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3.03 AVERAGE
3.03 AVERAGE
2.75 ⭐️
Definitely not what I was expecting and I only read it because Rosamund Pike narrates the audiobook. Interesting enough, I suppose. I forgot on numerous occasions that this was a James Bond book. Bond doesn’t even appear until page 90 (around hour 4 of the audiobook) which was strange. That truly effected my rating because I was expecting more of Bond.
Pike is a marvellous narrator and did a brilliant job with the material.
Definitely not what I was expecting and I only read it because Rosamund Pike narrates the audiobook. Interesting enough, I suppose. I forgot on numerous occasions that this was a James Bond book. Bond doesn’t even appear until page 90 (around hour 4 of the audiobook) which was strange. That truly effected my rating because I was expecting more of Bond.
Pike is a marvellous narrator and did a brilliant job with the material.
I'd hoped to run through the James Bond series guided by the Henry Chancellor chronology (augmented by works by other authors following the death of Ian Fleming in 1964), but shifting to audiobooks for the four days of my cross-country drive made that, if not impossible, certainly too inconvenient to manage. It would have been ambitious anyway, jumping from novels to short stories, and in one case reading half of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, then a short story (007 In New York), then chapters 10-15 of The Spy Who Loved Me, followed by the remainder of On Her Majesty's Secret Service. During the final leg of my journey I was enjoying David Tennant's narration of On Her Majesty's Secret Service too much to have tried to pull it off anyway, but I was unable to borrow the edition of The Spy Who Loved Me narrated by Rosamund Pike from either the NYPL or Brooklyn Public Library through the Libby app in time to make it work anyway.
Instead, I jumped to chapter 10 of the novel itself after settling into our new home in Oakland, and I remembered why I didn't like the book when I read it as a teenager. Fleming deserves credit for trying something different with this book, for showing us action from a first person perspective rather than the third person. The problem is that it doesn't really work. As was the case with the opening 10 or 11 chapters of From Russia With Love, Bond doesn't even show up in The Spy Who Loved Me until well into the book. I knew that going into it, and adhering to the Griswold chronology I read a summary of what happened prior to Bond's arrival and moved on to the novel with the 10th chapter. As such, The Spy Who Loved Me was more of a short story like those found in For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy & The Living Daylights.
The plot from Bond's arrival onward worked well as a short story, too: Bond punctures a tire in the Adirondacks and seeks a room for the night at The Dream Pines Motor Court, inadvertently stumbling upon a mob-owned property about to be burned to the ground for the insurance money. Viv Michel, a young woman charged with keeping an eye on the property, is due to be murdered by a pair of thugs, with her body intended to be found in the charred ruins of the motel, where blame for the fire would fall upon her. Bond correctly senses something is awry, and I'm sure you know how it all shakes out in the end.
Michel seems an engaging enough character, but I'm not sorry I didn't read her backstory, which is apparently largely comprised of soft-core trysts that ended badly. Seeing Bond through her eyes - through anyone's first person perspective - only works for so long; we can be mystified at his ingenuity or toughness, but the nuance of what Bond does to survive is lost as he disappears into the night.
The Spy Who Loved Me is, by a significant margin, my least favorite James Bond novel...at least so far. I fully understand why years later filmmakers used the title and none of the plot.
Instead, I jumped to chapter 10 of the novel itself after settling into our new home in Oakland, and I remembered why I didn't like the book when I read it as a teenager. Fleming deserves credit for trying something different with this book, for showing us action from a first person perspective rather than the third person. The problem is that it doesn't really work. As was the case with the opening 10 or 11 chapters of From Russia With Love, Bond doesn't even show up in The Spy Who Loved Me until well into the book. I knew that going into it, and adhering to the Griswold chronology I read a summary of what happened prior to Bond's arrival and moved on to the novel with the 10th chapter. As such, The Spy Who Loved Me was more of a short story like those found in For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy & The Living Daylights.
The plot from Bond's arrival onward worked well as a short story, too: Bond punctures a tire in the Adirondacks and seeks a room for the night at The Dream Pines Motor Court, inadvertently stumbling upon a mob-owned property about to be burned to the ground for the insurance money. Viv Michel, a young woman charged with keeping an eye on the property, is due to be murdered by a pair of thugs, with her body intended to be found in the charred ruins of the motel, where blame for the fire would fall upon her. Bond correctly senses something is awry, and I'm sure you know how it all shakes out in the end.
Michel seems an engaging enough character, but I'm not sorry I didn't read her backstory, which is apparently largely comprised of soft-core trysts that ended badly. Seeing Bond through her eyes - through anyone's first person perspective - only works for so long; we can be mystified at his ingenuity or toughness, but the nuance of what Bond does to survive is lost as he disappears into the night.
The Spy Who Loved Me is, by a significant margin, my least favorite James Bond novel...at least so far. I fully understand why years later filmmakers used the title and none of the plot.
It's hard to go wrong with a classic like this and Ian Fleming didn't disappoint. It's a fast paced action adventure and the low page count makes it impossibly fast to read.
It is one of the shortest and most sexually explicit of Fleming's novels, as well as a clear departure from previous Bond novels in that the story starts off the the perspective of the "Bond girl." In fact, most of the book is from her perspective and takes place before she ever meets 007!
A young Canadian woman by the of Vivienne Michel finds herself traveling across America on a scooter. She breaks for a bit at a motel and is offered a job watching the place by herself until the end of the season. On her first night alone, two thugs come in to rough her up and do who knows what else. Bond himself does not appear until two thirds of the way through the book, when he waltzes in the motel after suffering a flat.
Obviously he saves the day and seduces the girl, but in order to learn all the awesome details you'll have to read this classic for yourself.
It is one of the shortest and most sexually explicit of Fleming's novels, as well as a clear departure from previous Bond novels in that the story starts off the the perspective of the "Bond girl." In fact, most of the book is from her perspective and takes place before she ever meets 007!
A young Canadian woman by the of Vivienne Michel finds herself traveling across America on a scooter. She breaks for a bit at a motel and is offered a job watching the place by herself until the end of the season. On her first night alone, two thugs come in to rough her up and do who knows what else. Bond himself does not appear until two thirds of the way through the book, when he waltzes in the motel after suffering a flat.
Obviously he saves the day and seduces the girl, but in order to learn all the awesome details you'll have to read this classic for yourself.
The only Bond book told from a first-person perspective, and the girl's at that! Nice idea, not well executed.
And what's with James Bond telling Viv all the details of his mission?! Yes, it's in the past but still - isn't be meant to eb a secretive, seductive, dark SPY? Not impressed.
And what's with James Bond telling Viv all the details of his mission?! Yes, it's in the past but still - isn't be meant to eb a secretive, seductive, dark SPY? Not impressed.
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
By far my favorite Ian Fleming Bond novel so far, The Spy Who Loved Me is, I feel, the prototype Jack Reacher novel. Indeed, a Reacher novel from the POV of another character would be a fantastic read.
Probably something of a shock at the time of its release, TSWLM marks what I think is a real step forward for Fleming, writing sympathetically from a female point of view. His charming historically appropriate misogyny merely reads like schoolboy naivety here, and isn't really even jarring. Viv is a very interesting character who deserves a novel or two of her own.
There's a lot to like here. A Bond who is apparently more world-weary than ever seems to come alive when he has a genuine reason to kick some ass that doesn't involve spying or intrigue, but good old fashioned "right thing to do." His appearance in the tale about half-way through is welcomed and when he eventually departs, even his goodbye note is both charming and affectionate, far from the playboy reputation that he's rightfully gained over the years.
Fleming stretches himself in this novel, and it works out very well for the reader. The least "spy" of the series of spy novels so far, this feels a bit like the Quantum of Solace short story, which I also loved.
Probably something of a shock at the time of its release, TSWLM marks what I think is a real step forward for Fleming, writing sympathetically from a female point of view. His charming historically appropriate misogyny merely reads like schoolboy naivety here, and isn't really even jarring. Viv is a very interesting character who deserves a novel or two of her own.
There's a lot to like here. A Bond who is apparently more world-weary than ever seems to come alive when he has a genuine reason to kick some ass that doesn't involve spying or intrigue, but good old fashioned "right thing to do." His appearance in the tale about half-way through is welcomed and when he eventually departs, even his goodbye note is both charming and affectionate, far from the playboy reputation that he's rightfully gained over the years.
Fleming stretches himself in this novel, and it works out very well for the reader. The least "spy" of the series of spy novels so far, this feels a bit like the Quantum of Solace short story, which I also loved.
I enjoyed this book, but it took a bit for me to get into it. The suspense was there but it was a lot of description that made it a bit difficult to get through. The ending was good and left some suspense but it was a bit too open at times.
I would love to know just what the hell Ian Fleming thought he was doing with this book. The idea of a book from the perspective of a Bond girl is actually an interesting one. But you run into problems when you remember that Ian Fleming wasn't exactly the type of guy you wanted writing about the thoughts and dreams of a woman. It's just a bizarre book, and by the time James Bond shows up youre kind of wondering if you made a mistake and are reading the wrong book.
adventurous
medium-paced
medium-paced