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There are three main sections:
1. The Bond Dossier - here you will find background information on Bond (the weapons, clothes, women), MI6 and the villains. (As this book is targeted at today's 'kids', it uses images of the actors from the latest film, The World Is Not Enough - Brosnan, Dench, etc. - as the 'real' James Bond and MI6 team.)
2. The Missions - this section dedicates 4 - 6 pages for each of Bond's 'missions' (i.e. the 19 Bond films), describing what the 'mission' is about and who the allies and villains are. There are detailed cross-section illustrations of the villains' headquarters, e.g. Blofeld's volcano, Stromberg's Atlantis and Elliot Carver's Stealth Ship, and also wonderful photos/illustrations of the Bond vehicles and gadgets, e.g. the DB5, Lotus, Little Nellie, etc. These pictures miraculously show how everything falls into place and how everything works (a miracle considering most of these things don't really function or even exist in real life!)
3. The Movies - the book ends with background information on 'movies' that have been made about James Bond, featuring the 5 actors who have portrayed him. The introduction to this section diplomatically concludes: "The real 007 has never disclosed which one (actor) he feels has captured him the best"! (It is only in this last section that we see pictures of Connery, Lazenby, Moore and Dalton.)
This is definitely one of the best books on James Bond. It is well researched and has breath-taking pictures, as per DK's usual high standards. It beautifully and convincingly transforms the fiction of Bond into reality.
I actually have the British version of this book and it has a simple but more official looking cover - just the title of the book on a plain red jacket with an embossed "James Bond". Maybe not as fun looking as the American version but definitely a lot easier to carry around for a thirty-something 'kid' like me!
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I read all the Bond books in chronological order as a teenager in the 70's and decided to reread them since it has been so long and I have forgotten them to some degree, and started off just recently with the the first, Casino Royale.
What I like about he Bond character in the books, and in particular Casino Royale is that he is not the impregnable super spy; you can really sense the insidious danger he is in throughout the book.
The plot is about a Soviet SMERSH agent in France named La Chiffre who invested all the money SMERSH sent him in support of the Communist underground, on brothels. When France made them illegal, he suddenly had no money. His plan is to win it all back at the baccarat tables at Casino Royale. Bond's job--to beat him at the card table and prevent him from getting his money back. This will put him in bad form with SMERSH and disrupt the Communist fifth column in France.
In response to the "reader" who's review appears here at Amazon from April 1997, who asked why Bond was needed ...no Bond and La Chiffre wins back all is money at the baccarat tables, and his disruptive underground Soviet fifth column goes on in France.
It would be interesting to see the Bond movies done over adhering to the books where one could sense the danger Bond faced. Some of the early movies were similar to the books, but then began to deviate creating a plastic, unrealistic character that we really know is in no real danger.
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It starts out slow, like all Fleming Books do, but it gradually builds itself up to a great closing action sequence. Sorry, no surprise ending this time around for Bond(even though it seems like there is going to be one). Anyways, the book seems like two books combined. For one, it's rather longer than "Casino," but, it's the build-up that will keep you from falling asleep. everything is really well described, you can imagine everything. My favorite part is(don't worry, I wont give away any spoilers)towards the end, when bond is,...uh,...in the water(i'm trying to keep it a surprise for those who haven't read it yet) It is very descriptive and very exciting. All in all, it starts out long and slow and boring, but I beg you, don't put it down...please, just hold out at least to the Harlem, NY part(which is only 3 or 4 chapters in), and I promise it will get better. So, read this book, you'll like it...eventually:)
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The plot of Live and Let Die will probably be problematic for some politically correct readers. James Bond travels from Harlem to Jamaica in pursuit of Mr. Big, a gangster and Soviet agent who also happens to be black and, at one point, proclaims that his goal is to be the first "great Negro criminal." Mr. Big's criminal organization is, as well, made up totally a blacks and a great deal of time is spent explaining that Big keeps his organization in line by exploiting their belief in voodoo. Obviously, this is the type of stuff that makes some readers uncomfortable but one gets the feeling that Fleming would have enjoyed making them squirm. When taken out of context, the book's plot can certainly sound like some '50s version of the infamous racist screed, the Turner Diaries, but upon actual reading, it becomes obvious that the book -- if, at times, showing the accepted stereotypes of the time it was written (even I cringed at Fleming's attempt to write dialect), is not itself meant to be racist -- i.e., Big is a villian because he's evil and not because he's black. And for that matter, he's also a very memorable and formidible villian -- every bit the equal of such later heavyweights as Blofeld and nowhere near as pathetic as Royale's Le Chiffre. As well, Mr. Big's intricate scheme and the execution of it actually makes sense and Fleming maintains an admirable atmosphere of suspense and danger throughout the book. Fleming's style here improves on the occasional awkwardness of Royale and he gives the reader a well-paced adventure filled with memorable characters and some startlingly strong action sequences. (One need only compare this book's underwater scenes with the more languid scenes in Thunderball to see how well Fleming pulls them off.)
To go into any more detail of the plot would be unfair to the reader because most of the twists are genuine surprises (especially if one is expecting the book to be anything like the film). This is a book full of remarkably strong scenes and writing -- amongst the most vivid are the fate of Felix Leiter, the painful torture inflicted on Bond in Harlem, and Fleming's hilariously dismissive view of Florida retirees -- and it is a must read for anyone who wants to discover what made James Bond such an icon in the first place.
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The problem here, which will be insurmountable to many people's sensitivities, is the mid-50's pre-civil-rights attitude towards minorities. Political correctness, I feel, will one day be looked back upon by historians in nearly the same way as McCarthyism. It's an embarassing movement in American civil thought.
That being said, the tone towards Africans/Black/whatever the proper term currently is...is antiquated to say the least, and may be offensive to many.
The novel itself is a lightning read, much like Casino Royale, and you will wish for the day that these books...not just their titles...will be made into movies.
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Before boarding his plane, two British intelligence agents order Ian, a World War II naval intelligence agent, but now a reporter, to smear American Oscar Winterberg, who they believe is selling secrets to the Russians. The governments of both the Americans and the British strongly believe Oscar is a Communist spy, though the evidence is flimsy. Ian refuses before leaving for Jamaica. Soon to his delight Nora joins him at his vacation home, but she did not come for fun in the sun as she works for the Americans and wants Ian to join forces with her. His objective is to keep the spy he loves safe while hers is to expose Winterberg.
Though exciting at times, Ian Fleming is just not James Bond even if the premise of this novel and its predecessor DEATH TO SPIES is that the author modeled 007 after his own activities. The story line will hook the die-hard fans, especially those that remember Lazenby and Allen as Bond respectively. The story line is filled with action, but Fleming's motive to assist the peril of Pauline Nora never fully comes across. Still this espionage thriller brings to life the 1950s with its Red Scare so that readers will overall enjoy this 007 lite.
Harriet Klausner