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A review by scottjp
Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
2.0
Since enjoying the fantastic series of films starring Daniel Craig, I found myself with a mild interest in trying at least one of the novels to see what the "real" (because there have been so many cinematic interpretations) James Bond was like.
Unfortunately, this is one of those rare examples where the film is much better.
The best you could say about Fleming's prose is that it is serviceable: heavy on exposition, light on dialogue, and frequently awkward. The long section in which Bond and le Chiffre face off in a card game is particularly tedious. I didn't follow the game of baccarat at all, or maybe it just wasn't interesting enough to try. It's just boring to read about. Maybe it helps if you're a gambler? It made me want to re-watch the film to see again how it played out there.
As characters, Bond and love interest Vesper Lynd have none. It's bad enough when they are going about their agently business, but when the romance starts it's particularly flimsy. There's no emotional weight at all, which makes the ending of the book fail completely to affect the reader. You can tell that the author wanted it to have a punch, but it neither earns nor delivers it.
I'm hoping that Fleming's writing improved the more he did it, but I don't know if I want to find out firsthand.
Unfortunately, this is one of those rare examples where the film is much better.
The best you could say about Fleming's prose is that it is serviceable: heavy on exposition, light on dialogue, and frequently awkward. The long section in which Bond and le Chiffre face off in a card game is particularly tedious. I didn't follow the game of baccarat at all, or maybe it just wasn't interesting enough to try. It's just boring to read about. Maybe it helps if you're a gambler? It made me want to re-watch the film to see again how it played out there.
As characters, Bond and love interest Vesper Lynd have none. It's bad enough when they are going about their agently business, but when the romance starts it's particularly flimsy. There's no emotional weight at all, which makes the ending of the book fail completely to affect the reader. You can tell that the author wanted it to have a punch, but it neither earns nor delivers it.
I'm hoping that Fleming's writing improved the more he did it, but I don't know if I want to find out firsthand.