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A review by owen
Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming
2.0
The first Bond novel, Casino Royale, was full of casual sexism, which is probably expected given that it was written in the 50's. It was also a mediocre action/spy 'thriller'.
Live and Let Die, the second in the series, does a bit better on the thrills. It also doubles-down on the sexism, but that's easy to overlook because of the MASSIVE amount of racism going on.
It was probably a pretty good thriller for its time, but it's barely readable now.
This time Bond finds himself trying to track down coins (I guess) in the US and later Jamaica. There's an early bombing attempt, a whole lot of torture, gun fights, and multiple shark incidents. Oh, and at one point Bond fights an octopus (that part was frankly ludicrous). The tension builds pretty well, the villain is excellent, and I kind of appreciate that Bond isn't presented as super-human, but instead keeps failing, almost-dying, losing at a few points, getting injured and captured over and over again. He doesn't actually play a very active role in his own big-win at the end of the novel, he kind of wins by dumb luck. I guess that's kind of fun.
But there are so many issues with this book. There's basically one female character, and upon surviving a near-death experience, her main concern is finding the right shade of lipstick. Seriously. And if sexism isn't enough... there are a lot of black characters in this novel, and they're all problematic. From the way their speech patterns are used to how their beliefs in Voodoo are mocked, to cringy scenes in a diner and a strip club, to the copious use of the n-word.
It would be easy to dismiss the racism here as a product of the time when the novel was written. You might even argue that the main villain's depiction is actually ahead of its time - Mr. Big is a really good villain, intelligent, physically intimidating, well-organized with his far-reaching organization. At some point Mr. Big himself comments on the slow rise of black people in America, and it's an interesting take. But the thing is, the presence of one 'modern' black character doesn't excuse to overarching casual racism. It also doesn't overcome some of the more ridiculous action scenes.
Overall, Live and Let Die is probably a better thriller than its predecessor, but it's just difficult to read in this day and age. Can't recommend.
Live and Let Die, the second in the series, does a bit better on the thrills. It also doubles-down on the sexism, but that's easy to overlook because of the MASSIVE amount of racism going on.
It was probably a pretty good thriller for its time, but it's barely readable now.
This time Bond finds himself trying to track down coins (I guess) in the US and later Jamaica. There's an early bombing attempt, a whole lot of torture, gun fights, and multiple shark incidents. Oh, and at one point Bond fights an octopus (that part was frankly ludicrous). The tension builds pretty well, the villain is excellent, and I kind of appreciate that Bond isn't presented as super-human, but instead keeps failing, almost-dying, losing at a few points, getting injured and captured over and over again. He doesn't actually play a very active role in his own big-win at the end of the novel, he kind of wins by dumb luck. I guess that's kind of fun.
But there are so many issues with this book. There's basically one female character, and upon surviving a near-death experience, her main concern is finding the right shade of lipstick. Seriously. And if sexism isn't enough... there are a lot of black characters in this novel, and they're all problematic. From the way their speech patterns are used to how their beliefs in Voodoo are mocked, to cringy scenes in a diner and a strip club, to the copious use of the n-word.
It would be easy to dismiss the racism here as a product of the time when the novel was written. You might even argue that the main villain's depiction is actually ahead of its time - Mr. Big is a really good villain, intelligent, physically intimidating, well-organized with his far-reaching organization. At some point Mr. Big himself comments on the slow rise of black people in America, and it's an interesting take. But the thing is, the presence of one 'modern' black character doesn't excuse to overarching casual racism. It also doesn't overcome some of the more ridiculous action scenes.
Overall, Live and Let Die is probably a better thriller than its predecessor, but it's just difficult to read in this day and age. Can't recommend.