A review by mysteriousnorse
Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming

3.0

Whew, time to talk about some subjects that are extremely uncomfortable. This is the type of novel that gets people fired up. There was definitely racism in the fifties (as there is today), and this novel contains it. The 'jive talk' is unfortunate. I've never been a big fan of writing in a dialect, and this novel makes Mr. Big's henchmen nearly incomprehensible. However, many of the views on race are surprisingly progressive especially for the time. It brings up the recognition that the black community was just starting to get (though we honestly haven't come far enough in the 60 years). Also, the film is way more racist than anything in the novel, and it was made nearly twenty years later.

My biggest issue is with James and Felix's stupidity through the middle of the novel. After escaping with minor wounds when first confronting Mr. Big, they decide to act independently when investigating his place in Florida.

Spoiler

This leads to Felix losing an arm and a leg, literally.

Great job guys! After this, rather than following the fever pitched crescendo of rage that makes Licence to Kill interesting when it uses that plot point, he becomes more distracted by getting the girl who he helped to escape out. Which would be fine, particularly following Casino Royale, if Bond actually worked through any of the emotions stemming from the end of that novel: itself briefly mentioned at the start. The biggest issue is that Bond is just on a mission to save sexy girl and country nearly oblivious to the events that are happening to him.

Solitaire... is described in a very similar manner to Vesper: blue eyes, black hair, big breasts. She is psychic, but, much like the supernaturality of the voodoo, this is played down (good), giving her the damsel in distress role as her primary focus (bad). She's the boring, safe clone that Bond can use happily and discard. The novel would have been better off without her

Spoiler

as she doesn't provide any more incentive than revenge for Felix would have.

So, why three stars? The novel was still a tense read. The sprawling description, notably of Jamaica, is vivid with the "Valley of Shadows" chapter alone making the read worthwhile. Mr. Big is a true criminal mastermind with a large network of spies, and one that Bond never even gets close to facing in fair combat. He shown to be powerful and uses his power well. The use of nature by Mr. Big in the final act is superb with his end completing a karmic pattern that makes the ending feel more just than it would have otherwise. Honestly, its a shame the entire book wasn't just set in Jamaica. The only thing the U.S. settings really achieved were adding scale to Mr. Big's operation.