Lee at ReadWriteWish's Reviews > Casino Royale

Audible is offering the James Bond series for free at the moment, so I got curious and tried the first book, knowing it would probably be dated and (from most reports) sexist etc. But…

I was actually pleasantly surprised. I can actually see how Fleming was such a successful writer. Apart from the obvious (his character of Bond and the spy scenarios), he really is a very adept and descriptive writer. His action scenes, such as car chases etc, are particularly great. And, despite the short word count, he certainly fit a lot into the book (take note, modern writers/publishers who insist on obnoxiously long books full of nothing).

The character of Bond is not as suave or self assured as he is in the film franchise. He plays the cards in the casino with no certainty of winning and knows if he does, it will simply be luck. He doesn’t really get himself out of any deadly situations with aplomb but, again, survives due to plain dumb luck and the occasional helping hand from another agent/ally.

Weirdly, the book is almost a romance for the last third of the book, which is where the modern reader gets to tussle with the 1950s sexist attitude. Okay, it is there. I would say the supporting character is more of an issue though. He basically pimps the female operative onto Bond. Yes, Bond does say a couple of things about her which, these days, would not be acceptable but I felt like Fleming added these words (well, one word, not the worst word but still when it was used--twice--it was really jarring) as a way to show Bond’s state of mind, especially at the end of the book. But, again, this was now published just over 70 years ago, so one would hope we’ve moved on slightly.

4 out of 5