You Only Live Twice, by Ian Fleming

(pb; 1964: twelfth book in the original 007/James Bond series)

Review:

Caveat: spoilers in this review.

It's been nine months since Ernesto Stavro Blofeld and Fraulein Irma Bunt gunned down Tracy di Vincenzo, Bond's bride of a few hours, on their honeymoon. Bond is an emotional and professional wreck.

M., concerned about one of his best agents, figures 007 needs a real challenge to kick him out of his doldrums. So M. sends Bond to Japan to get additional intel on the Russian drug trade from Tiger Tanaka, the samurai-hearted head of the Japanese Secret Service.

Tanaka agrees to give Bond unofficial access to the Russian files (dubbed "MAGIC 44"), if Bond will do him a big favor -- also off the record.

The favor: kill Doctor Guntram Shatterhand, a Swiss multimillionaire and amateur botanist, whose remote island castle in Kyushu houses a "garden of death," where five hundred or more Japanese people have gone to commit culturally-approved suicide. This garden is full of rare poisonous plants and animals; one wrong move there means instantaneous, painful expiration.

Tanaka considers Shatterhand, as well as Shatterhand's wife, the ugly Emmy, a mass murderer. And he sees no end to these "honorable" killings, so the only way to stop them is by killing the Shatterhands. Since Tanaka would face repercussions for such actions, it falls to Bond to do the deeds.

Bond accepts the secret assignment: the intel is too important. Also, more importantly, Bond is startled when he recognizes the Shatterhands from their photos -- they're Ernesto Stavro Blofeld and Fraulein Irma Bunt, who killed Tracy at the end of On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Helped by Kissy Suzuki, a one-time Hollywood film star and Ama awabi shell diver, Bond infiltrates Blofeld's private garden. Once inside the garden, Bond confronts Blofeld and Bunt, once and for all...

Structurally, You Only Live Twice is a template replica of Doctor No, but Twice's location -- Japan, with its distinctive social mores -- renders that (possible) complaint moot. Not only that, but Bond's attitude is different; he's resumed his womanizing ways, but he's less cool in how he handles his women: his dead bride has humanized him a bit more.

You Only Live Twice is not as radical, tone-wise, as On Her Majesty's is, nor is the cliffhanger ending as shocking, but it is a stand-out entry in a consistently-pleasing series.

Followed by The Man with the Golden Gun.

#

You Only Live Twice was released stateside as a film on June 13,1967.

Sean Connery played Bond. Mie Hama played Kissy Suzuki. Tetsuro Tamba played Tiger Tanaka. Donald Pleasence played Ernesto Stavro Blofeld. Charles Gray (who later played Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever) played Dikko Henderson.

Bernard Lee played M.. Lois Maxwell played Moneypenny. Desmond Llewelyn played Q (whose character is not in the novel). Burt Kwouk played "SPECTRE #3".

Roald Dahl wrote the screenplay.

Lewis Gilbert (who also lensed The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker) directed.

(Side-note: Fleming gives a shout-out to David Niven, who would later play one of the James Bonds in the 1967 version of Casino Royale, when Kissy Suzuki, talking about her Hollywood experiences, tells Bond: "They were all disgusting to me in Hollywood... Nobody treated me honourably except for [David] Niven.")

The Spy Who Loved Me, by Ian Fleming

(pb; 1962: tenth book in the original 007/James Bond series)

Review:

Less than a year after putting down Emilo Largo’s atomic bomb threat in Nassau (in Thunderball), Bond is pitched against two cruder nemeses, Sluggsy Morant and Sol “Horror” Horowitz in a rundown motel in the Ozarks. Morant and Horowitz are would-be arsonists in an insurance scam. Problem is, they’re also threatening to rape, murder then use Vivienne (“Viv”) Michel, short-term motel clerk, as the scapegoat for the “accidental” blaze.

The story is told through Viv’s eyes. As a narrator, she’s chatty, her backstory taking up almost half of the 131-page novel. When Bond appears to rescue her from her canny assailants, whom she’s been fending off for a better part of a night, it’s not the usual Bond tale, with geopolitical ramifications ensuing if Bond fails; it’s Bond on a more personal level, being an honorable man in a nasty fight.

Good, different take on Bond. Thematically, it reminds me of the short story “The Hildebrand Rarity” (from For Your Eyes Only).

Followed by On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.


The Spy Who Loved Me became a film in 1977. Story- and character-wise, it's way different from its source novel.

Roger Moore starred as James Bond. Barbara Bach starred as Major Anya Amasova. Curt Jurgens played Karl Stromberg. Richard Kiel played the comically villainous Jaws (who appeared in the next Bond film, Moonraker). Caroline Munro played Naomi. Bernard Lee played M.


A light-hearted remake, titled Never Say Never Again, hit the silver screen in 1983. Sean Connery reprised his role as James Bond. Klaus Maria Brandauer played Maximilian Largo. Max von Sydow played Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Barbara Carrera played Fatima Blush. Kim Bassinger played Domino Petachi. Bernie Casey played Felix Leiter. Edward Fox played M.

Irvin Kershner directed the film.

Thunderball, by Ian Fleming

(pb; 1961: ninth book in the original 007/James Bond series)

Review:

A new terrorist group, SPECTRE – acronym for “The Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion” – headed by Ernesto Stavro Blofeld (who directly battles Bond in two later novels, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and You Only Live Twice), has two atomic bombs and is threatening to use them on the United States and England… that is, of course, unless the two superpowers pay mad cash.

M, vexed, unofficially sends Bond to Nassau, in the Bahamas, to investigate the area as a possible stash spot for the bombs. There, Bond sniffs out (and later matches wits with) Emilio Largo (aka, SPECTRE associate “No. 2”), an urbane “treasure hunter” who means to make good on SPECTRE’s bomb threats, if necessary.

Bond also meets, and aligns with, Largo’s bored mistress, Domino – born Dominetta Petacchi – whose calid temper and cool intelligence makes her Bond’s compeer, in the ways of survival.

Felix Leiter, Bond’s friend and ex-Pinkerton detective, is back in action, too. Leiter has been reinstated in the CIA (serving as Bond’s American counterpart).

Ninth in the series, following the anthology For Your Eyes Only, Thunderball has a meant-to-be-funny but maladroit set-up in the first forty pages (Bond goes to Shrublands, an English health clinic, to detox from all his boozing and smoking, and ends up pissing off a SPECTRE hitter, Count Lippe). After that, it’s all systems go, and what a “go” it is!

There’s not a whole lot that’s new here, but it is a fun read – Fleming’s Bond novels are always a pleasure to peruse – and Fleming employs some effective foreshadowing – SPECTRE, replacing SMERSH; Blofeld – for future Bond tales.

Followed by The Spy Who Loved Me.

Thunderball was released stateside as a film on December 29, 1965.

Sean Connery played Bond. Claudine Auger played Dominique “Domino” Derval – the altered version of Dominetta Petacchi. Adolfo Celi played Emilio Largo/SPECTRE #2. Rik Van Nutter played Felix Leiter. Guy Doleman played Count Lippe.

Bernard Lee played M. Lois Maxwell played Miss Moneypenny. Desmond Llewelyn played Q.

Terence Young directed the film, from a script by Richard Maibaum and John Hopkins.

Goldfinger, by Ian Fleming

(pb; 1959: seventh book in the original 007/James Bond series) 

 Review

 Bond battles Auric Goldfinger, a wealthy gold bullion collector and SMERSH agent. Bond first encounters Goldfinger when he busts the polite but petty millionaire as a card cheat, fleecing millions from Junius Du Pont (a Bond acquaintance from Casino Royale). Not long after that – coincidentally – Bond finds himself investigating Goldfinger again, this time because Goldfinger's bullion fever (illicitly indulged in) threatens to break the Bank of England while funding the Russian Secret Service known as SMERSH. 

Goldfinger is Bond by the numbers. It's still hard to put down, because Fleming's lean, action-minded prose keeps the humor-spiced plot percolating at a decent pace. However, Goldfinger is a bland bad guy, when compared to past Bond villains, and Pussy Galore – a lesbian flirtatious cat burglar – is an unlikely romantic match for Bond, given her sexual predilections. Not only that, but there's not much build-up between Bond and Galore, who doesn't appear until midway through the novel. In his dealings with Galore, Bond is not the gentleman/take-things-slowly Bond of the previous six books─this is Bond's cinematic/slutty version.

These nits aside, there are other saving graces in Goldfinger, other than Fleming's able writing. One of the graces is Oddjob, Goldfinger's razor-edged bowler-throwing Korean assassin-handy man, who's quite a character, despite his ape-like speech: the scenes where Bond baits the stoical Oddjob are priceless. There's also Fleming's constant referencing of past Bond adventures – most, if not all, of the books are well represented here. Felix Leiter, the CIA-agent-turned-Pinkerton who appeared in Casino Royale, Live And Let Die, and Diamonds Are Forever, is also back. 

While Goldfinger is not one of the better Bond novels, it's still a fun read. Followed by For Your Eyes Only. 

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 The film version of Goldfinger was released stateside on January 9, 1965. Guy Hamilton directed, from a script by Richard Maibaum and Paul Dehn.

Sean Connery played Bond. Honor Blackman played Pussy Galore. Gert Fröbe played Goldfinger. Harold Sakata, billed as Harold Sakata {Tosh Togo}, played Oddjob. Cec Linder played Felix Leiter.  

Bernard Lee played 'M.' Lois Maxwell played Moneypenny. Desmond Llwellyn played 'Q.'

Burt Kwouk played Mr. Ling. Bill Nagy played Midnight. Martin Benson played Solo.

Doctor No, by Ian Fleming

(pb; 1958: sixth book in the original 007/James Bond series)

From the back cover:

“Doctor No, a sinister recluse with mechanical pincers for hands and sadistic fascination with pain, holds James Bond firm in his steely grasp. Bond and Honey Rider, his beautiful and vulnerable Girl Friday, have been captured trespassing on Doctor No’s secluded Caribbean island. Intent on protecting his clandestine operations from the British secret service, Doctor No sees an opportunity to dispose of an enemy and further his diabolical research. Soon, Bond and Rider are fighting for their lives in a murderous of Doctor No’s choosing...”

Review:

When Strangways (an agent of her Majesty’s Secret Service, seen in Live and Let Die) and his female assistant (Mary Trueblood) disappear, Bond returns to Jamaica to investigate why. It’s been three months since the events of From Russia with Love, and this is meant to be a routine investigation, as Strangways is known to be a womanizer.

Bond quickly realizes that mission is far from routine. A mysterious, rarely-seen man named Doctor No owns Crab Key, a nearby island where several people have disappeared; even Quarrel, a Jamaican boatman and Bond ally who also appeared in Live and Let Die, is terrified at the thought of going there.

Not only that, somebody – Doctor No? – has made two low-key attempts on Bond’s life since his arrival in Jamaica, and Bond is being shadowed by Chigro (Chinese-Negro) spies, who may or may not work for Doctor No.

With Quarrel, Bond goes to Crab Key, encounters Honeychile Rider, and that’s when the trouble really starts.

Like the five preceding books in the Bond series, Doctor No is exciting, fast-paced and hard to put down. Doctor No is the perfect megalomaniacal villain, whose cold charm masks murderous, vengeful intentions.

Honeychile Rider isn’t book-smart like many of Bond’s previous women, as she’s lived in the jungle all of her life, but she is practical and courageous – the perfect foil for Bond, given the nature of this adventure.

Another winning entry in the Bond series, followed by Goldfinger.


Doctor No, the first James Bond film, was released stateside on May 8, 1963.

Sean Connery played James Bond. Ursula Andress played Honeychile "Honey" Rider. Joseph Wiseman played Doctor Julius No. Jack Lord played Felix Leiter (whose character is not in the book version). John Kitzmiller played Quarrel.

Terence Young directed the film, from a script by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood and Berkely Mather.

Diamonds Are Forever, by Ian Fleming

(pb; 1956: fourth book in the original 007/James Bond series)

From the back cover:

“Meet Tiffany Case, a cold, gorgeous, hard-boiled blonde; the kind of girl you could get into a lot of trouble with – if you wanted. She stands between James Bond and the leaders of a diamond-smuggling ring that stretches from Africa via London to the States. Bond uses her to infiltrate the gang, but once in America the hunter becomes the hunted. 007 is in real danger until help comes from an unlikely quarter, the ice maiden herself...”

Review:

Bond goes up against American gangsters – this time, it’s the Spang brothers, Seraffimo and Jack. Bond’s femme fatale is Tiffany Case, who was gang raped at a young age and has hardened accordingly. Lesser villains include Shady Tree (a cruel midget), Wint (a huge thug who sucks his thumb) and Kidd (a pretty boy thug).

There’s less police work and more savagery in the fourth Bond outing. Bond finds himself in some odd situations – being in America and all – but, true to series-form, he has help: the aforementioned Tiffany Case, and Felix Leiter. Leiter, now a Pinkerton detective, has left the CIA. He also has a right steel hook and a noticeable limp – reminders of Leiter’s wounds, received in the second Bond novel, Live And Let Die.

The Spang brothers have their quirks, too. Serrafimo is an Old West afficionado who owns a refurbished ghost town, Spectreville. Jack, also called Rufus B. Saye, and who might be “ABC,” the mysterious leader of the gang, is barely seen, but his cold-blooded nature is distinctive.

One of the things I love about the Bond novels is how Fleming mentions, in passing, certain events from past novels, without slowing the plot or action of the current novel. It gives a stronger sense of continuity to an already well-written series.

Diamonds Are Forever is less intense than its predecessors, but it’s still exciting.

This became a film in 1971. Sean Connery played Bond. Jill St. John played Case. Norman Burton played Leiter.

Seraffimo and Jack Spang were nixed in the film version. The villain of the film version is Ernst Stavro Blofeld (played by Charles Gray), whose character was last seen in the previous Bond film, 1969's On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. In On Her Majesty’s... Blofeld was played by Telly Savalas.

Guy Hamilton directed Diamonds Are Forever, from a script by Richard Maibaum.

Diamonds Are Forever, the book, is followed by From Russia With Love.

From Russia With Love, by Ian Fleming

(pb; 1957: fifth book in the original 007/James Bond series)

From the back cover:

“Every major foreign government organization has a file on British secret agent James Bond. Now, Russia’s lethal SMERSH organization has targeted him for elimination. SMERSH has the perfect bait in the irresistable Tatiana Romanova, who lures 007 to Istanbul promising the top-secret Spektor cypher machine. But when Bond walks willingly into the trap, a game of cross and double-cross ensues, with Bond as both the stakes and the prize...”

Review:

It’s been a year since the events of Diamonds Are Forever. Bond is bored with office work and slightly depressed, living “the soft life.” Tiffany Case, his lover from the previous novel, has recently left him for another man.

That’s the least of Bond’s problems. The Russians have put a hit out on him, a hit that would not only end his life, but publicly embarrass the British Secret Service. Enter Donovan “Red” Grant, aka, the “Moon Killer,” a serial-killer-turned-SMERSH-assassin, who’s set to fulfill that fatal contract.

There is also Tatiana Romanova, whose allegiances are questionable...

This has always been one of my favorite Bond novels: it has lots of action (compared to the earlier novels), tons of plot twists (many of them born of well-established character quirks), perverse characters (even for a Bond novel) and an ending that absolutely electrifies.

The plot set-up is different, also (a refreshing change). The first quarter of the novel shows the Russians – military politicians, Grant, Rosa Krebs (a SMERSH torturer with sapphic leanings) and Tatiana – gearing up for Bond’s violent, public death trip. Then the action kicks in, when Bond goes to Turkey to meet Tatiana, where Kerim “Darko” Bey, an outgoing gipsy and Head of the Turkish Secret Service, helps Bond with his mission: transporting Tatiana and the Spektor machine to France, via the Orient Express.

(Side-notes: Rene Mathis, a French government agent in Casino Royale, makes an appearance in From Russia... as the Head of the Deuxieme, the French equivalent of the CIA... Espionage gadgetry, a hallmark of the Bond films, is also in evidence, employed mostly by the Russians.)

Exotic, clever, action-packed and romantic, this is one of the best Bond novels, up there with Live And Let Die.

Followed by Doctor No.

From Russia With Love was released stateside as a film on May 27, 1964.

Sean Connery played Bond. Daniela Bianchi played Tatiana. Robert Shaw played Donald “Red” Grant. Lotte Lenya played Rosa Klebb.

Bernard Lee played M. Lois Maxwell played Miss Moneypenny.

Terence Young directed the film, from a script by Richard Maibaum, which was adapted from the novel by Johanna Harwood.