Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Well-written, but..., June 10, 2009
This is the first Bond book I've ever read, and I'm not sure how to react to it. Fleming is clearly a talented, intelligent writer when it comes to poetic language--a pleasant surprise considering the movies. But, he spends a lot of time describing the surrounding areas, so that there was less action and intrigue than I would expect from a spy novel. It was not a page turner for sure.
That's just the writing. The biggest problem I had with this book was the racist language used to describe anyone who was not white...even his descriptions of Americans have a tone of disdain and superiority. The criminal in this book is called Mr. Big, because he's a large black man, and every mention of Big and his followers are laden with racist comments regarding intelligence, culture, appearance. It was incredibly uncomfortable to read. I know this book is written in the 50s, so in the beginning I was open to the idea that he was speaking the vernacular of that time, but in the end, I truly think he believes white people are superior--particularly because all the black people that he writes positively about have some European ancestry mixed into their blood, as if that part of them was what made them worthy. Ugh!
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4.0 out of 5 stars
the writer's racism spoils the tale, August 24, 2009
Although known to people round the world through the movies about super spy James Bond, often with amazing gimmicks, the books about James Bond are rather different. Set in the 1950's with the cold war at its worst he is often against agents of the Soviet Union. Since Fleming himself was attached to British Secret Service in WW2, as an organizer, not an agent, it makes the reader often wonder how close to the truth of what the spy game was like is the book.
In Live and Let Die Bond is to team up with the CIA to look into an American gangster, Mr. Big, who seems to be the source of rare gold coins being sold in the US. The coins are being sold from an unknown source and no taxes are being paid for them. On top of this it is believed Mr. Big is a Soviet spy as well as an American gangster and the revenue from these sales is funding Soviet operations in the US.
Fleming knew the US well and his writing of New York and Florida as Bond follows the trail of coins to their source is entertaining and enlightening, harking back to an age and lifestyle that has slipped into the past. Where travelling by train is as common as flying and beach front estates litter the coast for those with money, where a woman in a viel does not look wierd and people smoked regularly, gaining points for 'looking cool' while unklnowningly shortening their lives
For all of Fleming's style as a writer though this is one of the ugliest of bond stories because of the racism. Mr. Big is black and is the chief gangster in Harlem but the book projects that he is the secret ruler of the `black' culture throughout the US and just of a whisper of his name in the right ear a thousand miles away can cause instant loyalty and obedience.
While descriptions are OK in Jamaica and Florida, in New York the racism is truly offensive. Fleming avoids the `n' word but every other black person is, if you will forgive me for the term, "a negro." This is not I believe, as some have said just a reflection of the age but does reflect a real issue the writer had with black people. A reflection of the time might be for a person to be described as a `negro' the first time you see them in the book but Fleming uses the term every time, in place of a profession or name. For example in a night club we are told that Bond and his companion are the only white people there. Fine we can visualize this but Fleming keeps pounding away. For example, and I use this only to show how the book reads, the man who brings them their drinks is not a `waiter,' he is `the negro' similarly the bouncers, musicians, maitre de etc are not defined by their job but by their color as if anything else is secondary. Strangely this is only in New York. Black people in Jamaica are just people, which makes me wonder about Fleming's mind set. Maybe it was ok in the 1950's but to the modern ear, this is just ugly.
If you can stay with the book until Bond gets into Florida and the level of racism drops dramatically, this is a worth while book but just be ready for this early, jarring racism
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but a bit dated, July 10, 2009
I have always been a fan of the movies, so I thought I would give the books a try to see where to all started and see the differences. For the books, I am going in chronological order (which is different than the movies). The books are much different than the movies and this book is no different.
I must say that I enjoyed the movie better than this book. For the James Bond fan, you will find the differences interesting. The book's plot is not as "Big" as the movie's plot (pun sort of intended there). It is a relatively simple story, but the Mr. Big character is much better in the book than the movie - in fact, in the movie the character was not even real. Quite different here. As for the "racist" comments (as expressed by a previous reviewer)... if you are judging by today's PC climate they are plenty of comments in the book, but its just words to describe some really bad men. There are definitely superiority undertones also, but read it and move on - I really did not put much thought into it as the previous reviewer. I am in it for the story. As for the story, it dragged in spots for me but overall I thought it was okay. I liked the ending - more realistic, albeit unclimatic, than the movie. Overall, a good read/listen.
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by Ian Fleming
by Ian Fleming
by Ian Fleming
