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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
Bond continues to be bad at his job, with Felix Leiter doing most of the work in setting things up and making the plans. A later character seems like a more obvious choice for the task at hand (or at least to be assisting more directly, but I guess that Bond is the designated hero of the story.
The ending was fairly sudden, but generally satisfying. The depictions of "negro" characters is definitely racist by modern standards, and are pervasive, given the basic plot.
The ending was fairly sudden, but generally satisfying. The depictions of "negro" characters is definitely racist by modern standards, and are pervasive, given the basic plot.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have very mixed feelings about this book. I thought the writing was well done, but I was utterly turned off by the racial overtones. I understand Fleming was trying to capture the speech patterns of African Americans of the time, but he turned them into caricatures. Sadly, many black characters suffered from this phenomenon around this time.
On the plus side there are some great suspenseful moments and I like the fact that Bond is not the superman that he is in the films.
Reading Moonraker next and hoping it doesn't have the sexism and racism of this novel and the first one, Casino Royale.
On the plus side there are some great suspenseful moments and I like the fact that Bond is not the superman that he is in the films.
Reading Moonraker next and hoping it doesn't have the sexism and racism of this novel and the first one, Casino Royale.
Reading the early Bond novels can be a tough sled these days. The casual racism and dismissive sexism characteristic of the mid-20th century Anglo-Saxon male mind now seems, even to one born into it in the early 1950s as I was, both appalling and disgraceful. Toss in a leavening of sunsetting (and therefore defensive) colonialist attitudes, the I-can-damn-well-say-whatever-I-damn-well-want-whenever-I-damn-well-want-to-just-because-I-can arrogance that characterized colonial British uppercrustism, combine it with the chest-puffing defeat of the Axis powers in WWII as reflected in the novel's language and the phony superiority that spawned it (so much for the Greatest Generation, Tom) and the Angloexceptionalist racist stench rises from the pages, foul and fetid. No wonder, well, everything.
Beyond that, this is a slapdash pastiche of what will become the signature Bond tropes: universal adoration of the cruel white handsome adventurer, preposterous action sequences in exotic locales, villains that can only be evil geniuses (or else why bother sending Bond James Bond on the assignment?), and violence as entertainment: necessary fun for the good guys but dastardly doings when performed by the bads.
The book reads as if written over a long weekend. I'm glad it's over and hoping for better in the later books.
Beyond that, this is a slapdash pastiche of what will become the signature Bond tropes: universal adoration of the cruel white handsome adventurer, preposterous action sequences in exotic locales, villains that can only be evil geniuses (or else why bother sending Bond James Bond on the assignment?), and violence as entertainment: necessary fun for the good guys but dastardly doings when performed by the bads.
The book reads as if written over a long weekend. I'm glad it's over and hoping for better in the later books.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I felt so uncomfortable reading this book. The writing of this one really shows its age. The writing and language used is so archaic. The language is so racist, it was really hard to get through this one especially at the beginning but I pushed through as it’s such an iconic series. I love the characters, especially Solitaire. She holds so much power but is overlooked. I will continue with the series and read Moonraker.
I knew this was written in the 1950s but I draw the line at the N word