Moonraker
| Moon flash | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Moonraker |
| German title | Moonraker, EA: moon flash |
| author | Ian Fleming |
| translation | MF Arnemann (1963), Stephanie Pannen and Anika Klüver (2012) |
| Previous novel | Live and Let Die |
| Subsequent novel | Diamond fever |
Moonraker is a novel by Ian Fleming and the third book in the James Bond series. The novel was published on April 7, 1955 in England and only in 1963 under the title Mondblitz in Germany. The newer editions use the original English title.
In September 2012, Moonraker was published in a new translation by Stephanie Pannen and Anika Klüver at the Cross Cult publishing company . For the first time, the novel is available in Germany in an unabridged translation and with the original chapter sections and headings. The reason for the new translation and publication of all Bond novels was the 50th anniversary of the first Bond film in 2012.
action
Sir Hugo Drax wants to give England the super rocket "Moonraker" and is therefore revered there as a national hero. The multimillionaire is suspected of cheating in the exclusive London Blades Club. M, who knows the owner of the club and plays there himself, asks James Bond to solve the unheard of occurrence.
While M and Bond look through Sir Hugo Drax during the bridge (he uses a "mirror" when giving cards) and outsmart them with a trick (see Duke of Cumberland Hand ), the security officer Tallon is murdered by a German employee on Drax's rocket site. Since MI6 had recommended this German rocket science expert, he should now send his best agent, James Bond, to replace Tallon. Bond soon meets Sir Hugo's beautiful private secretary Gala Brand, who secretly works for Scotland Yard . But also the scientist Dr. Walter and Drax's adjutant and bodyguard Willy Krebs come into view of the secret agent.
With Gala's help, Bond soon succeeds in revealing the true purpose of the Moonraker project: Sir Hugo Drax plans the destruction of London with the help of a nuclear warhead delivered by a Russian submarine and placed in the Moonraker rocket.
After a wild chase and several attacks on his life, Bond succeeds in thwarting the plan: He reprograms the missile so that it is no longer aimed at central London, but rather at the Russian submarine with which Sir Hugo Drax after the Launch escapes, is directed. The plan succeeds and the villain and his assistants are killed.
criticism
"Moonraker" is considered one of the best James Bond novels. In Germany, however, it was received critically because of its anti-German tendencies and for this reason was only published eight years after the English first edition.
filming
The book served as a template for the 1979 James Bond film Moonraker , with Roger Moore in the lead role. The plot has been greatly changed and modernized and has little to do with the original.
In the previous film The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) the idea with the submarines and the nuclear missiles had already been used. The missiles are also deflected here, so that the two captured submarines destroy each other.
literature
- Ian Fleming: Moonraker . Cross Cult / Amigo Grafik, Ludwigsburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-86425-074-3 .
Origin of the title
The moonraker is the highest square sail on a clipper .