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Comment by ctb9 | Hacker News Reader

I was struck by this sentence: "I have no message for suffering humanity and, though I was bullied at school and lost my virginity like so many of us used to do in the old days, I have never been tempted to foist these and other harrowing personal experiences on the public."

Is Ian Fleming saying that he was sexually abused as a child?

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Perhaps. He went to Eton. Abuse and less-than-consensual sexual activity among the boys were pretty common in English prep and public schools of the time.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/oct/12/publicscho...

This, having read "into the silence" about the mountaineer George Mallory it explained that in the 19th/20th century english prep schools were rampant with sexual abuse(student on student).

You can google for more information, but British boys' schools (especially in the 20th century) are notorious for bullying and sexual abuse.

I found the second half of that far more interesting (and refreshing given todays climate).

I assumed it meant he lost his virginity to a prostitute.

That was my first thought too, but I don't see why that would be categorized as a 'harrowing experience.'

Could be as simply as him not being ready and going because of pressure or expectation. Or could be something worse, like a family member taking them to the prostitute.

>Before World War II, if a young man wanted sex, he had two basic options: marriage or a brothel. So in the 1930s, one in five American men lost his virginity to a prostitute.

https://abcnews.go.com/2020/superfreakonomics-prostitutions-...

It might have meant that had it not been included alongside his being bullied and described as a harrowing experience.

It depends how it happened. Having a parent or relative take you to a prostitute, or being peer pressured into it when you are a teenager and not ready is sexual abuse.

Surely you don't think he invented the name 'Pussy Galore'?

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