Review of the Year 2016

Happy New Year, lovely readers!  It's hard to believe that another 12 months has gone by already, but I'm afraid it has, so it's time to see how things are going.  No burying my head in the sand!

Although I didn't scale the dizzy heights of 2014 (32 books read.  32!!), I have managed to reach my two books a month average this year.  Half of these weren't on the original list, unfortunately, and I didn't always manage to blog about all of them, but I'm determined to do better in 2017.  There are so many great books on my shelves, it's time to knuckle down and do them justice.  Although I'll only be able to do this if the publishing industry stops being awesome and releasing amazing new books, of course.  Such a dilemma!


To my surprise, I've read more fiction (14) than non-fiction (10) this year.  If you'd have asked me, I would have told you that I'd read far more non-fiction, but it looks like I've been doing a better job of mixing things up than I realised.  Although, having said that, five of the books were autobiographies by actors and celebrities, so perhaps not that mixed up... Will have to try and keep an eye on that next year.

So, my ideal reading list for 2017 would be longer, include more 'list' books and fewer autobiographies.  It would also be great to get in a classic or two and some science fiction.  Been a while since we've had some of that, so we'll have to see what we can do.

I would also love to see Benjamin Mee's follow up to 'We Bought a Zoo' on next year's list too, but two years after supporting the crowdfunding to help Dartmoor Zoo gain charitable status, the promised book still isn't finished.  It's easy to forget that writing is a proper, full-time job, so it's not really a surprise that the guy is finding it hard to balance with running a zoo.  Talk about multi-tasking.

I hope to keep working through Winston Graham's Poldark books next year too.  Must keep ahead of the BBC series!  Although they're such great books, I would definitely want to be reading them anyway.  Good to have an incentive sometimes though!

While I'm still reading the Poldark series, I did actually finish another set of books in 2016; Ian Fleming's Bond novels.  So even though I may not feel like I've achieved much this year, I have achieved that.

As always, thank you so much for your support and I do hope you're still enjoying the blog.  To keep things interesting for you, I'm working on some posts about some great author-related places I've visited and hope to come up with some other book-related articles for you too.  Watch this space!

It's always great to hear from you, so don't forget you can tweet me via @EileenFurze.

That's it for now, so all the best for 2017 and happy reading!

Reviews of the Year

2015
2014
2013
2012

2016: A Year in Books

January
'The Rendez-Vous and Other Stories' by Daphne Du Maurier
'Wishful Drinking' by Carrie Fisher

February
'To Kill A Mocking-Bird' by Harper Lee

March
'You Say Potato' by David and Ben Crystal

April
'Moranifesto' by Caitlin Moran
'Carmilla' by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

May
'Red: A Natural History of the Redhead' by Jacky Collis Harvey

'Absolute Pandemonium' by Brian Blessed

'Not My Father's Son' by Alan Cumming

'The Black Moon' by Winston Graham

'Dead Man's Folly' by Agatha Christie

June
'Gut' by Giulia Enders and Jill Enders

August
'The Swordfish and the Star' by Gavin Knight
'Spectacles' by Sue Perkins

September
'You Only Live Twice' by Ian Fleming
'The Man with the Golden Gun' by Ian Fleming
'The Heart Goes Last' by Margaret Atwood
'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children' by Ransom Riggs

October
'Josephine' by Kate Williams
'Conclave' by Robert Harris

November
'The Four Swans' by Winston Graham
'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' by Ian Fleming

December
'No Cunning Plan' by Tony Robinson
'The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4' by Sue Townsend

Bond Meets his Matches

So, the day has finally come.  For nearly two years, I've been working my way through the 007 Reloaded audiobooks, recordings of Ian Fleming's original James Bond novels read by a variety of great actors.  I've finally finished my last one.  I say 'my' last one because I've not actually listened to them in order, but, in a strange way, I'm glad that 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' by Ian Fleming and read by David Tennant was my last.

'On Her Majesty's Secret Service'
by Ian Fleming
(Penguin Modern Classics, 2004)

Two for the Price of Bond!

Are you sitting comfortably?  Then I'll begin.

As the regular readers among you will know, I've been working my way through the AudioGo 007 Reloaded series of James Bond audiobooks over the past few years.  I've now listened to 13 of the 14 unabridged recordings of Ian Fleming's original novels read by different actors.  At time of typing, I'm just two CDs away from finishing the whole series, so watch this space!

Back to back, I recently (ahem) finished 'You Only Live Twice' (read by Martin Jarvis) and 'The Man with the Golden Gun' (read by Kenneth Branagh).

'You Only Live Twice' by Ian Fleming
and read by Martin Jarvis
(AudioGo 2012)

In 'You Only Live Twice', Bond is a broken man.  His wife is dead, murdered by criminal mastermind Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and Bond's spirit seems to have died with her.  But while 007 is ready to give up, M is prepared to give him an opportunity to live again.  Sent to Japan, Bond receives his deadliest assignment yet from Tiger Tanaka, head of the country's Secret Service.  A suspicious foreigner has created a 'Castle of Death' where too many people have lost their lives in mysterious circumstances.  Tanaka charges Bond with infiltrating the castle, but first of all, 007 has to learn how to be Japanese...

'You Only Live Twice' is followed by 'The Man with the Golden Gun'.  Missing for over a year following his Japanese adventure, Bond makes a sudden re-appearance in London, brainwashed by the KGB to assassinate M.  Fortunately, the attempt fails, but to prove his loyalty, Bond is sent on an impossible mission; to find and kill the notorious hit man 'Pistols' Scaramanga.  But does the world-weary spy have what it takes to assassinate the legendary Man with the Golden Gun?

'You Only Live Twice' by Ian Fleming
(Penguin Modern Classics, 2004)

'You Only Live Twice' and 'The Man with the Golden Gun' are the last Bond books written by Ian Fleming before his death at just 56 years old in 1964.  They're full of references to previous events, locations and people, so you need to be aware of their predecessors' plots.  The events of 'You Only Live Twice', for example, only make sense if you've read 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' (unfortunately, the only one in the series I didn't have!).  Don't make my mistake, read Fleming's novels in order!

Of the two, I felt 'You Only Live Twice' was the weaker.  I've often got the feeling that Fleming would learn something or meet someone, become fascinated, stew for a bit, then, when the time was right, sit down and write a Bond novel.  Unfortunately, this got in the way a bit with this book.  The theme here is Japanese culture, but so many pages are devoted to Tanaka teaching Bond how to be Japanese that it dispels the tension in the lead up to the mission itself.  Plus, although I know these books are fiction, imagining the bullish Britisher James Bond could masquerade as a Japanese man felt a bit too far fetched.  Underground lairs?  Yes.  Gold smuggled as car parts?  Obviously.  A bit of make up and some coaching to completely change culture?  Hmm, not sure.

Once it did cut to the chase, however, the reader was back on safe ground.  The mission in the 'Castle of Death' has all the hallmarks of a classic Fleming thriller and there's a brilliant cliffhanger ending (although there's a loose end connected with the love interest which is never resolved and will torment me forever!).

'The Man with the Golden Gun' by
Ian Fleming and read by Kenneth Branagh.
(AudioGo, 2012)

'The Man with the Golden Gun' is far more tense and arresting throughout.  Once the initial hurdle of Bond's brainwashing is out of the way, we find ourselves in what would otherwise be a great standalone Bond story.  This is thanks to Scaramanga, a mysterious and unpredictable villain who seems much like a wire that could snap at any time.  Throughout the book, it feels like it's the baddie who has the upper hand and Bond could be unmasked at any moment.  Even when you think it's all over... well, it isn't... quite!

One unexpected negative to 'The Man with the Golden Gun' was its narrator, Kenneth Branagh.  He's such an amazing actor and director and I was really excited to be listening to a Bond book read by him.  Unfortunately, the performance felt really rushed, almost as though he'd squeezed it in between two of his other many projects.  It was such a shame, especially as many of the other 007 Reloaded readers have added so much to the books with their recordings.

'The Man with the Golden Gun'
by Ian Fleming.
(Vintage, 2012)

'You Only Live Twice' and 'The Man with the Golden Gun' both feature great characters, old and new.  I'm sure Dikko Henderson, Bond's Australian Secret Service contact in Japan, must be based on someone Fleming knew.  The guy just leaps off the page!  Felix Leiter and Mary Goodnight also make welcome re-appearances and we find out what happened to a number of other characters too.

Interestingly, the man we find out most about is probably James Bond himself.  When he goes missing in 'You Only Live Twice', Bond's obituary is published - a great read for trivia addicts!

Overall, despite having my disbelief suspended a bit higher than normal, I did enjoy both these stories and they are great additions to the Bond canon.  On the whole, I think it's a case of if you enjoyed one, you'll probably enjoy them all.

Now I've nearly finished them all, I'm actually feeling quite sad that there weren't more.  I know other writers have picked up the pen and continued where Fleming left off, but there is a big part of me that can't help thinking that nobody does it better.

Now, what next...?

Related Posts

'Casino Royale'
'Live and Let Die'
'Moonraker'
'Diamonds are Forever'
'Goldfinger'
'From Russia with Love'
'Dr No'
'For Your Eyes Only'
'Thunderball'
'The Spy who Loved Me'
'Octopussy, the Living Daylights and Other Stories'

Strangers in the Night

Hot on the heels of 'Diamonds are Forever' comes Ian Fleming's tenth Bond book, 'The Spy Who Loved Me'.  Written from a female perspective, this AudioGo CD version was read by Rosamund Pike (Miranda Frost in Die Another Day fact fans!)

In an isolated American motel, the Dreamy Pines Motor Court, Vivienne Michel is alone with

'The Spy Who Loved Me' by
Ian Fleming and read by Rosamund Pike
(AudioGo, 2012)

nothing but thoughts of her past disappointments - bitter love affairs, faded career prospects, shattered dreams.  Nursing her wounds and in search of a fresh start, she's begun a cross country journey that she hopes will lead to something new, something better.  But fate has other ideas.  With the arrival of two terrifying psychopathic gangsters, Vivienne finds herself caught up in a deadly criminal plot and Dreamy Pines begins to turn into a nightmare beyond anything she could have imagined...

Oh. My. Goodness.  'The Spy Who Loved Me' is far and away the most visceral, hard hitting and haunting of all the Bond novels I've read to date.  People often talk about being on the edge of their seat and in this instance it was not a metaphor.  At the end of every disc, I was finding I was about to topple off my chair and I couldn't get the next CD into the player quickly enough.  Perhaps it was to do with the narrator - Mr Fleming does an unexpectedly good job writing from the female perspective, while Ms Pike is fantastic, her performance expertly drawing you into Vivienne's rapidly shrinking and increasingly threatening world.  I felt like I was in the room with her, a helpless bystander watching as the horrors unfolded, praying for someone to come and help her.

This is the first Bond novel that I know I definitely want to read again.  'The Spy Who Loved Me' is a chilling, taut, suspenseful thriller of the first order and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who enjoys the genre.

Now, what next...?

Related Posts

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

Diamond Geezer, Hard Case

After several months, I've finally finished listening to AudioGo's 007 Reloaded recording of 'Diamonds are Forever' by Ian Fleming, read by Damian Lewis.  Yay!

'Diamonds are Forever'
by Ian Fleming
Read by Damian Lewis
(AudioGo, 2012)

Millions of pounds worth of diamonds are being smuggled from West Africa to the United States via London and MI6 is investigating.  Suspicion has fallen on the anglo-American Diamond Corporation, but the authorities need to know the pipeline's route so they can close it down.  It's a tough job that needs a skilled agent, so M sends James Bond undercover to track who is handling the illegal gems.  But as Bond penetrates deeper into the organisation, he encounters harder and more brutal adversaries, until he's face-to-face with the Spangled Mob gangsters behind the Corporation and their psychopathic heavies Mr Wint and Mr Kidd.  Is Bond in too deep this time?  Can he convince the gang of his false identity?  Or will Britain's greatest spy end up in a desert shallow grave?

Like a number of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, 'Diamonds are Forever' suddenly gets going quite a way in, in this case about 100 pages from the end.  It starts well, with an intense description of the first link in the smuggling chain, then the initial investigations in the UK followed by Bond's first moves undercover and his introduction to the damaged Tiffany Case.  Then it all goes flat for a bit while there's some stuff about fixed horse races and gambling before Bond upsets his paymasters and finds himself in trouble.  To be honest, it almost felt like Fleming had suddenly developed an interest in equestrian events that he really wanted to (horse) shoe in, but I'm probably being a bit harsh.

As in 'Goldfinger', the gangsters are as repulsive a group as you could ever imagine, while Wint and Casino Royale'.  They are truly terrifying villains, prevented from becoming cartoonish by Fleming's tactile descriptions, which mean you can't stop yourself imagining them in three dimensions, conjured through every one of the five senses.

'Diamonds are Forever' by
Ian Fleming
(Penguin Modern Classics, 2004)

Kidd take sadistic torture to levels not read since '

For me, the books often hang on how I feel about the heroine and I must admit that I grew to like Tiffany Case.  She's tough with a heartbreaking back story, but had humour, playfulness and ambition.  She made her own decisions and made her own mistakes.

Overall, this was a pretty good Bond book, although it's not for the faint hearted.  If you like the others, you're going to like 'Diamonds are Forever', but I wouldn't recommended it as an introduction to the series.

Now, what next...

Related Posts

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

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'

The Old Man and the Spy

It's taken a while, but I have finally finished the AudioGo recording of Ian Fleming's 'From Russia with Love'.  This version was read by Toby Stephens, who fans will recognise as the villain Gustav Graves from 'Die Another Day'.

'From Russia with Love' by Ian Fleming
Read by Toby Stephens
(AudioGo, 2012)

James Bond is a marked man.  The Russian spy-killers SMERSH have decided they need to bag a big name and none come bigger than Bond.  Orchestrated by Colonel Rosa Klebb and chess master Kronsteen, SMERSH set a trap with the twin temptations of the beautiful Corporal Tatiana Romanova and a top secret Spektor coding machine.  Although suspicious, M and Bond decide it is a prize worth making a play for and before long the famous secret agent is on his way to Istanbul, unaware that Russia's top assassin, Donovan Grant, is on his tail...

Unfortunately, I found this story hard work.  It starts well enough, with a focus on Grant and his origins, but once the story moved to the boardrooms of the Russian military, my mind began to wander.  In the paperback, it's more than 90 pages before Bond makes an appearance, but it's hard to believe that it's purely his absence that stopped it holding my attention.  I usually like it when Fleming tries something different, but I think this time it fell a bit flat and led to a lack of tension early on, for me anyway.

Whether I enjoy each Bond novel often seems to hinge on how much I like the female lead.  Romanova seemed a bit too much of a push-over, little more than a pair of blue eyes and some fluttering lashes.  That may appeal to a certain male audience, but I'm afraid I need a brain too please.  I know that the girls can't outshine Bond and that these books represent the values of a different era, but it's always more fun when the ladies get a look in on the action rather than just being damsels in distress.

I think my love of the film version was also a big problem here.  'From Russia with Love' is one of

'From Russia with Love'
by Ian Fleming
(Penguin Modern Classics, 2004)

my favourites, so I had high hopes that the book would exceed the movie and flesh out the key characters, particularly Kerim and Klebb.  To a degree it did, but unfortunately I didn't really like what I found out, especially about the apparently lovable Kerim.  I'm very glad that the sexual politics of today don't accept 'taming' women the same way they did in 1957.

Overall, I was a bit disappointed by the book.  Perhaps people who haven't seen the film will get more out of it because they don't know the basic plot, but I doubt there are many people who haven't watched it already and that doesn't make up for the dodgy way the female characters are portrayed and treated.  On the whole, like Grant and Klebb, it's a bit odd, but that won't stop me pushing on with the rest of Fleming's novels.

I will return.... with the rather different 'The Victorian Chaise-Longue' by Marghanita Laski!

Related Posts

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'Live and Let Die'
'Moonraker'
'Dr No'
'For Your Eyes Only'
'Thunderball'
'Octopussy, the Living Daylights and Other Stories'

Double Oh Zzzzzzz...

As a mini-project within a project, I'm still working my way through all of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels and I have now finished 'Octopussy, the Living Daylights and Other Stories'.  It was another AudioGo audiobook, this time read by Loki himself, Tom Hiddleston.

'Octopussy and The Living Daylights'
by Ian Fleming
(Vintage, 2012)

This short collection includes four stories.  In 'Octopussy', a psychopathic Major finally gets his just rewards courtesy of the local wildlife, while 'The Property of a Lady' appealed to my love of shiny things as the plot revolves around the auction of a rare jewelled Fabergé sphere.  Bond takes on an unlikely Russian sniper in 'The Living Daylights'.  Finally, the collection concludes with '007 in New York', about... erm... James Bond in New York. This is read by the author's niece, Lucy Fleming,

Unfortunately, things didn't go well between me and this book from the start.  I fell asleep while listening to 'Octopussy' and had to replay it again from the beginning to catch up.  In retrospect, I'm not surprised, because it's not really a James Bond story (it just happens to have James Bond in it) nor is it a great short story.  It's plodding and predictable and I've come to expect more now I've encountered so much great work from Mr Fleming.

'The Property of a Lady' left me surprised and disappointed as the complex set up didn't deliver the plot twist I expected, while '007 in New York' felt a bit like a fan-focussed Easter Egg, a secret extra for the eyes of real obsessives only.

The best of the four was definitely 'The Living Daylights', a story which draws the reader into the working life of a jobbing double-0.  It opens up the the events leading up to the assassin's gunshot, the tedium of waiting, the meticulous planning, the risk of getting caught.  It had tension and provided insight into a character that we all think we know.

'Octopussy and the Living Daylights
and Other Stories'
by Ian Fleming.
(AudioGo, 2012)

I felt a bit sorry for Tom Hiddleston really.  He didn't have as much to work with as some of the other actors who have narrated CDs in the 007 Reloaded series, but that didn't stop him trying.  He clearly had a lot of fun voicing Major Dexter Smythe in 'Octopussy', although it did make me smile a couple of times.  I couldn't help being reminded of Kulvinder Ghir in the 'Goodness Gracious Me' Coopers/Kapoors and Robinsons/Rabindranaths sketches.  Both probably had the same inspiration.

Overall, I would recommend this as a curiosity, something to read so you can say 'I've read all the James Bond books'.  It's not got the energy of the other stories I've listened to so far, so in a way, here, Mr Fleming is a victim of his own success.  I'm hoping it's just a blip and that Bond will be back on form for 'Thunderball'.  After all, James Bond will return...

Related Posts

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'For Your Eyes Only'

No Limit!

No no no no no no no no no no no no there's no limit!

'Dr No' by Ian Fleming, read by Hugh Quarshie
(AudioGo 2012)

OK, now I've got that out of my system, here is a post about 'Dr No' by Ian Fleming, an AudioGo 007 Reloaded version of the novel read by Hugh Quarshie.

Returning to active duty after a near fatal encounter with the Russians, James Bond is given an easy assignment; investigating the disappearance of two MI6 operatives based in Kingston, Jamaica.  But the case is not as it seems. Before too long M's 'bit of a holiday' looking into a suspected affair and elopement has evolved into something far more sinister.  As Bond joins the dots, he finds all the threads lead to Crab Key, home to rare birds, a guano plant and the secretive spider at the web's centre, Dr Julius No.

'Dr No' is much more meticulously paced than 'Live and Let Die', the last Bond story I listened to as an audiobook.  It's still not a long novel, but it includes much more tension, character development and back story and is the better for it.  Bond lives a hyper-real, ultra-violent life just within sight of reality, so it helps to actually bring the story back down to Earth by making readers care about the characters.  In 'Dr No', Quarrel and Honeychile Ryder are much more developed than Solitaire in 'Live and Let Die', so there is a greater sense of danger that makes you genuinely root for these people and want to find out what happens next.

'Dr No' by Ian Fleming
(Penguin Modern
Classics, 2004)

I thought Solitaire was a complete waste of space, but I absolutely fell in love with Honeychile Ryder.  Although in some ways a victim of circumstances, she's not been sat around waiting for Bond to arrive and sort everything out for her.  She has her own aims, talents and desires, some more sensible than others, but whether her decisions make good sense or not, at least she's trying and she's not afraid of using her skills and knowledge to make her way independently in the world.  You go girl!

While the heroes seem more real, the villain Dr No was as unreal as they come.  Perhaps it was a deliberate dichotomy or maybe a villain as completely off the wall as this one is so unbelievable to prevent readers having nightmares.  Having said that, while No was a typical megalomaniacal Bond villain who seemed completely detached from reality in his underground lair, he was scary.  Normally this sort of character becomes borderline camp in the films, but on the page and in his own domain claustrophobia sets in and you begin to doubt that even 007 can overcome this madman's manipulations.

Overall, 'Dr No' is a great adventure story, action-packed, tense and with real punch in places.  It has dated in the last 57 years, but, to be fair, all the Bond books I've encountered so far have, like so many of their contemporaries.  If you can see beyond this, however, I would recommend it.

Now, what next?

Related Posts

'Live and Let Die'
'Casino Royale'
'For Your Eyes Only'

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.

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'For Your Eyes Only'

Rough and Ready

After really enjoying 'For Your Eyes Only' in AudioGo's 007 Rebooted series, I decided to go back to where it all began and listen to the first Bond book, 'Casino Royale' by Ian Fleming, read by Dan Stevens (him off Downton Abbey).

'Casino Royal' by Ian Fleming
read by Dan Stevens
(AudioGo 2012)

Top Soviet secret agent Le Chiffre has taken one risk too many with his paymaster's money.  On the verge of bankruptcy and pursued by Russia's elite spy killers SMERSH, he's decided to gamble himself out of harms way at the exclusive French resort of Royale-Les-Eaux.  But Le Chiffre isn't the only one seizing his chance; the British Secret Service knows he is vulnerable and, if he is beaten, one of the USSR's key pieces will be out of the game.  So they send James Bond, double-0, assassin and the best gambler they have, to take his money so that SMERSH can take his life.

'Casino Royale' was an interesting book because here is James Bond before he became the James Bond we're more familiar with.  There's something unformed about him, as if Fleming met him in a bar and then casually decided to follow him and see where he ended up.  At the start of the book, the character seems peculiarly aimless, only interested in getting the job done and the sexual buzz that comes afterwards.  If he has any driving force at  all, it's the appeasement of his senses; whether it's an excellent meal, the colour of a women's dress or the warmth of the sun on his skin, he lives fully in the moment while remaining controlled and analytical.  By the end, however, his self-contained, shadowy world has been turned upside down and he's on a quest to defeat one of the most feared and secret organisations in the world.

Every hero needs a villain and 'Casino Royale' provides one which will presumably keep Bond going for all the books to come.  I'd always assumed SMERSH was some sort of non-governmental, hard line splinter group, so it was intriguing to hear more about them.  It turns out that they are in fact (if that's the right phrase to use!) part of Soviet Russia's secret service.  They police the police and spy on the spies, keeping the most feared men and women in the USSR in check.

'Casino Royale' by Ian Fleming
(Penguin Modern Classics, 2004)

Dan Stevens did a great job of reading this story, although I couldn't help but smile at the voice of Le Chiffre at first.  It didn't last long, though, and his interpretation perfectly evoked the toad-like figure described.  I'll certainly look out for his name on future audiobooks.

Awful as it sounds, one thing that did pleasantly surprise me about 'Casino Royale' was how closely the plot of the 2006 film matched that of the book.  I'm so used to the Fleming stories having nothing to do with the films, I simply didn't expect it, so at least the book wasn't ruined for me.  Whether this is why it's one of the better Bond movies I couldn't possibly comment.  It is kind of strange that the movie Bond and the book Bond appear to have finally converged 50 years and 60 years after they were created!  Of all the Bonds, Daniel Craig certainly seems to best match the spy described by Mr Fleming.


Overall, I think the best word for this book is 'interesting'.  I really did get the feeling that Mr Fleming was throwing everything at the story, as if it had been bubbling around inside him for a long time.  Now I know where Bond began, I'm looking forward to seeing where he ends up going next.

The Man with the Golden Pun

I've just finished reading 'My Word is My Bond' by Sir Roger Moore.  Some how I don't feel so bad reading celebrity biographies if the writer is over 80!

'My Word is My Bond' is Sir Roger's story of his life, the people he's had the pleasure (and sometimes displeasure) of meeting and his work, on screen as the Saint and James Bond and off screen for UNICEF.  His life so far has been a busy one and he shares stories from his Second World War childhood, his early struggles as a jobbing actor, striking it lucky in TV and the movies and how his fame led to his charity work.

I loved the way this book was written.  It was almost exactly like sitting down by the fire with an elderly relative and just letting them talk away about their life.  I'm almost sad that I didn't listen to the audiobook instead of reading the print version!  It makes the narrative feel like it's For Your Eyes Only, cosy and almost intimate.

Sir Roger is undoubtedly a total charmer and I defy anyone to not get drawn in by him when they read this book, even though it's a little saucy in places.  Somehow he's not ended up with the Moonraker, he still has his feet on the ground and the common touch, which means he knows what the reader wants and gives it to them.  Let's face it, we all love a bit of celebrity gossip, but we don't want cruelty nor bitchiness, so Moore's Live and Let Die attitude does him credit.  He tells stories about the more unpleasant characters he's met, but doesn't name names.

'My Word is My Bond' by Roger Moore
(Michael O'Mara Books Ltd, 2008)

I read this book at a really good time because I've been given a complete set of Bond films and set myself the project of watching them in order from 'Dr No' to 'Skyfall'.  My next one will be 'Octopussy', so I've been able to read Moore's behind the scenes tales while watching the relevant movies.  It was great to see him mention 'The Man Who Haunted Himself', which is a great little film that I was introduced to a few years ago.  It always struck me as a bit strange that the big star of 'A View to a Kill' had been in such an unusual British production, but now I know that was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what he did, so I'll have to seek out some more of his work.  I've never watched 'The Saint', so hopefully I'm in for a treat there.

My only (minor) criticism is that the book ends with a rather clunky A-Z of places Sir Roger and his wife have visited as part of their UNICEF work.  Unfortunately, some of the stories become a bit samey and as such started to lose their impact over time.  Part of me feels that a separate book about this aspect of Moore's life would have allowed him to go into more depth and make it more interesting, but it might've been hard going for the reader.  I think it might have worked better if these stories had been woven into the rest of the book, but understand that the author wanted to leave the reader with a message about the charity and the important work it does.  As I said earlier, he's such a charmer, by the end you'll let him get away with a lot!

Overall, this is not so much The Spy who Loved Me, but The Spy who is Loved, a light, funny, interesting read, good for on the plane as you jet off to your very own exotic Bond film location.

Now to decide what next.  I'm in the mood for a bit of Gothic horror, but whether I'll still be by the time I get to the shelves you never know!

A Life Extraordinary

I've just finished 'Fluke' by James Herbert, which probably wins the 'shortest title on the list' competition!

'Fluke' is the story of a dog with a difference.  He may look like a scruffy, underfed mongrel, but Fluke remembers being something else - a human. At first he has just an inkling that he's not the same as other canines - he doesn't feel and see the way they do - and as he grows from puppy to adult, memories of his pre-dog life begin to filter through.  Unfortunately, by the time he realises that memory can be a false friend, it's far too late...

'Fluke' by
James Herbert
(1999, Pan Books)

I found this book totally absorbing.  We follow Fluke from his birth through an eventful canine life which encompasses dysfunctional marriages, criminal fraternities and deceptive old ladies, not to mention a menagerie of pets and British wildlife.  The book is written in the first person and I was completely hooked by the narrative from the very beginning.  Even though I guessed what had happened to Fluke quite early on, there was still a great twist in the tale that I didn't expect at the end.  The story is very character-driven and I found I couldn't help wanting to know what was going to happen to Fluke next.

One thing I would say is don't be put off by the 'horror' label often applied to Mr Herbert's work.  I really can't handle anything graphically violent or scary, but enjoyed this and didn't think it felt like a 'horror' novel at all.  It's got a slightly unusual perspective and the first person narrative means that you are right in the thick of all the action, but it certainly didn't give me nightmares!  I've been known to stop reading books by the man often considered Herbert's American equivalent, Stephen King, because I found them too revolting, but I didn't find that at all with 'Fluke'.  The subject is a bit off the wall, but it certainly wasn't horrific!

Overall, I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes stories which explore unusual ideas and take a slightly skewed view of life.  You'll never look at an animal in the same way again!

Now, what next?