Going for Goldfinger

Gowldfingaaaaaa! Ba baaah baah!

OK, enough of that.  I recently finished another Bond audiobook, this time Ian Fleming's 'Goldfinger', read by Lord Grantham of Downton himself, Hugh Bonneville.

'Goldfinger'
by Ian Fleming, read by Hugh Bonneville
(AudioGo, 2012)

On the way back from a tough job in Mexico, Bond is saved from morbid musings by a chance encounter with Junius Du Pont, one of the card players who joined him at Le Chiffre's table in 'Casino Royale'. Du Pont has a problem and hopes that 007 can help.  The multi-millionaire is losing thousands of dollars daily to Auric Goldfinger, whose almost Midas-like ability to turn every canasta game his way has left Du Pont both frustrated and certain he is being cheated.  Ready for a distraction, Bond takes on the challenge of unmasking the greedy Goldfinger.  But when our favourite secret agent discovers that he is also of interest to MI6, the chance encounter leads to one of Bond's most perilous cases yet...

This book draws together elements of a number of other Bond stories, so it does sometimes feel like we're going over old ground.  Like Le Chiffre, Goldfinger is SMERSH's money man, like Drax in 'Moonraker', we first meet him cheating at cards and like Dr No, he's a proper, scary, mad-as-a-box-of-frogs Bond villain.  But, at the end of the day, Fleming did knock out the Bond books rather rapidly, so it's understandable that he mined his other works in an attempt to strike gold once more.

And, on the whole, he does.  Although I don't think this is pure, 24-carat Bond, it's a welcome return to a proven, successful structure, focussed on 007 himself and full of tension and danger for our hero and those around him.

'Goldfinger'
by Ian Fleming
(Penguin Modern
Classics, 2004)

As many of you will know, this is the novel which has a - whisper it now - lesbian in it.  I hope I've not shocked you too much by mentioning it, please take a few moments to get over your vapours.  As you can imagine, the subject really brings out the dinosaur in Bond.  Perhaps the bitter, spiteful, homophobic vitriol he spouts represents the view of the character, highlighting jealousy or insecurity or fear or maybe all three.  Or perhaps it's the view of the author, who seems to have written Bond as some kind of fantasy alternative identity.  I don't know, but I did find myself shouting at the CD player, which even for me is quite unusual.  Yelling at the TV or radio is pretty much a daily activity, but shouting at the CD player is something new.  Anyway, it did make me wonder why some sections weren't excised from the book, but at the end of the day, it is a novel of its time and it's good to be able to map how far we've come through popular culture.  The 1950s clearly weren't a golden age for all.  But if you find it hard to take a step back and see 'Goldfinger' as a historical document, this probably isn't a good read for you.

Overall, this is a decent James Bond novel, giving you everything you'd expect.  The audiobook, however, is brilliant.  And it's made so by Hugh Bonneville.  It felt like he was on the same journey as the listener from beginning to end, sharing the same excitement at each tense plot twist and amazement at every death-defying escape.  I'd gladly listen to more books read by him in the future.  Talk about solid gold.

Now, what next...

Related Posts

'Casino Royale'
'Live and Let Die'
'Moonraker'
'From Russia with Love'
'Dr No'
'For Your Eyes Only'
'Thunderball'
'Octopussy, the Living Daylights and Other Stories'

Treasure Trove

Considering I'm trying to read so many books, I think I've been pretty lucky so far.  I've only found a handful so unbearable that I've not finished them and have unearthed so many hidden gems that the project has often been a delight.

One such brilliant discovery is the latest book sent to me by Waterstones, 'Love and Treasure' by American author Ayelet Waldman.

'Love and Treasure' is the story of a stunning peacock-shaped pendant, three remarkable women and

'Love and Treasure'
by Ayelet Waldman
(Two Roads, 2014)

the men who loved them.  Interwoven with key political and social shifts in the last 100 years, this excellent book is set in three eras.  In 1945, the jewel is found by American soldier Captain Jack Wiseman among the vast contents of the Hungarian Gold Train, stolen from the Jews during World War II and now under his care.  As he falls in love with the determined concentration camp survivor Ilona, Jack finds himself torn between his personal sense of justice, the demands of his distant superiors and how unlikely the property can be returned to its rightful owners.  More than 60 years later, Wiseman's granddaughter, Natalie, has joined forces with Amitai Shasho, a specialist dealer in items seized by the Nazis, to return the unique jewel.  Amitai has recognised the piece from a lost painting he has spent a lifetime tracing. Together, they hope to find both the owner's descendants and the elusive artwork.  Finally, in 1913, a strong-minded young woman in Budapest is sent to a pioneering psychoanalyst after defying her family and pursuing her dream of a medical career.  A campaigner for women's suffrage, her passion and politics lead her into danger.  But how is she connected with the peacock pendant?

I found 'Love and Treasure' a fascinating page turner and incredibly hard to put down.  I was very sad to finish it.  I knew nothing about the Hungarian Gold Train before I started reading the novel and would now very much like to know more about it and this time period.  I always enjoy a book which lets me learn something new.

I felt that the part set in post-war Salzburg was the strongest, but moving between different times helped remind the reader that the dramatic events of one era often have their origins many years before and will cause ripples long into the future.  That is why history is important; it helps us understand why things are as they are and where they could lead.

The author has successfully written people not just characters, each with complex motivations and beliefs that felt authentic to their time period, no matter how ridiculous they look through 21st century eyes.  No-one could be classed wholly as a hero or villain, but all are conflicted and often naive and confused, trying to make good moral choices and judgements is a less than honourable world.  They were often torn between the just and the practical and it was easy to find yourself wondering what you'd do in the same situation.

My only criticism of 'Love and Treasure' is that I felt it needed some minor adaptation for the UK market, perhaps in the form of an added glossary.  Aspects of Jewish culture are not so well known here and I regularly had to reach for the dictionary to look things up, which obviously interrupted the narrative's flow.  Basically, a certain level of prior knowledge was presumed and, while US readers must be better informed on the subject, I think ordinary UK readers may struggle.

Overall, I thoroughly recommend this book and I hope to read more by this author in the future.  It is indeed a novel to love and treasure.

Now for something completely different!