A review by meganpbennett
Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-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

3.0

Casino Royale was the first James Bond book, and it's interesting. It's very dated to its time, and so it feels frozen, like a dragonfly in amber. I felt like a dictionary would have been helpful, or an edition where some of the references and vocabulary were explained. A working knowledge of baccarat would have been helpful, as well, since much of the plot of the first half of the book involved Bond's attempt to bankrupt le Chiffre at the baccarat table. 

Parts of the book are very tense and page-turning, while others aren't anywhere near as fast-paced. The 2006 movie was a very good adaptation, in terms of how close it stuck to the novel, with the necessary updates and modifications (no one would carry a 40 million Euro check around, now would they? No. That's what wireless bank transfers are for). It does explain a lot about how Bond became Bond. 
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