Doctor No (James Bond Novels) [BARGAIN PRICE] (Paperback)

by Ian Fleming (Author) "Punctually at six o'clock the sun set with a last yellow flash behind the Blue Mountains, a wave of violet shadow poured down Richmond Road,..." (more)
Key Phrases: guano dust, marsh buggy, bird dung, Doctor No, Mister Bond, Crab Key (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
The allure of James Bond was best described by Raymond Chandler, who insisted that 007 is "what every man would like to be and what every woman would like to have between her sheets." Who can argue with that? This month marks the 40th anniversary of the film release of Dr. No, which was the first Bond adventure to make the big screen, and two big coffee-table books are being published to honor the occasion (LJ 10/1/02, p. 96). Shockingly, Fleming's original novels have gone out of print, but Penguin here reproduces a trio of the British secret agent's early outings, released in 1952, 1958, and 1959, respectively, sporting stylish cover art. These stories were racy for the nifty Fifties but are quite tame by today's standards. Still, they can be fun.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
James Bond travels to the Caribbean to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a secret service team. As he uncovers the astonishing truth about strange energy waves that are interfering with U.S. missile launches, he must battle deadly assassins, sexy femmes fatales, and even a poisonous tarantula. The search takes him to an exotic tropical island, where he meets a beautiful nature girl and discovers the hideout of Doctor No, a six-foot-six madman with a mania for torture, a lust to kill, and a fantastic secret to hide.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (August 27, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142002038
• ASIN: B001A5T136
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,033,640 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Limp Return For 007, September 22, 2008

By	Bill Slocum (Norwalk, CT USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Doctor No (James Bond Novels) (Paperback)

Published in 1958, "Doctor No" is a transitional novel for the James Bond series. Gone is much of the moral queasiness, realism, and psychological turmoil of earlier tales. In its place is a Walther PPK, vodka martinis shaken not stirred, and a supervillain living in a hidden fortress. Given all that, "Doctor No" should be fun at least, but it's not.

Set in Jamaica, site of earlier series entry "Live And Let Die" and the last Fleming novel, "The Man With The Golden Gun", "Doctor No" has Bond investigating the disappearance of two British secret agents. The trail leads to the title character, a six-foot-six bald man with metal pincers for hands, metal contact lenses, and an interest in harvesting guano from an island just beyond Jamaica called Crab Key. No doubt Bond knows No's up to no good. Soon 007 is in the clutches of a madman, facing an imminent and horrible death just as soon as No explains what he's all about over a nice meal.

Maniac, you call him? No couldn't agree more: "All the greatest men are maniacs. They are possessed by a mania which drives them forward towards their goal."

What's driving Fleming here is less clear. He seemed to resent having to bring Bond back from death at the end of his last book, really putting the character through the torture test this time. There's a casual cruelty to this book that makes it hard to digest as entertainment. I had a real Quarrel with the fate of one cool Bond ally. And the finale is about as silly as Fleming ever got, Bond fighting tarantulas and an octopus for some silly test of No's that the villain himself can't even bother to watch to completion while there's bird dung to harvest. The villain's fate suggests a sad laugh by a disillusioned author at his readers' gullibility.

Good points include some decent descriptive mileage regarding the mangrove swamps of Crab Key and the social life of Kingston; both the rich whites who live in the affected splendor of the Queen's Club "which for fifty years has boasted the power and frequency of its blackballs", and the blacks who play calypso and drink Red Stripe at scenic outdoor cafes. There's also Honeychile Rider, Bond's latest lady. The movie version famously gave us Ursula Andress in this role, but the character in the book exudes vulnerability more than hotitude, and her backstory is one of the best of any Bond woman.

The movie "Doctor No" was what launched the whole 007 movie phenomenon, still alive and very well at this writing. You can see how it was the right choice, too, as everything here is amped up for cinematic consumption. No lives inside a seaside cliff with a transparent face, so he can watch all the creatures swimming around. Instead of sending men with guns to shoot the birds he doesn't want on his island, he has them drive around in an automotive contraption disguised as a dragon, complete with flame-thrower inside its mouth.

Alas, these ideas would be more welcome if Fleming knew what to do with them. Unfortunately, his much-talked-about "Fleming Sweep" sputters once the story kicks into a higher gear.

"Doctor No" is a series low point that ironically became a franchise high point thanks to the movie. If you are reading the books in order like I am, you have no choice but to read it, but if you are like me, you will find it a surprisingly tedious chore.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I'll Never Watch A Bond Flick Again, October 2, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Doctor No (James Bond Novels) (Paperback)

Most of us have seen a James Bond movie at one time or another and enjoyed the outlandish antics in which he participates. However, upon getting my hands on this edition and finishing it in a matter of hours, the movies suddenly hold no appeal. I love the literary Bond! Sure, he's a lecherous alcoholic who smokes 60 cigarettes a day, but that's only during his downtime; when he's on the job, women and booze are secondary. And sure, it's vastly outdated, but the Cold War is still, by far, the best setting for an espionage thriller. The Bond in the novels is a cold cutomer who wouldn't hesitate to kill someone close to him to spare them a worse death (as in the latter part of Live And Let Die). Also, the literary Bond's body is a patchwork of scar tissue, and his handsome features are marred only by a scar on his right cheek.
That said, Fleming's style is great--short and to the point, much the same as his days writing reports during WWII during his stint in the military. His prose isnn't flowery, and it advances the story at a brisk pace.
Dr. No is an excellent turning point for both Fleming and Bond. Fleming killed Bond at the end of From Russia With Love (one report being that he'd tired of the character, but fans clammored for Bond's revival). The events of the previous novel are touched-on briefly in the beginning of the book, but they don't have much bearing on the rest of the story. However, the return of Quarrel (from Live And Let Die) and his loss greatly affects Bond, bringing a depth of character rarely explored by the celluloid Bonds.
Dr. No is a great read of the genre of its time, featuring a dashing secret agent hero, a capable sidekick, a beautiful seashell-hunting love interest, 5-inch tropical poisonous centipedes, flamethrowing dragons, sadistic henchmen, a giant squid (not in the movie!), and of course, Dr. No, the pincer-handed, ultra-rich, ultra-evil, guano-dealing nemesis! Who could ask for anything more?!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dr NO is still Number ONE, February 16, 2006

By	W. hearst "Citizen Will" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Doctor No (James Bond Novels) (Paperback)

The basic frame of all the James Bond books and movies. It was the book chosen by the owners of the film rights to introduce the character to the screen - and they kept rather close to the essentials ... the tough but sophisticated Bond, the alluring female lead who becomes his companion and usually savior, the gruff but proud M and so on. Probably the best example of the movie being as good as the book - certainly not true of the later cartoonish movies which are seldom as good as the original Fleming stories.