humid weather, hot climate, horses, Hawaiaan, people who don't wear/act their age (?), Hitler (yeah we do agree on this), Le Corbusier, squared buildings By the time Fleming got to New York he was fed up with travelling and his biographer, Andrew Lycett notes that "his sour mood transferred to the city and indeed the country he had once loved". [9] The series opened in The Sunday Times on 24 January 1960, with an introduction from Fleming, [13] followed by the article on Hong Kong the following week. [14] The series finished on 28 February 1960 with the article about Chicago and New York. [15] Less than an hour away, Cape Town has most of the rest, as well as a fantastic museum scene. The biggest draws, however, are cable-car rides up Table Mountain and trips to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was brutally incarcerated for 18 years during apartheid.

Where to stay Open to non-members, the seaside Soho House Barcelona contains a 36-seat cinema, a basement Cowshed spa and an indoor pool. In Matarraña, the British-owned Torre del Visco hotel* estate and its rose gardens straddle a beautiful river valley. Bedrooms and the buffet breakfast alike are huge. His asides are both mesmerizing and wistful, like him wondering why the mouth of the Ganges is not one of the wonders of the world, and incisive in deconstructing the popular myths, of Viennese culture and beauty and even of the apocryphal stories of gambling in Monte Carlo. In 1959 the features editor of The Sunday Times, Leonard Russell, suggested to Ian Fleming that he take a five-week, all-expenses-paid trip around the world for a series of features for the paper. [1] Fleming declined, saying he was a terrible tourist who "often advocated the provision of roller-skates at the door of museums and art galleries". [2] Russell persuaded him, pointing out that Fleming could also get some material for the Bond books in the process. [3] On the surface this looks like a typical travel guide by a famous author, but its more of a series of moody essays on various cities around the world. And the title is misleading, in that the James Bond author Ian Fleming doesn't find a lot of these cities thrilling. Some, for instance, New York City, he doesn't like at all.I think the most interesting thing about it was probably the fact that the world has changed significantly in the 60 or so years since Fleming went travelling. It reminds me of something Bill Bryson said in Down Under (my previous read) about travel. He basically said that the whole point of modern travel is to see things before they disappear. Once you’re done, fly four hours north to Cairns and — resisting wider Queensland’s jungles and everglades — sail to the Great Barrier Reef. Though this 1,429-mile seaboard is rightly famed for its exceptional snorkelling and diving, especially after recent conservation efforts, sailing and scenic flights are also available. Very close by, the paradise-like Whitsunday Islands make an excellent, beach-tastic base. For complete details on 007 in New York, including the recipe for Scrambled Eggs “James Bond”, visit this CommanderBond.net article.