I am a great reader but never got around to reading any Ian Fleming books as a younger bloke. I was probably side tracked by the many wonderful spy novels by the likes of John Le Carre and Len Deighton. I have lots of them in my home library.
I was recently chatting with my mate Vic in America and he pointed me to the Signet paperback editions of Ian Fleming's novels about the ultimate spy, James Bond. I realised I had not read any James Bond books, an oversight I was keen to rectify. I have of course seen all the movies but did they mirror the books?
Anyone who has ever gone in search of second-hand copies of Ian Fleming's James Bond books knows that the paperbacks released by Signet in the 1960s dominate the shelves of used bookstores. Signet published 14 Bond books, from 1958 to 1967, and lots of further editions as time went on.
Doctor No - June 1959
Live and Let Die - Oct. 1959
Casino Royale - Feb. 1960
Goldfinger - June 1960
Moonraker - Oct. 1960
For Your Eyes Only - June 1961
Diamonds are Forever - (series cover) - Nov. 1961
Thunderball - Signet - (series cover) - May 1962
The Spy Who Loved Me - (series cover) - April 1963
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service - Aug. 1964
You Only Live Twice - July 1965
The Man with the Golden Gun - July 1966
Octopussy - July 1967
The paperbacks all had very distinctive covers and that is perhaps part of their attractiveness from a collector's viewpoint. (see https://literary007.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/book-covers-09.jpg) They have indeed keep their value - see this advertisement:
The Signet books were not released in Fleming's chronological order. The 21 novels and short stories which trace Bond's work were released by Fleming as follows and should probably be read in that order.
Live and Let Die (1954)
Moonraker (1955)
Diamonds Are Forever (1956)
From Russia, With Love (1957)
Dr. No (1958)
Goldfinger (1959)
For Your Eyes Only (1960)
From a View to a Kill (1960)
For Your Eyes Only (1960)
Quantum of Solace (1959)
Risico (1960)
The Hildebrand Rarity (1960)
Thunderball (1961)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1962)
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1963)
You Only Live Twice (1964)
The Man with the Golden Gun (1965)
Octopussy and The Living Daylights (1966)
Octopussy (1966)
The Living Daylights (1962)
The Property of a Lady (1966)
007 in New York (1963)
Vic was kind enough to source and post to me the first two Bond book, Casino Royale and Live and Let Die. So I start with brief reviews of these.
Casino Royale (1953)
The first book in the Bond series, published in 1953, it introduces James Bond. But be warned, the James Bond of the books certainly comes across a lot differently to the James Bond of the big screen. Where he is at times suave and charming in the films, the written Bond is very different. Described as cold, harsh, brutal, cruel, ruthless, and hard by Fleming, Bond is hardly someone you'd want to get to know well. When Vesper gets kidnapped in the book, he is furious with her and curses her out. He makes the cold, logical decision that her life doesn't matter (since she is an agent) and plans accordingly - her death is acceptable.
It's a fairly light weight story but the book essentials come across - Bond is a flawed man who sometimes wins and sometimes loses. He's not the ultra-suave talker, the man who wears his tux and orders his martinis “shaken, not stirred.” That is the movie Bond. The book Bond is a different beast. The book is short, only about 180 pages, but serves well to introduce Bond and the paranoia of the Cold War era of the early 1950s.
Live and Let Die (1954)
A more complex story line than Casino Royale, and published a year later (1954), the book sees Bond travelling to New York and thence to the Caribbean. Further time is spent developing the character and the world, building and introducing readers to his secret agent spy network and to Bond in particular. So we know more about hiim after the second book than we did after the first.
Ok, so the book does not live up to the social and moral standards of today - it was written 66 years ago and must be looked upon in the context of that time.
It's a pretty straightforward premise. After almost being killed by S.M.E.R.S.H, Bond wants revenge and M has the assignment for him. Gold coins are appearing in America, maybe from the pirate Bloody Morgan's treasure. The government thinks Soviet agents are using them to further their nefarious cause.
Interestingly, an edition was released by the Folio Society in 2019 - high praise indeed!
https://literary007.com/2019/10/24/live-and-let-die-the-next-bond-release-from-the-folio-society/
What to do next - watch a movie or read more Bond books! I think the books win out.
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