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Wordly Obsessions

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Tag Archives: the spy who loved me

Book Review | “The Spy Who Loved Me” by Ian Fleming

26 Tuesday Jul 2011

Posted by mywordlyobsessions in Book Review

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

007, action, book review, espionage, ian fleming, james bond, romance, spy thriller, the spy who loved me, United States


The Spy Who Loved Me (James Bond)The Spy Who Loved Me by Ian Fleming

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

“Love of life is born of the awareness of death, of the dread of it.”

My initial thought when I began reading this novel was, ‘Hang on a minute… this isn’t the Bond I know. Nor the Fleming I’m used to for that matter. What’s going on?’ And indeed, I think a lot of people will recognise the stark difference of perspective that Fleming chose when he decided to write ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’. This time round, readers get to see Bond through the eyes of a young innocent French Canadian girl by the name of Vivienne Michel, who as things would have it is on a run from her own painful past. However, what Michel is yet to discover is that fate has more tragedy in store for her in the guise of two murderous villains Sol Horror and Sluggsy Morant.

Michel meets these two unsavories at a motel, which she has been working at for the past two weeks and has been left in charge of till the boss comes to close it for the season. The setting is as follows: Tragic and vulnerable heroine is left all by her lonesome, in the middle of a thick pine forest, with no one around for MILES. To add to the fright, a godalmighty lightning storm kicks off, knocking out the electricity supply. Can things get any worse? Fleming thinks they can. Enter two nasty guys posing as insurance people (Michel stupidly opens the door for them) and you have yourself one big, nasty party.

But Bond is never too far from the scene (apparently he is just in the vicinity), and arrives after Michel suffers a terrible night of ‘alluded’ rape and torture to take the bad guys out. Hmm… In fact, if it weren’t for Bond’s punctured tyre, Michel would never have been saved.

Ok, let’s get onto the actual review, this book shouldn’t be taken seriously. There are a lot of plot holes, and I mean a LOT. Take Michel for instance; she is an intelligent girl who had a semi-decent job in the editorial business. But she goes and sleeps with the boss (not good) who is a self-confessed nazi-minded ‘purist’. You would have thought our Michel had some sense, because before that she had the misfortune of losing her virginity to an Eton snob in a dirty forest! So why on earth did this girl think it was a good idea to travel through America by herself (on a scooter no less) is beyond me. And of all places, to allow herself to end up alone, in the middle of nowhere, in a run-down motel.

But Bond is no better. Oh no. Commander Bond, for all his suave, cold-blooded killer instincts fails to do away with the thugs at the first chance he gets. In fact, it takes him three attempts to actually kill them. I almost laughed out loud when he apologised to Michel, saying he was getting a little rusty. I think so too! I mean here’s a guy who is in a class of his own when it comes to espionage, yet two hard-boiled jailbirds very nearly succeeded in offing him. No wonder many Bond fans didn’t like Fleming’s 10th instalment. Because not only does Bond’s reputation and prowess come under scrutiny/ doubt, but we have to read the whole thing through the slightly whiny, sensual language of Michel, who can’t seem to find fault with our hero.

If you ask me, it’s good that Fleming took notice of his reader’s reactions and did not write any more novels in the same vein. I’d rather have Bond in the centre of the action, and not have to wait until he shows up halfway through the book, only to put on a mediocre show. Bond is better than this, much better. Accept no compromises people!

Overall, I can’t say it was brilliant, but it was certainly entertaining. Though I’m glad that female characters have a lot more backbone to them these days. Apart from that, it’s fun seeing Fleming attempt to write several ‘tasteful’ sex scenes.

This is one Bond novel you need to read in order to decide whether you like it or not. Can’t really recommend it.

View all my reviews

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  • Timothy Dalton, the best James Bond? (fandangogroovers.wordpress.com)
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Mailbox Monday & It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? (25/ 7)

25 Monday Jul 2011

Posted by mywordlyobsessions in Book News, Meme

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

benjamin zephaniah, carlos ruiz zafon, cats cradle, charlotte perkins gilman, civil war, emila zola, herman hesse, ian fleming, irvine welsh, Its monday what are you reading?, jm barrie, kurt busiek, kurt vonnegut, margaret atwood, mark millar, marvels, matt moylan, meme, mohsin hamid, patricia melo, Paul Auster, Paul Gallico, paul jenkins, peter pan, raymond carver, roberto bolano, siddhartha, stephen galloway, streetfighter world warrior encyclopedia, the angel's game, the cellist of sarajevo, the dream, the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society, the skating rink, the spy who loved me, the year of the flood, the yellow wallpaper, trainspotting, violette leduc, wolverine origins


It's Monday! What are you reading this week?

Welcome to Monday Meme’s! (‘Mailbox Monday’ by Marcia at The Printed Page and ‘It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?’ by Sheila at The Book Journey are fun weekly meme’s that allow book-bloggers to share their reading progress and the books they have yet to read.

July has been a hectic month, but also fruitful in terms of books. Since I haven’t had time to post that often (due to my novel-writing) I’m taking this opportunity to pick up from where I left off in March. Here’s a review of the titles that have either wowed me, or left me a little disappointed:

Books Read | March/ April
(click for reviews)
Lost World by Patricia Melo (1/5)
Man in the Dark by Paul Auster (5/5)
Nazi Literature in the Americas by Roberto Bolano (4/5) – review pending
Kung Fu Trip by Benjamin Zephaniah (3/5)
The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico (5/5)
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (3/5) – review pending
The Informers by Brett Easton Ellis (3/5) – review pending
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis (1/5) – review pending
The Paper House: A Novel by Carlos Maria Dominguez (4/5) – review pending

Books Read | May/ June
(click for reviews)
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse (4/5) – review pending
2BR02B by Kurt Vonnegut (5/5)
The Lady and the Little Fox Fur by Violette LeDuc (1/5)
Peter Pan by JM Barrie (5/5)
The Yellow Wall-paper and Other Stories by Charlotte Gilman (4/5)
Beginners by Raymond Carver (5/5)
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (4/5)
The Dream by Emile Zola (5/5) – review pending
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Stephen Galloway (5/5)

 Other reviews:
The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (4.5/5)

Books Read | July
Streetfighter: World Warrior Encyclopedia by Matt Moylan (4/5)
Marvels by Kurt Busiek (5/5)
Wolverine: Origins by Paul Jenkins (3/5)
Civil War by Mark Millar (3/5)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (5/5)

Currently Reading/ August Outlook

The Skating Rink TrainspottingThe Spy Who Loved Me (James Bond)The Year of the Flood

What a pick-n-mix! As someone who never just reads one book at a time, I’ve started off first with Bolano’s “The Skating Rink”, which is a strange mix of romance, political scamming, figure-skating and cold-blooded murder. This is my second Bolano book (gearing myself up for ‘2666’) and the story seems to be chugging along quite well, despite the weird elements he’s thrown together to make it. Meanwhile I’m also poking around in “Trainspotting”, which unbeknownst to me is written in a very thick Scottish accent! I’m slowly getting used to it (fitba = football, hame = home, jaykits = jackets). It would be useful to have a glossary, but on second thought might spoil all the fun. After all, the best thing about ‘The Clockwork Orange’ was the strange Russian street lingo.

The one I can’t let go of at the moment is “The Spy Who Loved Me”. It is quite cheesy (as most Fleming books are) and it does feel a lot like one of those guilty comfort reads. The Bond of the movies and the Bond of the novels are so very different! However if there is one book I class as top-grade reading material, it is the Atwood. I practically have to ration her out for fear of guzzling through her entire works. She is so AMAZING! “The Year of the Flood” is the second in the MaddAddam trilogy, the first being ‘Oryx and Crake’, and loosely follows on from it. I can’t wait to lose myself in the plot. Can’t imagine what Atwood has dreamed up for us dystopian fiction lovers. Oh bliss…

What are you planning to read this week?

Related articles
  • Review: Kurt Vonnegut: Letters by Kurt Vonnegut (edited and with an introduction by Dan Wakefield) (stephenormsby.wordpress.com)

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