My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Casino Royale (1953) by Ian Fleming is the book that launched James Bond‘s career and his iconic following ever since has enchanted countless readers and moviegoers.
At baccarat, a game of chance, James Bond attempts to bankrupt Le Chiffre, who is an agent for the evil organization called SMERSH. Several attempts are made on Bond’s life, but Bond survives, defeats Le Chiffre, and gets the girl. But there is so much more to this classic Bond novel than one might imagine. After all, it was the beginning. What really makes this James Bond novel special is Fleming’s treatment of Bond’s psychology as both a spy and as a man.
Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale is instant realism and a huge leap away from the more Minimalist approaches to novel writing. In Bond we have a man who is willing to be a man’s man, which includes drinking, spying, killing, fighting, gambling, smoking, knowing how to order a meal, and not being overly sentimental. That is, until Bond falls for Vesper.
The first few words we know the story writing is going to be sharp and vivid and interesting. At the time of its publication in 1953, much of Britain was still recovering from World War II and Bond’s world of fancy casinos and expensive dinners is almost quite fantastical for the readers of that time period (and one could argue the same during these times as well).
Fleming writes:
”The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning. The soul-erosion produced by high gambling–a compost of greed and fear and nervous tension–becomes unbearable and the senses awake and revolt from it. James Bond suddenly knew that he was tired” (p 1).
This initial scene is as bold and as exotic today as it was sixty years ago.
Fleming also chooses to show the reader a deeper side to James Bond. Bond isn’t just a dull lacky working for British intelligence, and Bond is quite refreshingly given a depth to his character not often shown in the early James Bond films.
Here is Bond sizing up one of Le Chiffre’s men: ”Bond guessed that he would kill without interest or concern for what he killed and that he would prefer strangling. He had something of Lennie in Of Mice and Men, but his inhumanity would not come from infantilism but from drugs. Marihuana, decided Bond” (p 93).
Bond is clearly an intelligent spy who is not only good at what he does but he is precise and well-read. And the reader gets a closer look into Bond’s psyche after he is tortured to the brink of death by Le Chiffre. Afterwards, Bond recovers in a hospital and talks with his friend Mathis.
Bond says, ‘History is moving pretty quickly these days and the heroes and villains keep on changing parts” (p 170).
A little later, Bond adds:
” ‘Now in order to tell the difference between good and evil, we have manufactured two images representing the extremes–representing the deepest black and the purest white–and we call them God and the Devil. But in doing so we have cheated a bit. God is a clear image, you can see every hair on His beard. But the Devil. What does he look like?” Bond looked triumphantly at Mathis.
Mathis laughed ironically.
‘A woman’ [Mathis said.] .”
At the end of Bond’s little speech, Mathis can only reply: ”Surround yourself with human beings, my dear James. They are easier to fight for than principles” (p 175).
Somehow I know exactly what Mathis means.
At times, but only briefly, Fleming does begin to creep around the thin edges of those mawkish moments. Fleming’s temerity, however, keeps the reader grounded in Bond and that reality he has created around himself.
Le Chiffre is dead. Bond and Vesper are in love and staying at a seaside inn and having a wonderful affair. Bond has decided to retire.
”Vesper looked at him thoughtfully.
‘People are islands,’ she said. ‘They don’t really touch. However close they are, they’re really quite separate. Even if they’ve been married for fifty years.’
Bond thought with dismay that she must be going into a ‘vin triste’. Too much champagne had made her melancholy” (p 204).
Fleming’s deft hand at intelligent storytelling balances those precious moments we long for in reality and in fiction without completely crossing over into maudlin or bathetic scenes we so despise. Not an easy task at all for the writer.
What surprised me most is how Ian Fleming created in James Bond (in Casino Royale, that is) an insightful and deep character that is able to cross genres. Casino Royale is not only a story of espionage but a psychological debate of good versus evil and the book is also a love story between Bond and Vesper.
The film version of Casino Royale came out in 2006 with Daniel Craig, and I thoroughly enjoyed the film. Fleming’s Casino Royale, however, is a far better treatment of Bond and his profound character. Therefore it is with a strong conviction that I recommend that you read the book and then go watch the film and make up your own mind. After all, Bond would not want you to miss out on all the fun.
CG FEWSTON
The American novelist CG FEWSTON has been a Visiting Scholar at the American Academy in Rome (Italy), a Visiting Fellow at Hong Kong’s CityU, & he’s a been member of the Hemingway Society, Americans for the Arts, PEN America, Club Med, & the Royal Society of Literature. He’s also a been Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) based in London.
He’s the author of several short stories and novels. His works include A Father’s Son (2005), The New America: A Collection (2007), The Mystic’s Smile ~ A Play in 3 Acts (2007), Vanity of Vanities (2011), A Time to Love in Tehran (2015), Little Hometown, America (2020); A Time to Forget in East Berlin (2022), and Conquergood & the Center of the Intelligible Mystery of Being (2023).
He has a B.A. in English, an M.Ed. in Higher Education Leadership (honors), an M.A. in Literature (honors), and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing & Fiction. He was born in Texas in 1979.
A TIME TO FORGET IN EAST BERLIN
BREW Book Excellence Award Winner
BREW Readers’ Choice Award Winner
“A spellbinding tale of love and espionage set under the looming shadow of the Berlin Wall in 1975… A mesmerising read full of charged eroticism.”
~ Ian Skewis, Associate Editor for Bloodhound Books, & author of best-selling novel A Murder of Crows (2017)
“An engrossing story of clandestine espionage… a testament to the lifestyle encountered in East Berlin at the height of the Cold War.”
~ Lone Star Literary Life Magazine
“There is no better way for readers interested in Germany’s history and the dilemma and cultures of the two Berlins to absorb this information than in a novel such as this, which captures the microcosm of two individuals’ love, relationship, and options and expands them against the blossoming dilemmas of a nation divided.”
~ D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
“A Time to Forget in East Berlin is a dream-like interlude of love and passion in the paranoid and violent life of a Cold War spy. The meticulous research is evident on every page, and Fewston’s elegant prose, reminiscent of novels from a bygone era, enhances the sensation that this is a book firmly rooted in another time.”
~ Matthew Harffy, prolific writer & best-selling historical fiction author of the “Bernicia Chronicles” series
“Vivid, nuanced, and poetic…”
“Fewston avoids familiar plot elements of espionage fiction, and he is excellent when it comes to emotional precision and form while crafting his varied cast of characters.”
“There’s a lot to absorb in this book of hefty psychological and philosophical observations and insights, but the reader who stays committed will be greatly rewarded.”
“Readers of The Catcher in the Rye and similar stories will relish the astute, critical inspection of life that makes Little Hometown, America a compelling snapshot of contemporary American life and culture.”
“Fewston employs a literary device called a ‘frame narrative’ which may be less familiar to some, but allows for a picture-in-picture result (to use a photographic term). Snapshots of stories appear as parts of other stories, with the introductory story serving as a backdrop for a series of shorter stories that lead readers into each, dovetailing and connecting in intricate ways.”
~ D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
“The American novelist CG FEWSTON tells a satisfying tale, bolstered by psychology and far-ranging philosophy, calling upon Joseph Campbell, J. D. Salinger, the King James Bible, and Othello.”
“In this way, the author lends intellectual heft to a family story, exploring the ‘purity’ of art, the ‘corrupting’ influences of publishing, the solitary artist, and the messy interconnectedness of human relationships.”
~ Lone Star Literary Life Magazine
GOLD Winner in the 2020 Human Relations Indie Book Awards for Contemporary Realistic Fiction
FINALIST in the SOUTHWEST REGIONAL FICTION category of the 14th Annual National Indie Excellence 2020 Awards (NIEA)
“Fewston’s lyrical, nostalgia-steeped story is told from the perspective of a 40-year-old man gazing back on events from his 1980s Texas childhood…. the narrator movingly conveys and interprets the greater meanings behind childhood memories.”
“The novel’s focus on formative childhood moments is familiar… the narrator’s lived experiences come across as wholly personal, deeply felt, and visceral.”
This is my good friend, Nicolasa (Nico) Murillo, CRC, who is a professional chef & a wellness mentor. I’ve known her since childhood & I’m honored to share her story with you. In life, we all have ups & downs, some far more extreme than others. Much like in Canada, in America, the legalization of marijuana has become a national movement, which includes safe & legal access to cannabis (marijuana) for therapeutic use & research for all.
“This is a wellness movement,” Nico explains. The wellness movement is focused on three specific areas: information, encouragement, & accountability.
In these stressful & unprecedented times, it makes good sense to promote & encourage the state or condition of being in good physical & mental health.
To learn more you can visit: Americans For Safe Access & Texans for Safe Access, ASA (if you are in Texas).
The mission of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is to ensure safe and legal access to cannabis (marijuana) for therapeutic use and research.
Link: https://www.safeaccessnow.org/
TEXANS FOR SAFE ACCESS ~ share the mission of their national organization, Americans for Safe Access (ASA), which is to ensure safe and legal access to cannabis (marijuana) for therapeutic use and research, for all Texans.
Link: https://txsafeaccess.org/about-1
Stay safe & stay happy. God bless.
You’re so awesome! I don’t suppose I’ve truly read through something like that before.
So good to discover somebody with a few unique thoughts on this topic.
Really.. thanks for starting this up. This web site is something that’s needed on the web,
someone with some originality!
I relish, cause I discovered just what I
was taking a look for. You have ended my 4
day lengthy hunt! God Bless you man. Have a great day. Bye
Pingback: The Man with the Golden Gun (1965) by Ian Fleming - CG FEWSTON
Pingback: You Only Live Twice (1964) by Ian Fleming - CG FEWSTON