Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bond takes a chance and wins an audience, 5 Feb 2006
This is the first James Bond novel written by Ian Fleming so it provides a delightful view of the character before he became an iconic figure. While Bond is particular about getting his drink right and which car he drives, they are not the same drink and car we have come to identify with him from the movies. Also, although his boss is a mysterious character referred to as M, there are no Moneypenny or Q in sight. Without Q's inventions Bond relies more on his wit than his toys to stay alive.Originally published in 1953, Casino Royale takes a young Bond who is questioning rather than convinced of the righteousness of his tasks and puts him in what I see as an improbable situation. Le Chiffre, a French Communist labor leader, was embezzling union funds to purchase a string of whore houses only to have them closed when they are outlawed by a new law. He needs to earn back his lost funds and decides to do it through casino gambling. Eager to discredit Le Chiffre before SMERSH hitmen can kill him, Bond's superiors send him to Monte Carlo to beat Le Chiffre at Baccarat. The game between these two is described wonderfully so that even someone who has never gambled can get caught up in the excitement. However it is hard to believe that the British government would bankroll someone to defeat an enemy agent at a game of chance that wasn't fixed. Unlike the movies, much of what is in Bond's mind is revealed in this novel. His sexism is fully-developed with thoughts like this: "These blithering women who thought they could do a man's work. Why the hell couldn't they stay at home and mind their pots and pans and stick to their frocks and gossip and leave men's work to men?" Even with an attitude like this, he manages to develop a romantic interest in his partner Vesper Lynd. This first Bond novel is exciting and well-written. The premise seems far-fetched, but once past that it is an enjoyable introduction to the greatest spy in 20th century literature.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Bond - basic, bitter and brutal., 13 Feb 2007
The first Bond book will come as something of a shock if you have only watched the films. None of the film 'basics' are to be found - no Moneypenny, no Q, brief reference to a male 'M', and nothing by the way of gadgets. This is a new 00 and although he's a sophisticated, intelligent gambler he's new to the spy racket and somewhat uncertain. This makes a change from the buffoon as played by Moore for example, and is much closer to the Connery version. (Craig plays him as a thug, which he certainly isn't in this book.)
There are several shocking moments - when you realise that Bond has a scar down the right hand side of his face, his 70+ a day cigarette habit and a quite shocking reference to 'the sweet tang of rape'. This really is NOT the Bond we think we know - he's far harsher, more cruel and his dislike, even hatred of women, comes out very clearly.
This is Bond at his most basic, bitter and brutal, yet still compelling. The storyline is actually very dull, and the book is short, to be read in a couple of hours maximum. The secondary characters are quite poor, and if this was a 'one off' title it would have sunk without a trace. However, as an introduction to the whole Bond saga it is worth reading. If you have anything more than a passing interest in Bond, this should be right at the top of the list of books to read, but beware - you're in for some shocks, and not all of them nice ones.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A refreshingly different portrayal of a legendary double-O, 15 Sep 2006
Casino Royale was my first adventure into the literary world of James Bond 007 after a childhood of following the films and collecting the videos. After the increasingly-cheesy adventures of the more recent films the world of Casino Royale was refreshingly cold and callous, with the Soviet context metonymically constructing harsh, paranoid undertones.
In this novel Bond is depicted as a cool, collected, steely man; a direct contrast to the Bonds of Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan. His chauvinistic-attitude and callous state-of-mind amplifies the edge-of-seat feeling which runs throughout the novel; from its detailed introduction to its amazing twist of a finish.
I enjoyed this novel immensely, despite its shortness and seeming lack of in-depth characterisation for some of the secondary characters. Although the plot seemed silly and unrealistic from the blurb on the cover I was pleasantly surprised with how easily I believed it; leaving me shaken and not stirred (in direct contrast to how Bond really likes his Martini) by this rollercoaster of a book.
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by Ian Fleming
by Ian Fleming
by Ian Fleming
by Ian Fleming
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