Bond goes on a Treasure Hunt

The final book I finished last month was 'Live and Let Die' by Ian Fleming.  It was another in the 007 Reloaded series from AudioGo and read by Rory Kinnear, who played M's assistant Bill Tanner in 'Quantum of Solace' and 'Skyfall'.  Fact!

'Live and Let Die' by Ian Fleming
(AudioGo, 2012)

'Live and Let Die' begins with a pirate's gold.  Old, rare and valuable coins from a legendary Caribbean hoard are mysteriously surfacing in America and the authorities want to know how they're getting there.  Working with the FBI and the CIA's Felix Leiter, Bond is sent on a treasure hunt that plunges him headlong into a world of superstition, voodoo and organised crime.  His target is Mr Big, cult leader, smuggler and SMERSH operative, a powerful figure in the Black community who manipulates his magical reputation to get what he wants from his network of terrified informants.  When 007 is forced to go on the run with Mr Big's pet psychic Solitaire, there seems to be no chance of escape.  But Bond was born lucky and it takes more than stories to frighten him.  Something more like the thought of a night time swim in a sea of frenzied sharks and barracuda...

This book is the most 'boy's own' of all the Bond stories I've read/heard so far.  Ignoring the fact that the novel is very much of its time and uses words and descriptions that are unacceptable today, it starts off very gung ho and a bit Bond-by-numbers, almost like Fleming wasn't sure where he was going with it.  For example, a scene set in Mr Big's night club hide out featuring an erotic dancer who strips her meagre coverings for a baying mob may be a teenage boy's cheap thrill, but it seemed excessive even as an attempt to suggest Mr Big and his minions were nothing but unsophisticated tribal savages or to remind us that we're in the hyper-charged world of Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.  Solitaire, also, feels like a box ticked rather than a necessity for the story.  A typical damsel in distress, she comes across as vapid, useless and rather pointless overall.  But can Bond be Bond without a girl?

About half way through, however, Bond and Leiter get back to the business in hand, start doing some actual

'Live and Let Die' by Ian Fleming
(Penguin, 2004)

spying and - lo! - the story starts to pick up.  From then onwards, the tension builds to a fantastic climax that kept me guessing even though I knew what would probably happen.  Now that's more like it!

As with the other 007 Reloaded CDs I've listened to so far, this one kept things simple and benefited from it.

Overall, I was slightly disappointed by this book, but enjoyed the return of Felix Leiter, the tense second half and working out which films various scenes and events had ended up it.  (It goes without saying that this book bears little resemblance to the enjoyable film, but bits of it do appear in other movies, most obviously in 'Licence to Kill'.)

I've already started on 'Dr No' and it's already a much more plodding work, leaden by comparison with this.  I'll be interested to see if it does the opposite to 'Live and Let Die' and gets a bit feisty in the second half instead.

Related Posts

'Casino Royale'
'For Your Eyes Only'