Customer Reviews

Doctor No

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As an avid Ian Fleming fan, I always recommend this one to newcomers who enjoy the films and want to check out the author who inspired them. Bond doesn't just waltz through this one unscathed... he goes through hell to accomplish his mission! The scene in which a poisonous centipede crawls all over Bond's naked body while he's in bed will make your skin crawl. The torture-tunnel sequence, in which he must worm his way through yards of heated metal, tarantulas and more, is also incredibly gripping. And Dr. No's demise in the book is even more unusual than the way he bought it in the film! Read this one, and see Bond the way Fleming intended him to be seen. Roger Moore never endured trials like these!

Many people would think of the film with the same title when trying to remember the story, and this time they would be mostly correct. After 1957's From Russia With Love, Ian Fleming had intended for James Bond to perish with that story. He was convinced to continue with the character, so in 1958 came Doctor No. The story: British agent Strangways in Jamaica has been murdered, and James Bond has been ordered by M to investigate. When he arrives, Bond meets Quarrel, a native of the area, and Honeychile Ryder a beautiful woman whom Bond meets in a very unusual manner. Soon, it is discovered that Strangways was murdered by agents of Doctor No, a mysterious man who is a blend of German and Chinese, and who has a secret that needs to be kept at his island home of Crab Key. Bond is soon captured and put through a horrible torture through some very narrow tunnels. This is one of the best of the Bond novels, and certainly deserves a look.

This is my favorite James Bond novel. Ian Fleming created a character with a gargantuan appetite for the more worldly pleasures. For a land that could supply our hero with such an appetite Fleming chose his own beloved Jamaica. The melding of the story with the setting is Fleming at his best. Jamaica was a land of beauty, mystery and intrigue. Fleming captured this so well and gave us a remarkable villain to reflect that esoteric quality of the island.

Probably the best Fleming Bond. Takes place in, and captures the flavor of Fleming's favorite site he knew so well: Jamaica. The progression of Bond's venture to Crab Key through to the denoument (which takes up the second half of the book) is the best -- and most exciting -- sustained writing Fleming did. This sequence contains the classic moments: the introduction to Honeychild Rider, the revelation of her past, the Dragon, the bizarre "hotel" within Dr. No's complex, the dinner, the extraordinary tunnel of horrors chapter (one of Fleming's most inspired scenes), and the ignomnious end of Dr. No. This is Fleming at his full powers of (sometimes weird) imagination. Unlike other Bonds -- say Moonraker --Dr. No can be read again and again

The whole presence of Jamaica and everything on the around the island was great. Fleming knew the place well. There are some great aspects to this book, but no matter what the handling of the villain--the fascinating Dr. No--was shoddy. His discription of Dr. No is fantastic and the character, or the little we learn of him, is one of the more intriguing villains in all of the Fleming canon. However, his early and rather laughable demise just stinks of having nothing to do with the whole setup. There was a big blank after the death of Dr. No and I was like, huh? The whole point was to dump bird crap on him and wrap up this whole complicated mission. Oh well. It's still a Fleming Bond, and I have yet to read a "bad" one. They are ALL good, but some are certainly stronger than others. This is on the weaker end but still very enjoyable.

I'm reading all the Bond books in order and I'm on Thunderball now but Doctor No is the best so far. The characters are great with Quarrel and Honey Rider. M thinks hes giving Bond a break with an easy case but its probably the toughest adventure ever for Bond. The book is unputdownable from the very start when Bond's friend Strangways is kidnapped. When Bond is on "Crab Key" the book is great with all the obstacles Bond has to go through. The dragon, Dr. No's obstacle course and the animal at the end of it and the final showdown with Doctor No and the way he dies is pretty funny. Great book my favorite so far.

This book is supposed to be the sequel to "From Russia with love", in fact it begins with Bond in hospital due to a life-threatening injury obtained in "From Russia with love" but recovers, M(Bond's boss) decides that there is no better way to get Bond back in shape than give him a "simple" mission in the island of Jamaica where the representative of the British Secret Service(John Strangways, who also appeared in Fleming's Bond novel "Live and let die") has disappeared, Bond's mission is to find out what happened. This "soft option" leads Bond to his most dangerous and thrilling mission yet and leads to him to do an "obstacle course", to a fight with a squid and a fight with a "dragon"! I thought this Fleming's most suspenseful book as I never could tell what would happen next and this kept me hooked, so much so that I read it all in one day! Unfortunately, this is also Mr. Fleming's most far-fetched. It was far-fetched in the sense that I don't think even Bond(who at that point was supposedly half-dead) could have defeated a 60-foot squid with just a dagger. That apart it's a great, great thriller. Read it, wonder in awe at it's elements, then read it again just to savour Fleming's writing. Unfortunately, the movie never did the book justice. I heard that in "From Russia with love" Fleming planned to simply kill off James Bond, thankfully he didn't and produced a marvellous book in Dr. No.

Doctor No is one of the better Bonds but the ending was quite confusing. The ending told very little about how Doctor No died, and when he did infact die, I didn't understand why Fleming would kill the bad guy in such a stupid way. I thought the squid part was one of the worst because it was hard to follow and didn't explain the squid's death very well. There were parts that I did like, however. I enjoyed the introduction to Honey Rider and the dragon part, but I didn't like the fact that Quarrel died. Despite some confusing parts, I still consider it one of the better Fleming novels.

Dispatched to the Caribbean to investigate another British Agent's disappearance, James Bond discovers far more than he bargained for. On a forsaken island, he meets a wild woman, fights a flamethrowing "monster", and finally matches wits and will against the incredible Doctor No, a self-made genius with steel claws for hands, an army of thugs, and a clinical curiosity regarding the limits of human pain. Bond is put to perhaps the toughest phsical test in his career in this hair-raising sequel to From Russia, With Love. This is another great 007 book to read. Buy this book when it is back in stock!

Along with From Russia With Love (which preceded it) this is the best of the Bond series. Everything is in here-Carribean locales, a great Bond babe (Honeychile Rider), and a smooth megalomaniacal villain. Bond, of course, endures considerable physical agony but emerges on top in a great finale.