Are any of Fleming's novels bad?

chrisisall

Aside from TSWLM, which I feel is an experimental work, and not entirely a 'real' Bond story, do you find any of Fleming's novels either boring or not well written? Or simply *meh*?

It's been a few years since I read them, but in my memory LALD, while not boring, left me kind underwhelmed, as did most of DAF. I plan to re-read them all after I finish Gardner's first five, but I was just curious to see if that memory resonated with anyone here with a more recent experience with his books...

SpectreBlofeld

I'm not crazy about Diamonds Are Forever or The Man with the Golden Gun.

DAF has all that silly spangled mob stuff (and the train sequence), and Golden Gun, while better, has the misfortune of being the last novel he wrote - which really should have been You Only Live Twice. An amnesiac Bond, setting off for Vladivostok in search of answers about his past, would have been a great mysterious end to the character (and the book ends with Bond's obituary, ferchrissakes).

welshboy78

LALD bored the me the most so far (think im prob in minority)

chrisisall

SpectreBlofeld wrote:

I'm not crazy about Diamonds Are Forever or The Man with the Golden Gun.

I rather liked TMWTGG, and after I read it I went on a pre-internet rampage to find Colonel Sun at used bookstores, and was pretty satisfied with that as a final Bond story...

James Suzuki

Goldfinger was disappointing

chrisisall

James Suzuki wrote:

Goldfinger was disappointing

How so? Silly plot?

James Suzuki

The ending sucked, the start was rehash of Moonraker and a lot of it was boring. Let down from DN and FRWL

chrisisall

James Suzuki wrote:

The ending sucked, the start was rehash of Moonraker and a lot of it was boring. Let down from DN and FRWL

Fair enough to say.

James Suzuki

chrisisall wrote:

James Suzuki wrote:

The ending sucked, the start was rehash of Moonraker and a lot of it was boring. Let down from DN and FRWL

Fair enough to say.

What do you think about Goldfinger, Chris?

chrisisall

James Suzuki wrote:

What do you think about Goldfinger, Chris?

I remember it being pretty entertaining, different a bit from the movie, but then neither version has ever been my favourite. Still, Fleming's writing is like pizza for me; even not-so-great Fleming is still Fleming.

James Suzuki

chrisisall wrote:

James Suzuki wrote:

What do you think about Goldfinger, Chris?

I remember it being pretty entertaining, different a bit from the movie, but then neither version has ever been my favourite. Still, Fleming's writing is like pizza for me; even not-so-great Fleming is still Fleming.

True, any Fleming is better then Gardner or Benson.

chrisisall

James Suzuki wrote:

True, any Fleming is better then Gardner or Benson.

I sampled both Gardner & Benson- I found Benson's stuff intolerable, but Gardner's... acceptable, from an entirely different-from-Fleming POV... I'll post my thoughts on him after I begin reading his books, of which I have the first five now.

James Suzuki

Great, looking forward till reading it.

AlphaOmegaSin

I keep meaning to get into the Books. Which one should I start with?

welshboy78

AlphaOmegaSin wrote:

I keep meaning to get into the Books. Which one should I start with?

Do them in order so start with Casino Royale

Gala Brand

Fleming died before he had a chance to revise TMWTGG. It's missing all the detail that made Fleming's novels special.

I always found YOLT very disappointing. In theory it should be great, but there isn't much action.

Napoleon Plural

Even the best books have moments which are a bit John Buchan Greenmantle, that is just don't work from an adult perspective or seem plain dumb. I mean, Bond is suspicious of Red Grant on the train from the get go but doesn't even bother to check with his bosses; it makes more sense in the film where at least it's been arranged he's to meet someone.

And in YOLT it's said in his 'obit' that there's an author (Fleming?) who transcribes Bond's adventures, like Watson with Holmes. I mean, wtf? And why would a secret spy even have an obit?

I read much of DAF when in Vegas a few years back, and it was great. But, yeah, let down by the villainy. Fleming can't help but be a snob to these types, you sense he respects the best villains.

But Fleming is one of those authors, like Conan Doyle, who creates a world.

chrisisall

Napoleon Plural wrote:

But Fleming is one of those authors, like Conan Doyle, who creates a world.

Like Tolkien?
At least we are not tasked to translate Elvish... )

Silhouette Man

Diamonds Are Forever and The Man with the Golden Gun are definitely weaker below-par efforts.