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jessisamess's review
adventurous
challenging
tense
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
2.5
harlando's review
4.0
This is the first bond novel I have read. I’ve seen a few of the movies and am favourably impressed by this book. It has aged well. Maybe not as well as Raymond chandler, but it remains engaging and readable after more than 70 years.
I am Fleming was a heavy drinker, but I find myself wondering, did people really drink like Bond in the 50s? He puts away an amazing amount of booze.
I am Fleming was a heavy drinker, but I find myself wondering, did people really drink like Bond in the 50s? He puts away an amazing amount of booze.
a_writer_guy's review
3.0
The first book in the series. It's always a difficult task to read a book after you've seen the movie, or movies in the case of Mr. Bond. I can almost never shake the image of one of the actors as the character in the book. That being said, I'll probably always picture Daniel Craig as James Bond as I read. Not because he's my favorite Bond, but because he's the most recent.
This book was written in the 60's so you have to take a lot of it with a grain of salt. There is a lot of brash chauvinism throughout, but that just how James Bond is, he's a womanizer. If you read this thinking you're getting something other than that, you will be extremely disappointed.
I don't remember the movie Casino Royale very well, so I don't know how it holds up to the book, but I wasn't a fan of the movie, and I liked the book. It was a little slow in parts, and some of it was a little hard to identify with given the time it took place and it being British, but overall it was a pretty fun, quick read.
This book was written in the 60's so you have to take a lot of it with a grain of salt. There is a lot of brash chauvinism throughout, but that just how James Bond is, he's a womanizer. If you read this thinking you're getting something other than that, you will be extremely disappointed.
I don't remember the movie Casino Royale very well, so I don't know how it holds up to the book, but I wasn't a fan of the movie, and I liked the book. It was a little slow in parts, and some of it was a little hard to identify with given the time it took place and it being British, but overall it was a pretty fun, quick read.
quantum_singularity's review
1.0
I firstly want to say that I like to watch James Bond films from time to time, so
(I thought) I knew what I was getting in to when I picked this up, they're not my favourite type of film and I acknowledge that they are intensely flawed and fucked, but if I wanna see exploding pens and car chases with questionable physics I maybe will watch them because I enjoy things like that sometimes.
So, having said that I really don't understand how the James Bond film franchise came from this book. Obvs I haven't read the others, but it's just not action packed or intriguing, which are I feel, fairly important when writing a secret agent/spy novel? Also, I am not saying that the films are somehow more politically pure than this bullshit.
Other than the massively fucked up misogyny running rampant throughout the whole book (which I was expecting, but actually in parts it was worse than I imagined it would be, like what the everloving fuck is your problem Ian Fleming I hate you [I mean obvs it was written in the 50s but come on]) I would say my main complaint is that it's not exciting (like it has page upon page of dryly explaining the rules to some card game that he's gonna play [which of course is being explained to a woman in a way shitty tone] so that when he finally plays the fucking game you understand what the fuck is going on. Except you don't, because the explanation was dry, boring, and condescending and actually he didn't need to explain it at all because it's contextually apparent whether he's winning or losing, and who really gives a fuck about the mitutiae of the card game he's playing [not me, it's ok if you do care, but I just coulda done without it.])
"I hope no one realises I don't know how to play this fucking game"
Anyway, I just don't think it's that good as a spy novel. Like, he doesn't really do any spying, or secret agentsy things. his cover is blown from pretty much the start of the novel and he spends the entire time taking everything everyone says at face value and then getting fucked over because everyone is a double agent and also secretly going out with your best friend.
I feel like he's meant to be a bit Sherlock Holmesian in that he's constantly "deducing" things from people's appearance, but actually unlike Holmes hardly anything he says/observes about people is shown to be true so he just comes off as obnoxiously judgemental (much like SH, but i feel like Doyle [also a massive douche] actually likes SH or in the very least wants to point out in bright fancy neon lights how frightfully clever he is, whereas with Bond you are just meant to assume he's right, except that he's probably not, because he's a massive knob]).
And then he gets captured (because of being a cocky overconfident dunce) and hit in the nuts repeatedly (I'm not even joking, it's horrible) until some previously foreshadowed mystery man kills his captors and he gets tucked up in bed for three weeks refusing to see the lady spy he was working with because he's worried that he won't be virile enough until his tackle heals.
Then they go on holiday for like two weeks by the seaside (cue Bond's disgusting ideas about power and sex) at which point he's all like "I am out of the game and wanna marry you because Patriotism is a terrible reason for killing people" but then it turns out she's a double agent (Which I could have told you from like the first time she suspiciously leaves a room with a nervous manner [Bond however was too busy checking out her buxom assets, so I guess that proves wrong his theory that ladies can't be spies, but proves right his theory that lady secret agent pertners are too distracting {because spying is done with yr libido and ladies make it go all craaaaazy}]) and then she dies so he's all like
"I see now that Patriotism is a good reason to kill people" and then I dunno goes and stands next to the flag humming God Save the Queen.
At least it's a fairly short book.
(I thought) I knew what I was getting in to when I picked this up, they're not my favourite type of film and I acknowledge that they are intensely flawed and fucked, but if I wanna see exploding pens and car chases with questionable physics I maybe will watch them because I enjoy things like that sometimes.
So, having said that I really don't understand how the James Bond film franchise came from this book. Obvs I haven't read the others, but it's just not action packed or intriguing, which are I feel, fairly important when writing a secret agent/spy novel? Also, I am not saying that the films are somehow more politically pure than this bullshit.
Other than the massively fucked up misogyny running rampant throughout the whole book (which I was expecting, but actually in parts it was worse than I imagined it would be, like what the everloving fuck is your problem Ian Fleming I hate you [I mean obvs it was written in the 50s but come on]) I would say my main complaint is that it's not exciting (like it has page upon page of dryly explaining the rules to some card game that he's gonna play [which of course is being explained to a woman in a way shitty tone] so that when he finally plays the fucking game you understand what the fuck is going on. Except you don't, because the explanation was dry, boring, and condescending and actually he didn't need to explain it at all because it's contextually apparent whether he's winning or losing, and who really gives a fuck about the mitutiae of the card game he's playing [not me, it's ok if you do care, but I just coulda done without it.])
"I hope no one realises I don't know how to play this fucking game"
Anyway, I just don't think it's that good as a spy novel. Like, he doesn't really do any spying, or secret agentsy things. his cover is blown from pretty much the start of the novel and he spends the entire time taking everything everyone says at face value and then getting fucked over because everyone is a double agent and also secretly going out with your best friend.
I feel like he's meant to be a bit Sherlock Holmesian in that he's constantly "deducing" things from people's appearance, but actually unlike Holmes hardly anything he says/observes about people is shown to be true so he just comes off as obnoxiously judgemental (much like SH, but i feel like Doyle [also a massive douche] actually likes SH or in the very least wants to point out in bright fancy neon lights how frightfully clever he is, whereas with Bond you are just meant to assume he's right, except that he's probably not, because he's a massive knob]).
And then he gets captured (because of being a cocky overconfident dunce) and hit in the nuts repeatedly (I'm not even joking, it's horrible) until some previously foreshadowed mystery man kills his captors and he gets tucked up in bed for three weeks refusing to see the lady spy he was working with because he's worried that he won't be virile enough until his tackle heals.
Then they go on holiday for like two weeks by the seaside (cue Bond's disgusting ideas about power and sex) at which point he's all like "I am out of the game and wanna marry you because Patriotism is a terrible reason for killing people" but then it turns out she's a double agent (Which I could have told you from like the first time she suspiciously leaves a room with a nervous manner [Bond however was too busy checking out her buxom assets, so I guess that proves wrong his theory that ladies can't be spies, but proves right his theory that lady secret agent pertners are too distracting {because spying is done with yr libido and ladies make it go all craaaaazy}]) and then she dies so he's all like
"I see now that Patriotism is a good reason to kill people" and then I dunno goes and stands next to the flag humming God Save the Queen.
At least it's a fairly short book.
sevenpillars's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.5
robertmorvay's review
1.0
A poorly paced fucking nightmare of a sexist daydream, wherein the main character has no actual agency within the plot. An absolute cringeworthy read that left my mouth wide open at multiple points.
topdragon's review
5.0
Considering all of the thriller and spy fiction I've read, I've never actually read any of Ian Fleming's original Bond novels. Recently I acquired the entire 50th anniversary set and decided to plunge in.
This first novel of the series was everything I was hoping for. A nice cold war spy novel that relies on story over flash. Don't get me wrong; I really enjoy the Bond movies (some more than others, of course) but they do sometimes rely a little too much on gadgets, car chases, one-liners, etc. The novels are from a different era though and I gobbled this one up quickly. This novel contains probably the finest gambling scene in the history of fiction, spread over several chapters. Loved it. And since the novel is the first one written, it serves to introduce us to Mr. Bond, Felix Leiter, M, SMERSH, and others. We get to see his suave coolness on display as well as several of his vices including some common 1950's era societal prejudices like attitudes toward women. Surprisingly, for me at least, Bond is not a superhero at all and does make mistakes. Often he is introspective and we readers are privy to his own self doubts and emotional struggles. Bond even goes through a sort of personal crises that becomes a driving force in his future career.
Very enjoyable reading. Rather than rush to the next book, however, I plan to read them sparingly, relishing them over many months, enjoying them as long as I can before there aren't any more.
This first novel of the series was everything I was hoping for. A nice cold war spy novel that relies on story over flash. Don't get me wrong; I really enjoy the Bond movies (some more than others, of course) but they do sometimes rely a little too much on gadgets, car chases, one-liners, etc. The novels are from a different era though and I gobbled this one up quickly. This novel contains probably the finest gambling scene in the history of fiction, spread over several chapters. Loved it. And since the novel is the first one written, it serves to introduce us to Mr. Bond, Felix Leiter, M, SMERSH, and others. We get to see his suave coolness on display as well as several of his vices including some common 1950's era societal prejudices like attitudes toward women. Surprisingly, for me at least, Bond is not a superhero at all and does make mistakes. Often he is introspective and we readers are privy to his own self doubts and emotional struggles. Bond even goes through a sort of personal crises that becomes a driving force in his future career.
Very enjoyable reading. Rather than rush to the next book, however, I plan to read them sparingly, relishing them over many months, enjoying them as long as I can before there aren't any more.
franzibroetchen's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75