【英语时差8,16】Ian Fleming – 伊恩.弗莱明

“My name is Bond. James Bond.” Ian Fleming wrote the James Bond novels. He also worked in intelligence during the Second World War. And it was because of this that he started writing spy novels. My theory was that he was going through a very acute¹ midlife crisis². He was 43, I think, when he did this. What Fleming did so enormously cleverly with enormous skill and why the books work, is he made an escapist world for all sorts of things that he felt he didn’t come up to himself. I mean he wasn’t a man of action, he didn’t kill anyone in action, so Bond has a licence to kill. Fleming wrote 14 James Bond novels including: The Spy Who Loved Me, Casino Royale and From Russia with Love. Here is his niece, Lucy Fleming, talking about her memories of him. It was always exciting when he came to visit us. My father and he were very fond of each other. And we always looked forward to his visits and the house sort of lit up. There was always lots of laughter and very wide-ranging conversations about all sorts of things. He loved cars and he loved driving as you can tell from his books. He has very good descriptions of cars and of driving. And he used to turn up in these wonderful cars. I remember particularly this big black Thunderbird. But things weren’t always so happy for Ian Fleming. And that’s what you feel when you read one of his last James Bond novels,Quantum of Solace³. The idea of a quantum of solace, which is quite a good idea really, is that any marriage needs to have within it a quantum, a quantum means a certain amount, a certain amount of solace – of kindness, of goodness, of pleasure, of happiness – which keeps it going. And when that quantum of solace goes there is no hope and the marriage is over. And I think the really awful thing about Ian is that by the end of his life his own marriage really had lost that quantum of solace.

1 acute   

adj.严重的，激烈的，敏锐的，急性的，尖的

参考例句：

• A period of acute depression can sometimes follow childbirth.分娩之后可能会有一段时间的急性抑郁期。
• The publication comes as the answer to an acute demand.这一出版物是为满足急需而出版的。

2 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

3 solace   

n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和

参考例句：

• They sought solace in religion from the harshness of their everyday lives.他们日常生活很艰难，就在宗教中寻求安慰。
• His acting career took a nosedive and he turned to drink for solace.演艺事业突然一落千丈，他便借酒浇愁。