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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
adventurous
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A good book. It was interesting to read having spent so long watching the films.
adventurous
informative
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really enjoyed this book. I have never read a James Bond before and am glad my Dad chose this book for me to read.
James is on the trail of Blofled, as he is heading towards what could be another lead, he is passed on the road by a young lady driving a Lancia. Now this grabs James's attention and when he rescues this young lady, Tracy, from what could be social and economic ruin, her father gives James his biggest lead yet. He finds himself on top of a mountain in Switzerland, surrounded my 10 young ladies with a very strict Matron.
What is Blofeld up too? The more James finds out the sooner he is out of there the better. Can Blofeld be stopped? Who will help James?
The plot kept me engaged, liked the dynamics between James and all he met. The book was better than the film, there was not so much sex, the gadgets were not there, James had to use his wits.
I do plan on reading James Bond books.
James is on the trail of Blofled, as he is heading towards what could be another lead, he is passed on the road by a young lady driving a Lancia. Now this grabs James's attention and when he rescues this young lady, Tracy, from what could be social and economic ruin, her father gives James his biggest lead yet. He finds himself on top of a mountain in Switzerland, surrounded my 10 young ladies with a very strict Matron.
What is Blofeld up too? The more James finds out the sooner he is out of there the better. Can Blofeld be stopped? Who will help James?
The plot kept me engaged, liked the dynamics between James and all he met. The book was better than the film, there was not so much sex, the gadgets were not there, James had to use his wits.
I do plan on reading James Bond books.
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Quick Look
Plot = .75
Characters = 1
Promise = 1
Engagement = 1
Efficiency = .75
Plot = .75
Characters = 1
Promise = 1
Engagement = 1
Efficiency = .75
adventurous
sad
medium-paced
This wasn't the worst Bond story.
It takes place in Europe, so the chauvinism and bigotry is against ugly Swiss women with yellow piggy eyes, and creepy Germans with "syphilitic nostrils."
Bond finds his match with Tracy, who is a a beautiful, damaged woman (his favorite) with a powerful crime-boss father. He's the head of the Corsican mafia. Which means he's a good guy, because French > Italian. (Ha, more Euro-centric bigotry.)
Bond ends up playing Baccarat (again) and does a daring ski escape (with avalanche), and a bobsled chase (with grenades.)
As the middle novel in the "Spectre" trilogy, it end on a downer (just like "the Empire Strikes Back") but we know Bond will be back in the third installment.
The interesting thing about the Bond novels is there's no fancy "tech gimmicks" like you see in the movies. Bond's "disappearing ink" is urine, and he has to improvise a lock-pick by stealing a strip of plastic. He's still a BAMF, but unlike the movie Bond, when he gets hit, he gets hurt bad. He still recovers quicker than Wolverine though.
Recommended to Bond fans.
It takes place in Europe, so the chauvinism and bigotry is against ugly Swiss women with yellow piggy eyes, and creepy Germans with "syphilitic nostrils."
Bond finds his match with Tracy, who is a a beautiful, damaged woman (his favorite) with a powerful crime-boss father. He's the head of the Corsican mafia. Which means he's a good guy, because French > Italian. (Ha, more Euro-centric bigotry.)
Bond ends up playing Baccarat (again) and does a daring ski escape (with avalanche), and a bobsled chase (with grenades.)
As the middle novel in the "Spectre" trilogy, it end on a downer (just like "the Empire Strikes Back") but we know Bond will be back in the third installment.
The interesting thing about the Bond novels is there's no fancy "tech gimmicks" like you see in the movies. Bond's "disappearing ink" is urine, and he has to improvise a lock-pick by stealing a strip of plastic. He's still a BAMF, but unlike the movie Bond, when he gets hit, he gets hurt bad. He still recovers quicker than Wolverine though.
Recommended to Bond fans.
After Operation Thunderball, Bond pursues Blofeld to the Swiss Alps, where a new plot against the free world is afoot, rife with a bevy of international beauties, hypnosis and biological agents. Bond also falls in love with the daughter of a Corsican mobster, a relationship that proves personally and professionally fulfilling in multiple ways. The action is superb and the villain's scheme is both grandiose and scarily plausible (even today), making this stop in the Bond saga an especially satisfying one for the 21st century reader. The sexual politics are still a throwback to a bygone era, but what can you expect from Fleming's Bond? The movie is fun to revisit, too. I remember enjoying it on cable one evening while staying at my grandmother's apartment back in the early 80s, and even then realizing it was something of a one-off from the other Bond movies with George Lazenby's only appearance in the series. The movie's storyline hews pretty closely to the novel's, with one notable departure midway through involving an internal moral dilemma Bond faces when his cover is in jeopardy. It would have been difficult to film clearly as written (at least given the conventions of Bond filmmaking in the 60s), so the rewrites make sense. They provide a nice surprise for viewers familiar with the source material, ramp up the action, and give the excellent henchwoman Irma Bundt a little more to do. The ending is as abrupt and shocking as in the novel, which makes me wonder why EON decided to film this AFTER "You Only Live Twice" instead of filming them in order. Would have saved them the trouble of other major rewrites ...
Easily my favorite Fleming novel so far. "We have all the time in the world." That's all I really need to say.
This Bond book was a Bond book, and hey, that's a good thing. This one was a little slower to catch me but the whole back half of the book is good and the second act chase scene is superb. It's interesting how much Bond's ability in the books is a combination of endurance and luck - Fleming writes really good fatigue, but Bond spends a lot of time getting the crap kicked out of him either by people or circumstance and barely struggling away. Add in that in this book Bond locates Blofeld, can't be 100% sure it's him, can't figure out what his plan is and barely gets away and we have a much more realistic character than the omni-competent hero of the movies. He's a good liar, a good seducer, an excellent driver, brutal when he needs to be and willing to use his skill at violence when required.
This is similar to the conversations I'd had with people about how the popular perception of Holmes is very different from the one in the books who makes errors of omission and arrogance regularly.
This is similar to the conversations I'd had with people about how the popular perception of Holmes is very different from the one in the books who makes errors of omission and arrogance regularly.