Editing Dr. No (novel) (section)

==Background and writing history==
In June 1956 the author [[Ian Fleming]] began a collaboration with the [[television producer|producer]] [[Henry Morgenthau III]] on a planned television series, ''Commander Jamaica'', which was to feature the Caribbean-based character James Gunn. When the project foundered, and Fleming could not fashion a new plot for his next Bond novel, he used the idea as the basis for ''Dr. No''.{{sfn|Chancellor|2005|p=111}} By January 1957 he had published four [[List of James Bond novels and short stories|Bond novels]] in successive years from 1953—''[[Casino Royale (novel)|Casino Royale]]'', ''[[Live and Let Die (novel)|Live and Let Die]]'', ''[[Moonraker (novel)|Moonraker]]'' and ''[[Diamonds Are Forever (novel)|Diamonds Are Forever]]''. A fifth, ''[[From Russia, with Love (novel)|From Russia, with Love]]'', was being edited and prepared for publication.{{sfn|Lycett|1996|pp=297–298}}<ref name="IFP: Books" />{{efn|''From Russia, with Love'' was published in April 1957.{{sfn|Lycett|1996|p=313}}}} That month Fleming travelled to his [[Goldeneye (estate)|Goldeneye estate]] in Jamaica to write ''Dr. No''.{{sfn|Benson|1988|p=16}} He followed his usual practice, which he later outlined in ''[[Hansom Books|Books and Bookmen]]'' magazine: "I write for about three hours in the morning&nbsp;... and I do another hour's work between six and seven in the evening. I never correct anything and I never go back to see what I have written&nbsp;... By following my formula, you write 2,000 words a day."{{sfn|Faulks|Fleming|2009|p=320}} By the time he returned to London in late February, he had completed a 206-page first draft, which he initially titled ''The Wound Man''.{{sfn|Benson|1988|p=16}}{{sfn|Chancellor|2005|p=110}}

Although Fleming did not date the events within his novels, John Griswold and [[Henry Chancellor (filmmaker)|Henry Chancellor]]—both of whom wrote books for [[Ian Fleming Publications]]—have identified different timelines based on episodes and situations within the [[List of James Bond novels and short stories|novel series]] as a whole. Chancellor put the events of ''Dr. No'' in 1956; Griswold is more precise, and considers the story to have taken place that February and March.{{sfn|Griswold|2006|p=13}}{{sfn|Chancellor|2005|pp=98–99}}

As with his four previous novels, Fleming originated the concept of the front cover design; he considered Honeychile Rider to have a [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]]-like quality when introduced in the book and wanted this emphasised on the cover. When commissioning Pat Marriott to illustrate the cover, he instructed that she was shown on a ''[[Venus (bivalve)|Venus elegans]]'' shell.{{sfn|Chancellor|2005|p=111}}{{sfn|Lycett|1996|p=315}}

Prior to the release of ''Dr. No''—and unconnected with the book itself—[[Bernard Bergonzi]], in the March 1958 issue of ''[[The Nineteenth Century (periodical)|Twentieth Century]]'', attacked Fleming's work as containing "a strongly marked streak of voyeurism and sado-masochism"<ref name="Bergonzi (1958)" /> and that the books showed "the total lack of any ethical frame of reference".<ref name="Bergonzi (1958)"/> The article also compared Fleming unfavourably to [[John Buchan]] and [[Raymond Chandler]] in both moral and literary measures.{{sfn|Lindner|2009|p=19}} The writer [[Simon Raven]], while appreciating Bergonzi had produced a "quiet and well-argued article", thought the critic's conclusion was naïve, and asked "Since when has it been remarkable in a work of entertainment that it should lack a specific 'ethical frame of reference'?" Raven continued, saying Fleming "by reason of his cool and analytical intelligence, his informed use of technical facts, his plausibility, sense of pace, brilliant descriptive powers and superb imagination, provides sheer entertainment such as I, who must read many novels, am seldom lucky enough to find".<ref name="Spec: Raven review" />