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Casino Royale
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Casino Royale
James Bond series
Ian Fleming
In the novel that introduced James Bond to the world, Ian Fleming's agent 007 is dispatched to a French casino in Royale-les-Eaux. His mission? Bankrupt a ruthless Russian agent who's been on a bad luck streak at the baccarat table.
One of SMERSH's most deadly operatives, the man known only as "Le Chiffre", has been a prime target of the British Secret Service for years. If Bond can wipe out his bankroll, Le Chiffre will likely be "retired" by his paymasters in Moscow. But what if the cards won't cooperate? After a brutal night at the gaming tables, Bond soon finds himself dodging would be assassins, fighting off brutal torturers, and going all in to save the life of his beautiful female counterpart, Vesper Lynd.
I have to say, as a lifelong fan of the Bond genre, and as someone who has seen every Bond movie in existence (with the exception of the Daniel Craig ones because is is NOT Bond), I was actually a bit disappointed with this book. I never thought I'd write this, but the movie is better than the novel. It has the same storyline, but as a film it just feels more suspenseful than the novel did.
This is a very short novel (less than 200 pages in its hardbound version) and a fairly easy read. Still, it just didn't have the edge of your seat excitement that the movies do.
I know this is the first in the Bond series and Fleming was probably still getting a feeling for his character and this genre, but the character also feels more two dimensional in the novel. In this book, there are two sides to Bond - serious and icy and playful and horny. That's pretty much all that makes up the character. He's missing those little nuances that make characters jump off the pages of novels and into real life.
I plan on reading all of the Ian Fleming James Bond novel my library has (unfortunately, I don't think they have them all), but I will say that this was a lot less than I was expecting. Unless you're a die hard Bond fan like I am, you might just want to stick to the films.
My rating: Three out of five snails.
James Bond series
Ian Fleming
One of SMERSH's most deadly operatives, the man known only as "Le Chiffre", has been a prime target of the British Secret Service for years. If Bond can wipe out his bankroll, Le Chiffre will likely be "retired" by his paymasters in Moscow. But what if the cards won't cooperate? After a brutal night at the gaming tables, Bond soon finds himself dodging would be assassins, fighting off brutal torturers, and going all in to save the life of his beautiful female counterpart, Vesper Lynd.
I have to say, as a lifelong fan of the Bond genre, and as someone who has seen every Bond movie in existence (with the exception of the Daniel Craig ones because is is NOT Bond), I was actually a bit disappointed with this book. I never thought I'd write this, but the movie is better than the novel. It has the same storyline, but as a film it just feels more suspenseful than the novel did.
This is a very short novel (less than 200 pages in its hardbound version) and a fairly easy read. Still, it just didn't have the edge of your seat excitement that the movies do.
I know this is the first in the Bond series and Fleming was probably still getting a feeling for his character and this genre, but the character also feels more two dimensional in the novel. In this book, there are two sides to Bond - serious and icy and playful and horny. That's pretty much all that makes up the character. He's missing those little nuances that make characters jump off the pages of novels and into real life.
I plan on reading all of the Ian Fleming James Bond novel my library has (unfortunately, I don't think they have them all), but I will say that this was a lot less than I was expecting. Unless you're a die hard Bond fan like I am, you might just want to stick to the films.
My rating: Three out of five snails.
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