Live and let die
by Ian Fleming · first published 1954
75% neutral25% critical
Beautiful, fortune-telling Solitaire is the prisoner (and tool) of Mr Big - master of fear, artist in crime and Voodoo Baron of Death. James Bond has no time for superstition - he knows that Mr Big is also a top SMERSH operative and a real threat. More than that, after tracking him through the jazz joints of Harlem, to the Everglades and on to the Caribbean, 007 has realized that Mr Big is one of the most dangerous men that he has ever faced. And no-one, not even the enigmatic Solitaire, can be sure how their battle of wills is going to end ...
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"The Spy Who Loved Me" was the shortest of Fleming's works that I read. But given that, I agree with the author of the article that many of the Bond books had serious failings. I read "Live and Let Die" and was embarrassed for Fleming for his attempt to channel Joel Chandler Harris. A case where the film bettered the book. "Goldfinger" has the villain actually trying to steal the gold from Fort Knox.…
on “James Bond Unmasked (1968)” ↗…"Goldfinger", Goldfinger is actually trying to steal the gold from Fort Knox. It was much more realistic to have him instead trying to destroy the gold to increase scarcity. Say what you want about the film "Live and Let Die" but reading Fleming trying to write "jive" was just embarrassing.
on “Ian Fleming Explains How to Write a Thriller” ↗My take after reading those is that the films are generally better works, but the other thing that's worth remembering is that Eon was out of the business of "adapting" Fleming novels after _Live and Let Die_. The follow-up (_The Man With The Golden Gun_) shares a title with a novel, but little else, and after that the films are mostly just a pastiche of whatever's-hot-in-Hollywood (e.g., _Moonraker_ having…
on “Where is James Bond? Trapped in an ugly stalemate with Amazon” ↗Moreover, there are almost zero examples of Eon films where the Eon ideas were good. The films are pretty straight-ahead adaptations of Fleming novels through _Live and Let Die_. After that, they were out of books they had rights to, and the films take a serious plunge in terms of actual quality. For my money, the only genuinely watchable non-adaptation example after LALD is…
on “Where is James Bond? Trapped in an ugly stalemate with Amazon” ↗…Book Thief by Markus Zusak - In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen - Darkest Hour by Anthony McCarten - Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown - Casino Royale by Ian Fleming - Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming - Moonraker by Ian Fleming - Diamonds Are Forever by Ian Fleming - From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming - Dr No by Ian Fleming - Goldfinger by Ian Fleming - For Your Eyes Only by…
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗…Tom Dumoulin by Patrick Bernhart (p:203) Fiction: Anthem by Ayn Rand (p:105); Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (p:704); The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum (p:566); Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (p:466); Live and Let die by Ian Fleming (p:229) Classics: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (p:104); The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (p:201); The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzergerald (p:180); Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023” ↗