James Bond Novel Retrospective #1
Released: 1953
The unusual beginnings of a famous British spy.
This post is definitely belated. It was just over a year ago, back in around December 2021 or January 2022, when I finished reading Casino Royale, and it was soon after when I covered its 1954 TV adaptation (my review of it here). I then started slowly making my way through the rest of the Bond novels as well, but I didn’t get around to sharing my thoughts on any of them despite wanting to. Until now, that is. I have finished up my review of the novel here, and am currently working on my next batch of Bond reviews to follow it.
And so let us delay no further. Here begins my quest to read and review every single James Bond novel.
James Bond’s literary adventures are quite different from his film adventures. The books and films do have a lot in common, but they have many substantial differences as well. Taken as a whole, they offer rather different experiences from each other. But even there, Casino Royale feels unique compared to the novels which followed it. It has an unusual plot structure, long before the later books and then especially the films established the ingredients of what you’d expect from a typical Bond story.
Unlike the 2006 film adaptation which was an origin story for James Bond, showing how he attained his 00 license, the novel starts with Bond as an already-established secret agent. Even then, however, the novel itself still feels like an origin story in a way. It’s hard to describe why exactly. Even aside from it being our first Bond novel, it just has a “starting out” sort of feel.
On the surface, it’s a rather low-key story. Bond is sent in to take down the villainous Le Chiffre. Not to infiltrate Le Chiffre’s secret lair with guns blazing or anything of the sort, but merely to best Le Chiffre at a casino card game and make him lose all his money. Of course, things go awry and the stakes increase well beyond a mere card game, but much of the book is subdued compared to what we see in future adventures. It takes several chapters for the danger to really pick up and for us to get James Bond’s first ever action scene, when he’s confronted by two assassins with bombs disguised as camera-cases, but it’s a thrilling and memorable scene when it comes.
Aside from that, what makes Casino Royale stand out from most Bond stories is that we get to see Bond fall in love. Like, actually fall in love. Bond has befriended and bedded many women over the years, but this is one of the few times where he meets someone and develops a passionate enough relationship that he is willing to leave behind the Secret Service altogether. But of course, this too goes awry. By the end of it, Bond is right back to the hardened secret agent he was at the beginning of the story, his hopes of a happier and more peaceful life being cruelly dashed, and setting the stage for his next exciting, violent adventure. It’s a tragic, compelling character study.
It’s a good start, but not my personal favourite of Fleming’s novels. Most of his later books are an improvement. Casino Royale is tense and gripping for the first three-quarters, but after the final confrontation with Le Chiffre, the next several chapters fizzle out and the story loses some of its momentum and intrigue. Although there is a nice twist at the end that helps get some of the intrigue back, but overall, the last quarter of the book drags a bit. Still though, I’d give it a 7/10.