Reviews tagging 'Death'

Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

10 reviews

drysers's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. There are moments of terrible misogyny but it’s interesting to view these as examples of the deep flaws and insecurities of our main protagonist (and possibly the author). 
It’s also interesting to observe how faithful the 2006 film version is and how much the dark elements that permeate the book helped to shape Daniel Craig’s Bond era. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Murder, and Alcohol

simply_fran's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

Includes the phrase "the sweet tang of r*pe"...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Torture, and Alcohol

Moderate: Rape and Suicide

ru_th's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

[…] The hero kills two villains, but when the hero Le Chiffre starts to kill the villain Bond and the villain Bond knows he isn’t a villain at all, you see the other side of the medal. The villains and heroes get all mixed up. Of course, […] patriotism comes along and makes it seem fairly all right, but this country-right-or-wrong business is getting a little out-of-date. Today we are fighting Communism. Okay. If I’d been alive fifty years ago, the brand of Conservatism we have today would have been damn near called Communism and we should have been told to go and fight that. History is moving pretty quickly these days and the heroes and villains keep on changing parts. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Racial slurs, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

marianneiriss's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

bronzeageholly's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

librariangeorgia's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, and Kidnapping

Minor: Rape

nelia's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Torture

Minor: Misogyny and Car accident

meganpbennett's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Casino Royale was the first James Bond book, and it's interesting. It's very dated to its time, and so it feels frozen, like a dragonfly in amber. I felt like a dictionary would have been helpful, or an edition where some of the references and vocabulary were explained. A working knowledge of baccarat would have been helpful, as well, since much of the plot of the first half of the book involved Bond's attempt to bankrupt le Chiffre at the baccarat table. 

Parts of the book are very tense and page-turning, while others aren't anywhere near as fast-paced. The 2006 movie was a very good adaptation, in terms of how close it stuck to the novel, with the necessary updates and modifications (no one would carry a 40 million Euro check around, now would they? No. That's what wireless bank transfers are for). It does explain a lot about how Bond became Bond. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Kidnapping

illuminatedspace's review against another edition

challenging tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

A two instead of a 1 because they're is some semi interesting writing but it's very difficult to read. The femme fatale is helpless in ways that don't make any gd sense. Bond send to hate her but also want to sleep with her and marry her because??? I'll never read another Fleming novel or Bond book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Car accident

Minor: Rape

sweekune's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Audiobook narrated by Dan Stevens.

The Bond movies are world renowned and enjoyed by millions. About 10 years ago I read some of the original books and really enjoyed them. Recently I've had an urge to read them again and luckily they have been mega cheap on Audible over the last year or so so I picked them up bit by bit and have the full collection.

- The books focus differently to the movies. Yes, you still get the fast cars, the espionage and the glamorous women but there's more focus on Bond himself, his instincts and how he does what he's doing. Certainly in Casino Royale there's a lot of technical information relayed, such as how to play Baccarat. Tech fans may also be disappointed at the lack of quirky gadgets, instead replaced with Bond's ingenuity with the tools available.

-The tone is far more serious that a lot of the films. The plot and the mystery are the focus, not humour.

- The section with the casino was very well described and portrayed. I particularly enjoyed how the book describes Bond's thought process while gambling.

-Vesper Lynd always was and remains by favourite woman in the Bond series. She is believable and her backstory makes sense and gives her behaviour real motivations. 

- As you would expect with a book originally published in 1953, there are many sexist, misogynistic and outdated things said and done within this book. 

I enjoyed the story of this book and the idea of James Bond. There are issues with this book, some of which are related to the time it was written, but overall it was an interesting and exciting read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Medical content, and Car accident