Originally posted by: Mike O
Weird-ass title, if you ask me.

I think this is going to be a GREAT title, once this new story unfolds.

In the short story "Quantum of Solace" from the book "For Your Eyes Only",

Bond makes a remark to the Governor of The Bahamas, about how it would be nice to marry an air hostess. In response, The Governor tells Bond about an emotional phenomenon that the Governor calls a "Quantum of Solace".

The Governor tells Bond, that a "Quantum of Solace" is the smallest unit of human compassion that two people can have. As long as that compassion exists, people can last together. When the solace is all gone, (when your partner no longer cares about your essential humanity), the relationship is over. The Governor then tells Bond the sad but true story of a loveless and vengeful relationship.

At the end of the Governor's story Bond is depressed, and suddenly finds his life of adventure to be fundamentally boring compared to the real human drama the Governor has just told him.

"The unwritten part of the story, the essential truth never spelled out in so many words but clear to anyone who has spent the last week reading the original Bond books is this --

No one in the world has a "Quantum of Solace" for James Bond.

He is alone. The people closest to him are M., who, in the end treats him like a fine hunting dog, and his elderly housekeeper May, who, as much as she may fuss and fret about his health, will eventually retire and be done with him. From this point on in the series, Bond is crumbling, a man sliding down the slope of his career, a human being rather than the automaton Fleming originally set out to create."
Source

FF