The Original Bond is Much More Fascinating than the Movie Bond
579997
Amazingly gripping. How talented Ian Fleming was! The original Bond is quite different from the movie character, more real and believable. The torture scene is the masterpiece. However I would like to see a more satisfying ending, maybe because I'm so used to the invincible movie Bond.
1439117
Of course the story is impossible, but that doesn't mean it isn't very enjoyable.  James Bond is enjoyable in the same way.
3426528
Saw the movie when I was about the same age as the protagonist and was fascinated by the concept. The book has so much more in terms of events and character development. It gave me a new perspective of the main character. The characters were nearly identical to their movie counterparts with the exception of the creepy stalker pedophile, the book version being very creepy and repulsive while portrayed onscreen by handsome charismatic Martin Sheen who seemed much more reserved and ominous than the grimy pathetic book version. I'm very glad I saw the movie first, and the book is good though obviously implausible in our current society.
3509227
To those of you who are NOT familiar with the Ian Fleming James Bond, you might be put off from reading this book all the way through, because you may be expecting a novelization of the film.  You may be reading through the first few chapters and wonder why James Bond hasn't skiied off a cliff yet.  You may be waiting with anxious expectation for Jaws to show up and start biting people to death.  So I will tell you now YOU WILL NOT FIND THAT IN THIS BOOK.  In Fact, you won't get to James Bond until the third part of the book "Him" comes about.  You may thus be tempted to skip straight to this portion of the book.  But you will be doing yourself a grave injustice.  This book is narrated by Vivienne Michel, who notes in the beginning that everything that she related did happen. It is broken up into three parts.  First is Me, wherein Miss Michel tells us about her past, and then Them, where she gets into some trouble with thugs, and then finally Him, wherein James Bond arrives like a knight in shining armour to save the fair damsel. A quite unique James Bond novel, from a woman's point of view.  And it is just about the only one  that Ian Fleming specifically forbad to be turned into a movie. Trust me, you will be intrigued!
2928386
This book is a thrilling read, and is much more engaging than the movie.  The movie was good, but the book chronicles every domino set up by Charlie Wilson eventually leading to the defeat of the Soviets.

In short, the book tells the story that the 90-minute movie cannot, and the book is at least as interesting as the very good movie.

Covert war isn't polite, and neither is the book.  Be prepared for significant foul language.
1691206
If you were a huge fan of the recent film version of Casino Royale, then I highly recommend you read this book. Just as Daniel Craig is being used to show a rougher, grittier, and less enviable Bond, so too is the Bond of Fleming's invention more vulnerable and less infallible than his cinematic selves. Read, recalling the time frame of this novel's creation, and enjoy!
3852230
Spoilers.

Impossible to come at this book these days without all your Bond movie presuppositions and comparisons. So here comes a bunch of observations that are probably hackneyed  Im sure I won't be travelling new ground comparing this book to film Bond, both of the movies in general, and the recent version of this book.

I was surprised at the radically different composition of this book than all of the Bond movies Id seen. You could say, Of course: different media lends itself to different composition. But having recently read a Matthew Reilly book, Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves, I can see its entirely possible to write a book that works almost entirely to the conventions of film. Or to slavishly follow a book (e.g. early Harry Potter). The pacing is entirely different. There are only really a couple of action sequences in the whole book, the main one being a classic car chase. Instead there is significant amount of time given to minutia of the background to the operation, time for philosophising about the whole business, and something like the last third of the book to a romantic d&eacute;nouement.

Mid way I was interested in how closely the recent version kept to the book, and watched the entire movie when I was only about half way through. The movie jammed all sorts of action scenes into preludes and events of the book, keeping the pacing faithful to preceding movies. But I was surprised at the differences in the way Bond uncharacteristically zoomed in on this one girl, talking of marriage and retiring! Yet later I found this was all in the book. The other scene that really jarred in the movie was the torture scene  again, straight from the book. The book was considerably darker than most Bond movies  and also a world more romantic in the focus on Vespa. But the movie, again, was basically faithful to most key plot points, even down to her blackmailed betrayal.

I believe this was the first Bond book  so Fleming may have still been developing this character, and it may be that if I read some later Fleming (and based on this book, Im open to it) Ill find Bond comes around more to my film image. There is room for his experience here setting up his later women as mere playthings attitude. There is classic Bond here though  sophistication, coolness under pressure, gorgeous woman, opulence, lingering car voyeurism and chase, grotesquely idiosyncratic villains, gadgets (umbrella gun anyone?). Also I appreciate the harsh cold war element here more than the ludicrous doomsday devices of eighties Bonds.

I don't know how much of my pleasure was in Fleming, and how much in the novelty of the reading. I haven't heard many audio books so this is still very novel. I thought the reader did a laudible job with voicing different characters and narration. I also think he summed up my own feelings about the book much more succinctly than Ive done here in his comments that followed the story.
1296011
A fascinating story - better than the movie!
540757
DR. NO is without a doubt one of the best movies in the Bond series, it was also the first one made.  With a great story, terrific action scenes, and villians hiding behind every palmtree, DR. NO also proved that Bond  doesn't need all of his gizmos to make a fun adventure.  Say with the  exception of possibly his silencer, he has none for this outing.  Bond  (Sean Connery) is sent to Jamaica to investigate the whereabouts of one of  England's agents and his secretery who have disappeared under suspicious  circumstances while investigating a shadowy figure named Dr. No who  inhabits his own nearby island.  Meeting up with CIA man Felix Leiter (Jack  Lord was the first and best Felix) and his assistant Quarell, (perhaps the  coolest helper in the series.) The investigation begins.  Bond discovers  that Dr. No is indeed behind the dissapearence's and find out that Dr. No  is also involved with a scheme to sabotage Cape Canaveral rocket launches,  and it's up to Bond and his female companion Honey Ryder (Ursula  Andress-whom many think is the best Bond Girl.) to stop his plot.  Don't  let the age of this movie fool you, it may not have the killer opening and  song that many other films have nor the inventions but the simplicity of  the movie with a touch of Dr. No's high-tech stronghold make it work, and  it easily surpasses many of the Bond films that came after it.  No Bond fan  or fan of spy movies should go without seeing it.
3954608
Brings out the plot much clearer than does the movie.
158778
And I thought they could not top Casino Royale, which bested From Russia With Love after all those decades. Not only is it arguably the best Bond, it is one of the best movies I have seen.
1935216
This movie really surprised me because it didn't follow the story in the comic. It improved on the source material. The settings of the 1960's were clearly influenced by the James Bond and Our Man Flint set designs.  It looked like a modern version of a 1960's spy movie.  Kevin Bacon was superb as the former Nazi who becomes Magneto's nemesis.  You can almost under stand why Magneto took the direction he did through the scenes in this film. While I am not familiar with X-Men history; I have to say it's a better story that will appeal to those who aren't fans. You don't have see the prior films to understand the movie.  Al the characters appear to be intelligent and well thought out. I was glad to see Bryan Singer had a role in producing this film. I'd like to think he had a choice in who scripted this fantastic tale.

Prequels are not always the best. However with this film I'd have to say this is an exception to the rule. If you have an appreciation of the genre, you'll enjoy this film.
4518827
I recently re-watched this first James Bond adventure, and was reminded of how expertly the film makers set up what would become a great fictional character.  Even before we see him in action, we are shown the dangerous world he works in (the prelude to the main action is the murder of a British agent and his assistant in Jamaica) and shown some of the daily workings of the British Secret Service.  Bond is a kind of international policeman sent to investigate the murder, and soon falls into a larger plot featuring the mysterious Doctor No.

Sean Connery is clearly figuring out who Bond is in this first outing.  In a couple of scenes he seems too excitable, almost shouting his dialog.  But his charisma is unmistakable and he handles the physical action with surprising grace.  He also nails a Bond's professional coldness and streak of cruelty, something we take for granted in super spies, but very new and mysterious in the early 60s.  I think that Connery and Daniel Craig are the best of the Bonds, and it was fun to see first Bond adventure again.  Highly recommended.
232673
After watching the amazing film adaptation this past year I decided to give the Ian Fleming novel a chance.  I'm sure glad that I did, for even though it shows its age through and through it's still a great introductory novel into the world of James Bond.  While some have already noted that the action itself is subdued I feel it bares repeating since this novel is all about establishing character, and with that in mind it does a fantastic job.

In `Casino Royale' we meet British Secret Service agent James Bond, newly crowned 007, as he embarks on a mission full of deceit, murder, torture and high stakes gambling.  Sent to the Casino Royale to turn the tables on the Russian spy Le Chiffre it appears that Bond has one of those `sitting-pretty' type assignments, but things aren't as easy as they initially appear.  First he has to contend with his partner, the beautiful Vesper Lynd.  Bond, while a surefire ladies man, prefers to keep their company strictly bedside and struggles with the idea of entertaining and ultimately trusting her.  Le Chiffre himself also poses a problem in that he is not only smarter than Bond imagined but also much more determined to end up on top then Bond would have given him credit for.

`Casino Royale' may spend most of it's time in the close quarters of the casino floor but it serves up some very interesting background information on everyone's favorite secret agent.  It establishes Bond as a person, not just a pretty face with muscles and brains, but a man stripped to the core with real human emotions and feelings.  `Casino Royale' is the book that sets the foundation for the remaining Bond novels.  His relationship with Vesper plays a huge part in the man Bond becomes and this novel helps the reader come to better understand this iconic character.

While I personally preferred the 2006 Blockbuster to the novel, mainly because the style of writing is dated and moves a little slow, I will say that it's well worth the read.  I myself am now determined to read through the entire Bond series to get a full picture of the man we all love to watch film after film.  This is where Bond began and is a must read for any fan of the films that this immortal character inspired.
1946727
It is full of actions like James Bond story. It will be hard to put it down when start reading. You cannot guess who is the villain until the last pages. And; of course, there will be a spectacular changes of events tempts you to read the whole book again. You enjoy it much better the second time!
3571425
My first reading of the James Bond series.  The movie people were a bit loose in transferring the story line and relationships from the book. The book was not as full of flash or supporting story line as the most recent Casino Royale movie but was very enjoyable to read. Bond is more fallible in the book and he's not gadget driven. The political situations of that time in history were very well pointed out and Fleming's knowledge of the spy game was evident. I would recommend it to any Bond fan. Just don't expect to read the movie storyline in print.
2758765
As a long time fan of the Bond films, and a newbie to Fleming's novels, I find myself amazed time and again at just how little the film versions match up to their literary namesake? While I love the Bond movies, I can't help but wonder why large portions of "Dr. No", "Moonraker" and now "You Only Live Twice"?

Picking up right where "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" left off, we see that Bond is struggling to get over Tracy's death at the hands of Blofeld in the last novel. He's fouled up a couple missions, and M is worried that he will have to remove Bond from the 00 Section. In order to get Bond his confidence back, M is told to send Bond on a routine, but impossible mission, so he sends 007 to Japan. Bond must work with the Japanese agency in securing a code-breaking device.

This novel has a bit of a slow build, and to be honest the entire middle act is carried by Tanaka, the Japanese agent Bond works with while developing his cover. Tanaka is a larger than life figure, and he provides all of the information to Bond (and the reader) about Japanese customs and lifestyle. Quite a bit of the novel feels almost like a travelogue to Japan, where we learn about their history, traditions and customs. The third act is where the action picks up, and Fleming really delivers as Bond must infiltrate a "castle of death" on his own.

Really fun novel that ends on a very interesting twist. Can't wait to see where we go from here!