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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a book the I would definitely recommend. This is the second book in the James Bond series.
Secret Agent James Bond is on a mission to stop gold coins from being smuggled out of Jamaica. The pirate treasure is being smuggled by a Harlem gangster known as Mr. Big, a man from Haiti who uses voodoo to control a large African American community around the United States. Mr. Big uses the gold to fund SMERSH, the evil Soviet agency that is Bond's arch-nemeses. Bond heads to New York City to work with his old friend, Felix Leiter. While in New York Bond comes face to face with Mr. Big and sees the evil genius in the man's eyes. He also meets Solitaire, a beautiful woman being held captive by Mr. Big. The story then moves to Florida where Leiter is attacked by a shark and nearly dies. Bond discovers Mr. Big's operation and has to head to Jamaica to put a stop to it. In Jamaica Bond covertly enters Mr.Big's private island and is nearly eaten alive by barracudas and sharks. In the last pages of the book the story culminates as Bond saves Solitaire and destroys Mr. Big's yacht. The end of the novel sees Bond and Solitaire finally start a romantic relationship.
Does Leiter wake up and live? How does James Bond destroy Mr. Big's yacht? How did Mr. Big train the barracudas and sharks to attack people? Read the book to find out
Secret Agent James Bond is on a mission to stop gold coins from being smuggled out of Jamaica. The pirate treasure is being smuggled by a Harlem gangster known as Mr. Big, a man from Haiti who uses voodoo to control a large African American community around the United States. Mr. Big uses the gold to fund SMERSH, the evil Soviet agency that is Bond's arch-nemeses. Bond heads to New York City to work with his old friend, Felix Leiter. While in New York Bond comes face to face with Mr. Big and sees the evil genius in the man's eyes. He also meets Solitaire, a beautiful woman being held captive by Mr. Big. The story then moves to Florida where Leiter is attacked by a shark and nearly dies. Bond discovers Mr. Big's operation and has to head to Jamaica to put a stop to it. In Jamaica Bond covertly enters Mr.Big's private island and is nearly eaten alive by barracudas and sharks. In the last pages of the book the story culminates as Bond saves Solitaire and destroys Mr. Big's yacht. The end of the novel sees Bond and Solitaire finally start a romantic relationship.
Does Leiter wake up and live? How does James Bond destroy Mr. Big's yacht? How did Mr. Big train the barracudas and sharks to attack people? Read the book to find out
This book undeniably has racist undertones including racial slurs. All I can say is that Bond was ostensibly the least racist of the characters in the book. The racist undertones aside (keeping in mind it was written by a white male in the 1950s primarily for white men of the time), it was fairly enjoyable, and introduced a couple of concepts from the villain that have permeated culture as a whole.
Aside from the racism the book is also quite misogynistic. But once again one does not go into reading about James Bond and expect the women to be anything more than ornamental.
On the whole I still enjoy his writing, pacing and structure, but it isn't anything that I loved. Go into it with your eyes open of context and expectations of the content given when it was written, and who it was written for. This will either deter you from reading it or prepare you for what to expect.
Aside from the racism the book is also quite misogynistic. But once again one does not go into reading about James Bond and expect the women to be anything more than ornamental.
On the whole I still enjoy his writing, pacing and structure, but it isn't anything that I loved. Go into it with your eyes open of context and expectations of the content given when it was written, and who it was written for. This will either deter you from reading it or prepare you for what to expect.
The story is exciting and the characters and interesting. The action is also well written and fun.
But holy shit is this racist. I mean, I know this is the mid-50s but daaaaaaaaamn. Fleming goes out of his way to drop the n-word literally chance he gets. Even for the 50s this is pretty fucked up.
But holy shit is this racist. I mean, I know this is the mid-50s but daaaaaaaaamn. Fleming goes out of his way to drop the n-word literally chance he gets. Even for the 50s this is pretty fucked up.
Bond's latest mission takes him to Harlem, Tampa, and Jamaica, and he trades the casual sexism of Casino Royale for casual racism and caricatures of the "negro race".
It's got it all: referring to Black women as "negress". Trying to mimic the Black voice / slang. Talk about the "negro race" as if it was one unified body. "The sixth sense of negroes". "Negroids". Voodoo and Juju. It's got a lot of elements of a Blaxploitation film.
Having said all that, this book (unlike Casino Royale) is where we can see the Bond formula start to develop. Fleming does an excellent job weaving multiple scenes and locations into a well-paced plot that maintains tension and keeps the interest of the reader. It's the same well-balanced amount of plot and action that people come to love about the Bond films.
It's got it all: referring to Black women as "negress". Trying to mimic the Black voice / slang. Talk about the "negro race" as if it was one unified body. "The sixth sense of negroes". "Negroids". Voodoo and Juju. It's got a lot of elements of a Blaxploitation film.
Having said all that, this book (unlike Casino Royale) is where we can see the Bond formula start to develop. Fleming does an excellent job weaving multiple scenes and locations into a well-paced plot that maintains tension and keeps the interest of the reader. It's the same well-balanced amount of plot and action that people come to love about the Bond films.
the underwater sequence in Jamaica genuinely terrifies me.
3.75/5 Stars. I’m not totally sure why I keep listening to these audio books but I enjoyed this one a lot more than Casino Royale. It was a lot less boring and I liked the plot line a lot more. Plus, Solitaire was a much more interesting character than Vesper was. I might continue on though I’m not totally sure why.
Some cringe-worthy depictions of African-Americans in the beginning, but it was the 1950s.
3.5 stars: One of the first 007 books, written in 1954, noticeable in the way it is written (or is it the translation into Dutch?). Although I sometimes find myself struggling with this way of writing (although usually with older books so maybe it's the translation I have a problem with after all), I did find Live and Let Die an easy read with the typical James Bond action which I enjoyed.
again so blithely entertaining and yet doubly racist and equally misogynistic. still sort of a vibe, although man it makes me hate the British. i used to love spy fiction and so it's a nice thing to return to for me, I guess :') but yeah this was really outdated
Nothing quite like a racial-slur filled and misogynistic romp like James Bond that makes you go yikes. Sure, this series has exciting action sequences, interesting plots, and complex women (when we can get them!). What's missing from this equation, for me, is the likability of James Bond who is the titular character! He lacks the warmth of a non-robotic male and says derogatory things about anyone who is not a white male. I know that this book was written in the 50's, but Anne of Green Gables was written in 1905 and it was filled to the brim of her sun-hat with positivity and zero man-bashing. 007 seems like a goon and I was more interested in where his American BFF Felix Lighter was off shooting pistols before he was left in quite the predicament..
I thought the narrator, Rory Kinnear, did a spectacular job fulfilling the tall order of what Live and Let Die entails. His acting choices and variations on the characters's voices were entertaining and I did not confuse the characters. I did wince at his high-pitched female impersonations and I mega-cringed at his repetition of lines spoken by some black members of Mr. Big's club. I saw how the dialogue was written phonetically and he did do his job, as unsavory as it was. He has a nice, rich tone and I liked listening to him, despite the cringiness of the writing itself.
Is it bad that I enjoyed the villain more than the love interest? Mr. Big was a Haitian crime boss whose size and prestige matched his moniker. He was well spoken and had a commanding presence. He practiced voodoo and was one bad penny. Sure, he was a nefarious smuggler and used poisonous fish to hide his treasure, but at least he had personality. That's more than I can say for Solitaire, the Bond girl of Live and Let Die.
Our lady of interest this time was a henchwoman of Mr. Big who was able to "read people", a mistress of cards, and chose to ignore men in order to become Solitaire. I wasn't that impressed with her as a character and seemed like a poor follow-up to the class act Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale. Solitaire was very flirtatious as soon as Mr. Big left the room and it was evident that it was all an act. She seemed rather weak to me and was perhaps written as an easy lay for Bond after his heartbreak in the first book. I'll have to scrounge up a copy of the film to see if Jane Seymour gave the character some pizzazz it desperately needed.
This was an interesting installment in the James Bond series. I'm enjoying myself listening to the fabulous celebrity narrators despite my disdain for the main character and his snark. I like the plots and it's fun to read about spies. Casino Royale was a great start to the 007 saga and let's roll some dice for another winner along the way!
I thought the narrator, Rory Kinnear, did a spectacular job fulfilling the tall order of what Live and Let Die entails. His acting choices and variations on the characters's voices were entertaining and I did not confuse the characters. I did wince at his high-pitched female impersonations and I mega-cringed at his repetition of lines spoken by some black members of Mr. Big's club. I saw how the dialogue was written phonetically and he did do his job, as unsavory as it was. He has a nice, rich tone and I liked listening to him, despite the cringiness of the writing itself.
Is it bad that I enjoyed the villain more than the love interest? Mr. Big was a Haitian crime boss whose size and prestige matched his moniker. He was well spoken and had a commanding presence. He practiced voodoo and was one bad penny. Sure, he was a nefarious smuggler and used poisonous fish to hide his treasure, but at least he had personality. That's more than I can say for Solitaire, the Bond girl of Live and Let Die.
Our lady of interest this time was a henchwoman of Mr. Big who was able to "read people", a mistress of cards, and chose to ignore men in order to become Solitaire. I wasn't that impressed with her as a character and seemed like a poor follow-up to the class act Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale. Solitaire was very flirtatious as soon as Mr. Big left the room and it was evident that it was all an act. She seemed rather weak to me and was perhaps written as an easy lay for Bond after his heartbreak in the first book. I'll have to scrounge up a copy of the film to see if Jane Seymour gave the character some pizzazz it desperately needed.
This was an interesting installment in the James Bond series. I'm enjoying myself listening to the fabulous celebrity narrators despite my disdain for the main character and his snark. I like the plots and it's fun to read about spies. Casino Royale was a great start to the 007 saga and let's roll some dice for another winner along the way!