Customer Reviews

Casino Royale

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was probably one of the best Ian Fleming James Bond novels I have read. It is also one of the most violent and saddist. But none the less, this book was an excellent beginning to the James Bond series. It has it all. A barrack (card game) duel, a thrilling car chase, and a torture secene. It can't get much better than this. Here in this book, you'll meet one of Bond's most deadlist enemies, SMERSH or 'Death to Spies.' I only wish we could see more books like these, but Ian Fleming is gone and only the follow-ups will remain. But in a way he still lives on: in the books, in the movies, and in the way he shaped our lives.

This is not only Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel but one of his best. It is richly textured, well written, clearly defines the Bond character and has survived not only as good literature but as a great period piece of the 50s. It also gives us a glimpse of the often unseen smoke filled cocktailed night life found in Europe's plush casinos of that era. Clearly, James Bond is a worldly character that lives and breaths in this unseen world described by Ian Fleming in this novel. James Bond can easily adapt to any locale or situation, size it up and endure. He is both innovative and resourceful and he must rely on his talents and instincts to survive. This is a very good Bond novel.

Ian Fleming, obviously, is an excellent spy novelist and Casino Royal is an excellent spy novel! Fleming has the unique ability, through thick, vivid, atmospheric prose,of placing the reader in the middle of the action. In one scene the reader is sweating right along with Bond as he is on the losing end of a high stakes game of Baccarat.It is easy to smell the smoke and feel the tension as Bond desperately maintains his cool.There is also an interesting love interest where Fleming, with great verbage, shows the softer and vulnerable side of Bond.Unfortunately,the girl, in an incredible ending,perhaps, reinforces Bond's cynicism and contempt for the opposition seen in later novels. A great read. Couldn't put it down!

this is a rarely thought of Bond adventure. It is quite well done and provides reading pleasure and adventure as Bond was meant to be.