Goldfinger is perhaps James Bond’s most popular adventure on film, but you may remember that the book left me cold. To be honest, I also find the film to be dated and silly, so I happen to go against popular opinion there. For the most part, the film adaptation stays fairly true to the book. … More James Bond in Goldfinger: Book vs. Movie
“It’s just that I’d rather die of drink than of thirst.” SMERSH, the Soviet spy organization that was the main villain in the early Bond books, has died an alarmingly sudden, anticlimactic death. Based on an actual organization whose name was coined by Josef Stalin himself, SMERSH had been officially shuttered in 1946, long before … More Thunderball, by Ian Fleming: Book Review
“Never send a man where you can send a bullet.” Unlike the previous James Bond books by Ian Fleming, For Your Eyes Only is a collection of five short stories, not a single adventure (two of the stories, “Quantum of Solace” and “The Hildebrand Rarity” had been previously published in Cosmopolitan and Playboy, respectively). Elements of the stories … More For Your Eyes Only, by Ian Fleming: Book Review
I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later. Here we have it: the first Bond book by Ian Fleming that I actively disliked. Fleming churned one book out every year once he started writing about 007’s adventures in 1953 so it was really just a matter of time before he repurposed some of … More Goldfinger, by Ian Fleming: Book Review
On screen, Dr. No is the very first James Bond adventure. But in the series of books the franchise is based on, Doctor No actually came sixth. In keeping with that, when we meet up with Bond in the book he’s reeling from the events of Diamonds Are Forever and From Russia, With Love. Without any history to build … More James Bond in Dr. No: Book vs. Movie
“All the greatest men are maniacs. They are possessed by a mania which drives them forward towards their goal. The great scientists, the philosophers, the religious leaders – all maniacs. What else but a blind singleness of purpose could have given focus to their genius, would have kept them in the groove of purpose. Mania … More Doctor No, by Ian Fleming: Book Review
President Kennedy himself professed to be a big fan of the novel From Russia, With Love–including it in his ten favorite books. The film adaptation was the last movie he ever saw, as he had it screened in The White House just before his fateful trip to Dallas. Untimely death aside, that seal of approval helped … More James Bond in From Russia With Love: Book vs. Movie
