Immediately racist ugh I’m done with James Bond

Conflicted….lame villains and a not all that interesting middle portion where it’s a lot of talking about James Bond at horse races and hanging around Vegas, but a great Bond Girl in Tiffany Case and a couple well written action scenes (and some of the travelogue stuff is an interesting look at 50’s Vegas). Without Tiffany this is prob a two star. I think the way people sometimes talk about book Tiffany is pretty uncharitable, I don’t think Bond is there to “fix” her or make her assault seem “not important”, I think his surprisingly gentle attitude and care for her is simply a totally new experience for her having grown up seeing the way men treat women they don’t need to treat well because her mom owned a Cat House. Don’t know why I feel the need to defend a fictional character, maybe because I found her pretty three dimensional and charming (compared to the other Bond girls at least). Anyway, maybe the weakest so far. Sad!

I tried to read Casino Royale some time after seeing the movie-I enjoyed the movie but not the book. But I decided to give Fleming another chance and I chose Diamonds Are Forever mostly based on the cover.

Summary: James Bond is sent to investigate the smuggling of diamonds from South Africa to America.

I really liked the description of the airplane on page 50 of my copy: the passengers are served cocktails and caviar on the two hour flight from London to Ireland. I feel lucky to get two drinks and a bag of pretzels on a US cross-country flight.

Perhaps because Casino Royale is the only Bond film I've seen, I kept picturing Daniel Craig as Bond. This works. Bond is cool and efficient whether knocking out some baddies or seducing Miss Tiffany Case (who has a horrific backstory).

I was offended by some passages regarding race and gender but I kept in mind that this book was written 1956 by an Englishman with a vastly different perspective than me. I also felt the ending was somewhat rushed but in the end it's only important to know that Bond completed his mission.

Overall: I would rate this 4 out 5. The chapters were short and suspenseful so I could move through the book quickly. I am definitely planning to read some more Bond books.

Quite lackluster. Not boring but not awesome. Felix is the best part by far. I want more Bond and Felix adventures!

Tiffany Case was also a weird Bond girl. I liked her at the beginning but got confused by her motives and what not.

odd book. Story is weak, hence the rating of 3.5 stars. Nevertheless, Fleming is strangely poetic as usual, making the book bareable. Writing is brief and strangely serene.

Mixed results here. A promising opening and middle section fizzles out with an all too brief anticlimax. Fleming has an knack for succinct and evocative scene setting and the depiction of the horse meet is great as is the period detail (when read with modern eyes). Setting Bond back in America is a shame though after the unexpected British setting of the last book but at least we're not saddled with the sheer degree of racism we got with [b:Live and Let Die|17304110|Live and Let Die (James Bond, #2)|Ian Fleming|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1359471206s/17304110.jpg|171188]. Here it's much more tempered. So that's an improvement?

Bond himself is exposed a little more (he wants kids!) and we see a softer side to him at times as Miss Case brings on the mushy. However, his complete inability to put it all together and spot the two assassins near the end is just ridiculous, even if it does set up a suspenseful stand off.

Not bad but could have been a lot better.