As a beloved fan of the Ian Fleming series I was wondering if there was anyone out there with an interest in the James Bond novels?
I read them ages ago (close to half a century. Yikes). Trashy for their time, but addictive. I re-read Casino Royale after the Daniel Craig movie came out, and it survived reasonably well as a story. So much so that the movie paralleled the novel much more closely than any Bond movie since Goldfinger.
Heh, that might be my least favorite of all the Bond stories. They certainly improved a lot from the first one. On topic, I have read every single Ian Fleming Bond book with the exception of Dr. No and the The Man with the Golden Gun, the latter being partially unfinished and published posthumously. I never considered them anything remarkable, but they are fun pulp reads.
I actually got Casino Royale and Live and Let Die a few days ago and I've started Casino Royale, I don't know much about all the spy stuff so it's a bit confusing but I'm around four chapters in so far and I have to say it's better than most of the rubbish you'd pick up these days
If you're a fan of Bond, by all means read them. They show a much different character from what is depicted in the movies (especially the goofy Roger Moore era). Other than the recent Daniel Craig movies, the closest example to the book Bond is Timothy Dalton's take on it.
i read a few, on JKF's recommendation, back in the early 60's. And I actually drove the Goldfinger Aston Martin in about 1965-6 ( as part of an aftershave promo: "Use 007, and you too will get Pussy Galore"!)
Haha, was that an actual commercial? I hope someone uploaded it to Youtube for the sake of posterity.