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I only say this because the most current printings (the ones I received) have an Ian Fleming Centenary seal on the cover, which conceals a small part of the cover art. I really enjoyed all the James Bond Novels, they are really a good read. Not a big deal, but i do like my books to match. Ian Fleming does and exceptional job of painting a scene for you with words. I love the artwork on the cover of this edition of the novel, however, the picture is a little misleading. This is not his fault, or Amazons, but Penguins fault. That is the minor nit-pick i have about it.
Inconsequential but not as bad as expected Bond thriller is remarkably tame by modern standards of sex, violence, language, and action.I decided to read a couple of Bond books based on the information from The Atlas of Literature that Fleming and John LeCarre were actually secret agents in WWII and the early Cold War who switched to fiction and peppered their writing with actual events, terminology, and methods. LeCarre seems to be the more serious writer of spy fiction.
or dining out in Manhattan, Fleming makes sure his prose bathes you with atmosphere. Nowhere is that case better made than in "Diamonds Are Forever."This fourth installment in the Bond series, published in 1956, puts Bond on the trail of a diamond-smuggling operation, hopping from England to New York to Las Vegas to what was then French Guinea in pursuit of a crew of American gangsters and their fetching accomplice, Tiffany Case. Alas, 007 is largely a mule in this one, pretending to be a diamond carrier in order to get to the heart of the smuggling operation. The "Spangled Mob" Bond does battle against are amateurs, and only with help from Bond in terms of some lunkish decision-making do they even come close to threatening him.
It's the second such genre-bender in the Bond canon, after "Moonraker", but unlike "Moonraker" the mystery here is never that mysterious or deadly. It is a singularly dissatisfying element in a novel that never gels, and in terms of plot, represents a step back from the engagingly visceral storylines of previous Bond adventures.What Fleming does get right, beyond an interesting beginning which presents a scorpion stalking a beetle before the narrative moves up the food chain, are the settings. Whether describing mud baths in Saratoga, N.Y. It's been said that Ian Fleming was a brilliant travel writer trapped in the body of a successful spy novelist. A shame, since he takes to writing about it so well.Fleming's writing talent is on constant display, in his descriptions, in the succinct beauty of the book's title, and in stray lines like this, regarding the pitfalls of aging playboys: "Up to forty, girls cost nothing. Nothing wrong with writing the truth.You only wish Fleming allowed his book more space to capture all this and room enough for Bond to have a decent case.
He gets so bored he decides to flip things over with some sudden improvisation work that exposes him as a potential risk to the Spangled Mob. Since Fleming seems to share Bond's contempt for the situation, this doesn't succeed in making things more interesting.As John Maggiore wrote in his May 2002 review, "Diamonds Are Forever" is more of a detective story than a spy story.
After that you have to pay money, or tell a story. Along the way he samples local cuisine, plays a few games of chance, and contemplates a criminal underworld peopled with characters like "Tingaling" Bell and "Shady" Tree."They've got a good machine, even if they do have funny names," warns Bond's old friend from Texas, former CIA agent Felix Leiter.Leiter's words of warning turn out to be exaggerated.
Everything is resolved too easily. His ability to make minutia diverting is almost a thing of amusement in itself.
Las Vegas gets the blunt end of Fleming's pen, described as a noisy, gnashing place where old ladies clutch mindlessly at slot machines and every casino is mobbed up. You even get ample hints Fleming found the United States too dull and tawdry a place for Bond to operate in at his more characteristically vivid way.
Of the two it's the story that hurts most."
Moviewise, this is most noted as being the last "official" Bond movie featuring Sean Connery (Never Say Never Again, a remake of Thunderball, is not considered part of the official canon).This fourth Bond novel has the British Secret Service agent contending with diamond smugglers who are sending the gems from Africa to England and then to the United States. Tiffany gives the diamonds to Bond hidden in golf balls, and the smuggling goes fine; the "hot ice" arrives fine in New York. Ian Fleming had first introduced Bond fans to the African diamond trade much earlier, however, in 1956 with Diamonds Are Forever (and a year later, he would come out with a non-Bond novel called The Diamond Smugglers which also dealt with the subject). One of the big movies of recent times was Blood Diamonds, a grim action movie dealing with conflict diamonds, those mined in certain African countries in states of civil war. It is, instead, pure entertainment, which is exactly what Fleming intended and succeeded in doing. (Such damaged women are actually a staple in the so-called "men's fiction" of decades ago).
Like most women in Bond stories, Tiffany has had a rough past, but only needs the (physical) love of a good man (that is, Bond) to be healed.
When Bond first receives his assignment - to impersonate a smuggler and determine how the pipeline is organized - he treats it as something of a lark.
Its big lack is a real good villain, although some of the bad guys are at least a bit interesting.
A few years before that, the final Pierce-Brosnan-as-James-Bond movie, Die Another Day also dealt with these diamonds.
When complications arise regarding Bond's payment, he goes to Las Vegas where the pipeline also ends.This is another fun Bond novel, albeit not the strongest in the set.
After contending with SMERSH and other professional spies and assassins, dealing with simple American gangsters should be a breeze.
Bond is to soon find out that he is underestimating the opposition.In England, Bond meets the beautiful Tiffany Case who works for the smugglers.
As usual, the action is much more limited than the movies, but the trade-off is a bit more depth of character, though I'd be hard-pressed to call this a character-driven novel.
This is another worthwhile read for literary Bond fans.
This novel has an opponent for Bond that is quite different. He is sent by M to look into diamond smuggling in Africa, that he determines is run buy the American Spangled Mob. After infiltration, he comes across the nasty assassins Wint and Kidd, part of the gang, and the attractive Tiffany Case, who he develops a serious thing for.The diamond smuggling happens by dentist and a few other tricks. Felix Leiter lends a hand, now out of the CIA due to the shark bite problems, and working privately.
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