Moonraker worth it?

evilhenchmanevilhenchman U.S.Posts: 41MI6 Agent
edited November 2006 in James Bond Literature
Everybody seemed to hate the moonraker film. When I was alot younger it was one of my favorite bond films, but now that I'm older and more mature, its an okay film, but not my favorite. Awhile back I purchased the book and put it down and misplaced it. I know its nothing like the movie but if it turns up I wat to know if its worth reading. Does anyone know?

Comments

  • delliott101delliott101 Posts: 115MI6 Agent
    Very much worth it... an excellent and quick read. The chapter on Dinner at Blades with M is worth the price of admission!
  • JohmssJohmss Posts: 274MI6 Agent
    The ending... i won't tell you, but it is my favourite Bond Book ending... just for me

    The bridge game chapter is confusing if you don't understand the game (as i think you might, you'll love it)

    The book is divided in three parts: Monday- Tuesdays, Wednesday - Thursday, Friday (the best part)

    Chapter one is slow but a different approach, there is an intriguing female, a car chase... a good bad guy. it is really better than the movie. Thought they don't "travel" a lot it isn't a minus.

    About the film, the film has its reputation because the last part (the space part) but before he gets there, is a good film (like DAD)

    Please read the book, if you don't like it, is ok, if you do... you will like some others
  • Willie GarvinWillie Garvin Posts: 1,412MI6 Agent
    edited December 2006
    I'll just echo what everyone else has said--Moonraker is an excellent novel and definitely worth reading.Yes,it bears scant resemblance to the movie of the same name, but that's not a bad thing at all.

    With Moonraker,Ian Fleming establishes James Bond's world more fully than he does with Casino Royale.And in Moonraker he introduces the first of his many great larger-than-life villains:the colorful (and repulsive) Sir Hugo Drax.
    As noted elsewhere,there's a wonderfully suspenseful card game sequence set in M's private club,"Blades" pitting 007 against Drax.

    The basic plot of the movie Die Another Day is taken directly from Fleming's Moonraker novel--which really hadn't been filmed before.(The Moonraker movie uses the evocative Fleming title and the villain's name, but little else.)

    You might enjoy comparing and contrasting the book and movie storylines once you've finished this novel.
  • Lazenby880Lazenby880 LondonPosts: 525MI6 Agent
    Interestingly I re-read this recently. I would *certainly* recommend giving it a read; in my view it is one of the strongest of Fleming's works. Gala Brand is one of the most engaging females in the series, while I really feel that with Moonraker the reader gets to know Bond more. Certainly at the beginning the accoutrements of Bond's Service life are fleshed out, and it is in this novel that Loelia Ponsonby emerges as a strong character (the banter between Bond and Ponsonby is great fun).

    Like others I won't give away the ending however it *is* a great conclusion, bitter-sweet, which registers quite a deep impact on the reader. The best thrillers should make one stop and think after the ending; in Moonraker Fleming provides a twist to catch out the reader.

    Echoing others I would say give the novel a go, and then move on to the rest of the series. :)
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 3,907MI6 Agent
    there may be no globetrotting but there is a lot of travel back and forth on that road to the coast
    Fleming obviously knew that part of England well
    when I got to the carchase chapters I happened to have a British roadatlas handy and found the whole route, theres a bit where I was confused where they switch roads but upon a closer reading Fleming even says "Bond preferred taking the old road from this point on"
    I bet it would be even more fun to follow it on googleEarth, using the oblique angle function
  • QwertyQwerty New York, USAPosts: 73MI6 Agent
    Easily one of the best Bond books in the series.

    A review I wrote of the novel back in 2004 (some spoilers):

    A true masterpiece from the creator himself. I've always loved Moonraker, but this reading, like all other previous ones, just got more enjoyable. I find the main location of this novel, and the only location, England to perfectly suit the dark and nasty story that lurks in this book, the pure mind of the villain, Drax, is clearly shown in Chapter 22, Pandora's Box, and it is shown off to a good extent. This story works with just one location, because it allows everything else to take first place in the story with great emphasis, namely the characters and the plot, which are key in Moonraker.

    Yes, it's interesting to note minimal references to Die Another Day --

    He suddenly decided to be ruthless. "I'm told that Five and Five is your limit. Let's play for that. -Moonraker, Chapter 6.

    Let's play for this. I picked it up in Cuba, I believe it's one of yours. -Die Another Day

    The character of "good old" Sir Hugo Drax is one of Fleming's best villains ever, pure mania driving his obsession with fury and his loyalty to the Moonraker project, and any scene with Bond antagonizing him is done very, very well. The description he gets during the card scene, and how Bond uses his deformities to anger him during his telling of his true identity is very effective.

    Gala Brand, the woman who is just as apt as James Bond, a true heroine who fights the whole way with Bond for the cause, and whose frosty exterior quickly melts away as soon as she gets to know Bond, without the watchful eye of Drax, Krebs, and Walter. I find their golden day encounter to be a very effective chapter, with the swimming, bleeding flowers, and the cliff accident, that is exciting.

    The card scene is pure magnificence, and is quite gripping to the the reader, seeing the tension building up throughout the entire game, especially as Drax realizes that perhaps Bond does indeed have an interesting hand. True villainy as Drax spats orders and insults at his partner, and gets his comment cut short as he loses. A very fine scene.

    Overall, I think I enjoy the first two-thirds of Moonraker slightly more than the final third because I think it reads a bit more exciting for me, but the final third is still quite fantastic, such as the waiting for the pressure hose to finally reach Bond and Gala, and the countdown to the launch, all well written.

    A true 5 star novel.
    ~ Nobody Knows Me Like You Know Me ~
  • Scribe74Scribe74 San FranciscoPosts: 149MI6 Agent
    "Moonraker" remains one of my favorite Bond novels. The villain is brilliant and story intense. What makes the book for me, however, is the great ending.

    Fleming never cheats the reader . . . but what EON did with the movie was blasphemous.
  • mythrenegademythrenegade Posts: 35MI6 Agent
    Moonraker is, IMHO, one of the best novels. I haven't read all of them yet, I'm working my way through the series in between school, so it takes time. I am currently reading OHMSS. Of the books I've read, Moonraker stands out, probably because it bore so little resemblance to the film.

    Joel
  • JohmssJohmss Posts: 274MI6 Agent
    Qwerty wrote:
    The card scene is pure magnificence, and is quite gripping to the the reader, seeing the tension building up throughout the entire game, especially as Drax realizes that perhaps Bond does indeed have an interesting hand. True villainy as Drax spats orders and insults at his partner, and gets his comment cut short as he loses. A very fine scene.

    I had (and have) no idea about how to play bridge, is hard and the book didn't explain it as with Baccarat in Casino Royale, yet that chapter can't be skipped, it is so interesting and even if you ( I ) have no idea about the game or the chances when the cards are shown to us, the context explain the consequences... OK, is my fault not to understand bridge, even when i tried to played with rules on my side.
    Qwerty wrote:
    A true 5 star novel.

    In a scale of 1 to 10 is an 11
  • diVicenzodiVicenzo Posts: 24MI6 Agent
    Qwerty wrote:
    Yes, it's interesting to note minimal references to Die Another Day --

    Let's play for this. I picked it up in Cuba, I believe it's one of yours. -Die Another Day

    When i read that bit i thought of the Kamal Khan/Faberge Egg scene in Octopussy.

    The book is superb though. My favourite part was the chapter 'Dinner At Blades' with 'M'. I really like M's releationship with Bond in the novels, i find it more real, more believeable for some reason. I also found the end of the book really quite refreshing. Brilliant stuff. :007)
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