In Print, Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

After seeing the movie by the same name on DVD last year, I thought it would be interesting to read the story of a flawed James Bond. A new double O agent trying to get his job done, but making mistakes along the way.

The title was used for two James Bond movies, but both were very loosely based on the book. In the earlier version from 1967 Peter Sellers plays an aged Bond who comes out of retirement for this case. I never saw that film, but based on the cast (Woody Allen is in it!) it looks like a spoof. You can find out more about it here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061452/ More recently Casino Royale was done with Daniel Craig playing a young 007 who is new to the service and not being so polished. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381061/ He did well in the role and for the first time they created a direct sequel to a Bond film that came out in November, Quantum of Solace.

But before any of the films, was the book. Casino Royale was the first book written by Fleming in the James Bond series. Casino Royale was the one that started everything. From the pages you get the feeling that Bond isn't completely green in this tale, but not a completely seasoned veteran. He's sent to Casino Royale to try to muck up a game of baccarat being hosted by a SMERSH agent. SWERSH is the Soviet Secret Service and Bond's sworn enemy.

During the course of the assignment the character Felix Leiter is introduced. He's from the CIA and the two will go on several adventures together throughout the novels. Also Bond meets the girl of the book that he falls in love with and allows her to distort his perception.

I will not tell you what goes on in any detail, but as you can imagine, Bond defeats the other spy in a dramatic way, essentially signing his foe's death warrant. He makes himself a marked man with SMERSH, literally, and has to be saved by the CIA man. He gets the girl. She offs herself because she's a double agent. The books with an angry broken Bond declaring war on SMERSH.

This novel is definitely light reading and the tale isn't too deep or involved. It's also very interesting from a sociological point of view. There are racial stereotypes, very different points of view, it's like a view into a completely different world than we live in now. It's definitely interesting, if not educational to read. If you can find a copy, give it a shot.