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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
My one sentence review: This book is definitely action packed and it is interesting to read about the beginnings of Bond and how the spy biz likely operated in the 1950s, but wowowow there is a lot of casual racism in this one.
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
James Bond goes to the US in the 50s and wait for it he’s racist! The story itself tries to be more exotic by setting the main events in Harlem and Florida, but of course it’s clumsy at best. Maybe skip this one if you would rather not hear the n word like a billion times (obviously it makes sense for the time but I think we can all agree Ian Fleming was never one for nuance so his stereotypes can easily come off as offensive even though that wasn’t the intention)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
Moderate: Racism
Although the action is all there, especially towards the end, I found this particular book to be racist. He doesn't just use the N word liberally, but the descriptions of them are less flattering. It dampened the experience for me. Although this book was written in an era where language and thoughts like these was the norm, it still doesn't make it acceptable.
Moreover, I prefer the latest series of Bond movies to the books. One, they're more action-packed, and two, they're less sexist and not racist.
Moreover, I prefer the latest series of Bond movies to the books. One, they're more action-packed, and two, they're less sexist and not racist.
I don't have much to say about this one. It's pulp fiction. From what I've heard, the James Bond books have three modes — pulp fiction, really boring, genuinely good spy fiction. I think the first and last category have the most applications to the series. Whatever the case, this one is definitely not particularly advanced, but it's not trying to be. It's just an enjoyable spy story with a plot only really invested in the action and mystery. The characters don't matter much, but they're still fun. Good times all around.
Live and Let Die, the second Bond novel, is rougher around the edges than later additions to the series. It's more violent, racist, and carefully establishes the relationship between Bond and Felix Leiter, his CIA side-kick. It's also a distinctly American adventure and establishes characteristics of Bond that are reprised in later works.
Bond is off to America in this case, where Mr. Big, a New York gangster bent on being the best black criminal in the U.S., is fencing gold coins likely from a Caribbean shipwreck. Part of his gang is the beautiful clairvoyant, Solitaire. Of course Bond and Solitaire run off and more plot ensues. From New York City clubs to the Florida Everglades, and back to Jamaica, Bond runs across the Northwestern Hemisphere to bring down Mr. Big and his criminal organization.
Overall, this thriller borders on the absurd at times while Fleming is trying out themes and characterizations of Bond. The racism in this novel is some of the most notable, and the amount of almost gratuitous violence (most of it appears off the page, but the results are clearly observed by Bond) is notable. This is not the most interesting or nuanced Bond novel, but it is an early insight into the character development of Bond, James Bond.
Bond is off to America in this case, where Mr. Big, a New York gangster bent on being the best black criminal in the U.S., is fencing gold coins likely from a Caribbean shipwreck. Part of his gang is the beautiful clairvoyant, Solitaire. Of course Bond and Solitaire run off and more plot ensues. From New York City clubs to the Florida Everglades, and back to Jamaica, Bond runs across the Northwestern Hemisphere to bring down Mr. Big and his criminal organization.
Overall, this thriller borders on the absurd at times while Fleming is trying out themes and characterizations of Bond. The racism in this novel is some of the most notable, and the amount of almost gratuitous violence (most of it appears off the page, but the results are clearly observed by Bond) is notable. This is not the most interesting or nuanced Bond novel, but it is an early insight into the character development of Bond, James Bond.
Lot of awful cartoony racism to wade through, but the final third of the book is a solidly thrilling adventure. And the literary version of Mr. Big is arguably much more interesting than the version presented in the movie.
adventurous
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:
No
If, like me, you’ve decided to read the James Bond books in order, you can definitely skip this racist mess 😂
Not the best of the Bond books, IMO, but still enjoyable enough for what it is. As with every other Bond novel, pass it by if you can't deal with outdated ways of thinking/modes of address/language/values etc. or rampant sexism that was extreme even for its time. It is what it is.
Disclaimer: I put 2 stars on here. As far as general spy/bond thrills i could give it 3.5 or 4 stars. But, while it is perhaps a product of its time, the casual racism throughout the book and at the core of it's plot was just way too much for me. I felt uncomfortable reading it the entire time. I was tempted to stop shortly into it, but decided to finish and judge the full book rather than a short snippet.
As I said, some people criticized those calling the book out on its racism saying that it was a product of its time and if we criticize this then we have to criticize many classics from the past. While that is of course true, this wasn't a casual case of a single character or passing line. The ENTIRE BOOK is just racist line after racist line. I'm not going to go into details - i'm sure you can find them by googling. But basically, the villain of this book is a giant black crime boss who presents himself as a voodoo master to scare every single black character in the book - because according to Fleming's 1950s America, all african americans are superstitious occult-believers. (Fleming lived in Jamaica so I am curious of Jamaican aspect of the Vodou descriptions are AT ALL accurate.) Also, Bond's friend or colleague in Jamaica is basically described as being a good person and mostly not negroid in feature due to being half-white. This didn't age well (I suppose the term "negroid" was commonplace in the 50s?) There's a lot more but i'll leave it there and move on to the other aspects of the book.
Racism aside (never a good line to have to use in a book review...) there was a lot that the book could have had going for it. Pirate's gold. A scuba mission to plant a bomb. Sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads. Well, no laser beams, but plenty of sharks! I suppose the voodoo stuff might have been cool too if it weren't also problematic due to the twisting of the Vodou religion. And the Bond girl would might have been interest if she weren't the poor white girl enslaved by the big bad black villain of a racist book. Oh well.
As I said, some people criticized those calling the book out on its racism saying that it was a product of its time and if we criticize this then we have to criticize many classics from the past. While that is of course true, this wasn't a casual case of a single character or passing line. The ENTIRE BOOK is just racist line after racist line. I'm not going to go into details - i'm sure you can find them by googling. But basically, the villain of this book is a giant black crime boss who presents himself as a voodoo master to scare every single black character in the book - because according to Fleming's 1950s America, all african americans are superstitious occult-believers. (Fleming lived in Jamaica so I am curious of Jamaican aspect of the Vodou descriptions are AT ALL accurate.) Also, Bond's friend or colleague in Jamaica is basically described as being a good person and mostly not negroid in feature due to being half-white. This didn't age well (I suppose the term "negroid" was commonplace in the 50s?) There's a lot more but i'll leave it there and move on to the other aspects of the book.
Racism aside (never a good line to have to use in a book review...) there was a lot that the book could have had going for it. Pirate's gold. A scuba mission to plant a bomb. Sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads. Well, no laser beams, but plenty of sharks! I suppose the voodoo stuff might have been cool too if it weren't also problematic due to the twisting of the Vodou religion. And the Bond girl would might have been interest if she weren't the poor white girl enslaved by the big bad black villain of a racist book. Oh well.