About this title: James Bond becomes ensnared in the haunting and mysterious world of voodoo in this story a sultry woman named Solitaire and an evil villain appropriately called Mr. Big.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Signet Books, New York
Date Published: 1954
Description: Good + No Jacket. 19 th. printing, clean. worn at edges, slight crease to hinge, spine ok. a few creases at the corners, text clean. 159 pages. worn at bottom spine. good reading copy. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Signet Book
Date Published: 1954
ISBN-13:9780451017239ISBN:0451017234
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. VG-cover wear. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. James Bond. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Signet Book
Date Published: 1964
ISBN-13:9780451017239ISBN:0451017234
Description: Fair. No dust jacket as issued. Obvious cover wear and staining; otherwise readable. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. James Bond. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Signet Book
Date Published: 1963
Description: Fair. No dust jacket as issued. cover and binding wear and creases, F78. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Cover Art. Reading Copy. No Jacket. Paperback. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. 2 FOR THE PRICE OF 1----Reading copy is rated from good to very fine........The book may have minor flaws that may have gone unnoticed.... read more
Description: Cover Art. Reading Copy. No Jacket. Paperback. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. 2 FOR THE PRICE OF 1----Reading copy is rated from good to very fine........The book may have minor flaws that may have gone unnoticed.... read more
Description: Cover Art. Reading Copy. No Jacket. Paperback. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. 2 FOR THE PRICE OF 1----Reading copy is rated from good to very fine........The book may have minor flaws that may have gone unnoticed.... read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Signet
Date Published: 1963
Description: Fair. LIVE AND LET DIE by Ian Fleming. Signet, 1963. Binding: Mass Market Paperback Dust Jacket: No jacket. NOTES: 25th printing. Showing some exterior wear/creasing, overall clean and tight. Signet # P2730. read more
"James Bond travels to Harlem and than Jamaica to battle the evil 'Mr. Big' ( I guess all the really good villain names were taken) who is using his drug empire as a front for the evil commies! Great locations, lots of cool action, a truly evil bad guy, A psychic babe who may or may not be on our side and Bond just being cool as hell. Rich with details about nearly everything Bond wears, eats and does helps create a real strong feeling of the time and setting.
And yes, a book written forty years ago, featuring a black criminal empire is not written in a politically correct tone. Get over it. If you've ever listened to a gangsta rap song, you've heard worse racial language/attitudes. Drives me nuts when people review an old book and feel they have to announce how shocked they are."
"Good heavens, James Bond has feelings! And, sometimes he is afraid!! While this book is really quite well written, it beats me how anyone saw the huge commercial potential for Bondy - i.e. it didn't really do a lot for me. It was interesting, though, to see which bits of the book turned up in various movies (not necessarily the same one) and how they updated various aspects of the plot - for example, instead of smuggling gold coins that were part of a pirate's hoard (the book) they smuggled heroin or cocaine or something (the movies). Also, there was no Q or fancy gizmos in the book, and very few smart one-liners from Bond.
If you're interested in the plot (such as it is), Bond gets sent to the US to help investigate the flood of antique gold coins appearing on the market. He and his pal Felix Leiter fall foul of "Mr Big" who has set himself up as an underworld voodoo master up in Harlem. Mr Big's chick, Solitaire, escapes with Bondy to Florida and after this there's a lot of violence involving sharks and barracudas. I won't ruin it completely by telling you everything, but rest assured Bond comes out of it OK, although slightly more injured than he appears to be in the films."
"It's always interesting to look back on the original source material for James Bond and find out how radically different and how strangely similar the movies and the novels can be.
After faithfully following the Ian Fleming novels for the first several installments, each Bond film slowly began to take greater liberties with the novel's plots to the point where they just began to borrow titles and little else from their literary predecessors.
"Live and Let Die" is firmly in the middle of this transition. The novel is similar to the film in that we have Bond going up against a powerful figure in the African-American community who has a vast network of power and influence. However, while the film sets up the villain as a high-ranking drug dealer, the novel is a bit more smaller in scope in terms of the bad guy. Yes, the novel still finds Mr. Big with a huge network at his disposal and he still does dabble in controlling people through the use of voo-doo, but his ambitions are vastly different in the novel.
The second Bond novel works fairly well as a suspense thriller with some genuinely pulse-pounding moments, including Bond's midnight swim to Mr. Big's hideout. However, it's obvious that Fleming is still refining his style and the Bond character in this one. Bond's not exactly the most developed literary character in history and you won't get much, if any, character development here other than the fact that he loathes all things American. (Apparently we can't make breakfast worth a damn).
I've also read some criticism about the novel's apparent racism. I'm not sure that's entirely a valid point since Fleming is using the language of the time period in his references to the African-American community in "Live and Let Die."
Interestingly, the novel does feature a lot of moments and beats that are borrowed in later Bond movies, though not used for "Live and Let Die."
The Bond novels aren't what I'd call great literature. I'd argue that if not for the film series, they'd be largely forgotten and seen as curiosities of their day and age. However, they did spawn the franchise and some are better than others. "Live and Let Die" is one that is clearly in the middle--not great, but not terrible either."
"I was told that "Live and Let Die" was slightly racist as a movie, but I figured I'd read the book before watching. To be honest, I've never seen a Bond movie from beginning to end (and am somehow, indeed, alive. Shocking, no?)
But seriously, ignore these claims of overt racism I see in the other reviews. The most racist thing I found in this book is the use of the word "negro." It was not an ethnic slur until a decade later; as a matter of fact, it was the most polite and neutral term of the day. Perhaps if they were to read Edmund Morgan's works on American history, they would too label him a racist for using the same word when discussing slavery? As a history student with a particular interest in American history, trust me, I KNOW blatant racism. This is not it.
No one can say that Bond is a racist, either. There's nothing in his thoughts or behaviour that would imply otherwise. Sure, he's a snob, but he hates all Americans, especially American food, regardless of colour. No character's "blackness" is used against them, but only as a descriptor like Solitaire's pallor. The Harlem accent employed by some of the black community that Fleming attempts to recreate did, in fact, exist. If this were the accent of a Southern white American, which is very similar in form (and yes, it is) I can't help but feel that no one would accuse the author attempting to recreate it in writing of racism.
A book written in 1954 is going to read like a book written in 1954, and there's nothing our little socialized-to-be-politically-correct minds can do about it. No one seems to be complaining that Mr. Big, villainy as he may be, is also very intelligent, powerful, adept, and a real challenge to Bond's character. Or that the so-overt-it's-comical sexism, albeit toned down from "Casino Royale" levels, is still painfully present.
Can't say so much about the importance of voodoo, but hey, I wasn't there, nor have I studied the role of voodoo in society, so I'm not gonna comment on that unless I stumble upon some research.
So, can we get to the actual story? I couldn't help but notice that "Casino Royale" is more popular on Goodreads. I disagree, as this one is infinitesimally more badass.
Bond hijacks a vehicle and kills three of Big's henchmen? Leiter is eaten by a shark? The gunfight in the aquarium place? Bond and Solitaire are about to crash through corals that tear off their skin so they become living barracuda food? Not to mention the eeriness of the whole voodoo thing. And a card game is supposed to be more exciting? Please. The only other things that happen in "Casino Royale" are no thanks to Bond: his would-be assassins botch the attempt and bomb themselves, and he is saved at the end from Le Chiffre by a SMERSH agent. Nothing compared to the constant stream of adventure in this book. On a side note, the description of Big at the end isn't for the squeamish. Then again, I guess nothing is.
This is only the second book in the series I've read, as I am slowly reading through them in order. So far, I don't really like Bond's character - he seems pretty useless - but that may change. So might this review as I continue to compare the different novels as I get through them."
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