Genres: Fiction
The famous spy character of James Bond first appeared physically in the book Casino Royale written by Ian Fleming. It was published in 1953. Post war readers were thrilled by he Fleming’s mix of colour, escapism, sadism, sex and food, and both the author and his creation went to become world-famous entities (especially the character).
The plot involves a Soviet agent, a member of SMERSH- an organisation similar to KGB. His name is Le Chiffre and he lives in France. He has run into a trouble with his organisation for lavish spending of his assigned funds. He knows that he is a dead man until he recovers the money and comes up with a plan. He tries to make money by winning in casinos using his gambling abilities. James Bond, the best gambler in MI6 is assigned to play against Le Chiffre at the gambling table and to win money from him, thus prompting SMERSH to assassinate him.
One thing in the text of the book that will come across almost every reader is that Fleming uses compact sentences. Yet his third person narrative is enthusiastic and entertaining. He describes every character in crisp detail, sometimes going into their backstories from where the enthusiasm part comes. Fleming draws a vivid picture of cars, clothing, drinks, food, cigarettes, seaside towns, and French casinos. In Casino Royale, he even gives the reader baccarat and roulette lessons.
This book does not has a huge amount of action as one might think when the name James Bond comes ringing in the mind but it is written in an entertaining manner. The most entertaining part is the suspense at the baccarat table between Bond and Le Chiffre, which manages to be more tense than any of the violent encounters that precede and follow. The next is the horrific scene described by Fleming is when James Bond is tortured by his nemesis and is quite excellently written.
The ending is not very imaginative, but still makes you want to continue reading the series. The character of Bond defined in this debut novel is made more interesting by the genuinely suspenseful plot. Casino Royale is a book written in some style.
3 out of 5
It must be really intriguing to read the book that started this legendary now character, right? 🙂
It is. More, the character portrayed in the movie and in the book of James Bond are exceptionally similar. Their expressions, feelings, emotion. 🙂
I used to live in Canterbury (England) where the bus that allegedly took Fleming to work drove by my house every morning, it’s number is 007. It’s lore around the city that that is why Bond has the code number he does, but I’ve rarely seen any corroboration in reliable histories of the books.
I think I’ll give the books a go one day. Pleasure to read an honest opinion about a contemporary classic.
Wow! Thanks for sharing the info. I did not know the story/reason behind the 007. I am glad you came across this book review and shared the wonderful fact! 🙂 I hope you enjoy them when you read them.
I haven’t read the book, but several years ago I saw that black-and-white adaptation made for some CBS suspense show. That was fascinating just for how different its story beats were from The James Bond Movie.
The books are good, I have read one or two more. They are satisfying at times, cult and totally contemporary. 🙂 I’ll check the adaption, thanks for sharing the information!
never read a Bond book, but love the films 🙂
I haven’t seen much of the films. Only the Daniel Craig ones.
No, i love the films – Roger Moore being my favourite 🙂
Been thinking of buying casino Royal, will definetly get it now
I hope you have a good time with it 🙂