Bond Begins

Those who know James Bond film its many incarnations may be somewhat perplexed by discovering this first novel by Ian Fleming. Written in 1953, during the Cold War, "Casino Royale" belongs to that school of post-war spy novel that took roughly thriller at John Buchan and modernized it by adding luxury to it, and femmes fatales much violence. Certainly Fleming has not created this style. After all, the first OSS 117, France, four years before the birth of Bond. And some Anglo-Saxon authors like Peter Cheyney had also opened cracks in the genre. But it is clear that by creating 007 Fleming tapped the bull and perfected a formula for decades earned him an avalanche of imitators. But I think to fully appreciate this novel, it is best to forget the mythology that surrounds it and approach it with such a candid look as possible. Personally, it strikes me at Fleming, is the quality of the writing. Too often this writer presented as a former spy converted in the tabloid literature. They forget too quickly that before being a secret agent, Fleming was long journalist, therefore man of letters. Hence there is no doubt in his prose brevity which seems all the more meritorious it contrasts with most contemporary thrillers who feel dishonored if they were less than 500 pages. "Casino Royale" is a dense, fast and accurate book like an uppercut. No length. No unnecessary digression. Not a gram of fat. Moreover, it is precisely the vitality and economy of this style as Raymond Chandler, who knew a little literature, admired the work of Fleming and held it for the best author of thrillers English of his generation. As for the plot, it is just as dry and punchy, gathered in brief chapters slamming like a burst of machine pistol. The last tour page, so you back out of this reading both stunned and happy. Yes, happy to have finally met the real James Bond. Not the superhero to the Aston Martin crammed with gadgets. Just a tough and upright official, at some particular trade but capable of loving and suffering like everyone else. In short, a human being.