From A Short Story To A Film

The plot: After a small dinner party, the Governor of the Bahamas and his one remaining guest make idle conversation, until a chance remark about their hostesses prompts the aging diplomat to recount the story of the decline of a colleague's marriage many years before.  A study in the erosion of civility, the tale centers on the choices that are made by everyday people, and the effects of those choices.  How thoughtlessness and lack of consideration can turn people away from one another.  How the amount of comfort we give or withhold can change those who love us into those who hate us.  The guest, caught up in the story, begins to look at his own life in a new light. 

Can you guess the title of this short story?  Here's a hint: It was recently made into a movie.  Still doesn't sound familiar?  Another hint: Of the nine stories in the anthology by this author, five have been made into movies.  Still can't place it?  Not surprising.  The story is only 25 pages, so they had to add a bit to make a full-length film  The knowledge that the author also wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang will clear up the mystery for some fans.

So what is the answer?  It's Quantum of Solace, by Ian Fleming.  It was re-released last year in an anthology of James Bond short stories that also includes, as I mentioned, four others that bear the same titles as James Bond films.  I grew up with the Bond films and have always been a fan, but when I started reading the books in college I saw a different side of 007 that I think is more suited to print. 

Ian Fleming's stories let the reader into James Bond's head--and it is an interesting place to be. Throughout this anthology are clues to Bond's character and background that make him more realistic, though perhaps no less of a playboy.  After all, Fleming was a product of his time, and the stories are not politically correct, with language, morals and opinions that sometimes make me wince.  But they are also a window into what motivates people to do good or evil.  Many times, particularly in these stories, the people are unremarkable until some event prompts them to act.  Which are good and which are evil is open to some interpretation at times, though Bond is always our hero--even with hardly a scantily clad woman or electronic gadget in sight.