On Her Majesty's Secret Service by Ian FlemingMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I haven’t read all the Bonds but I have had the audiobook of this, read very entertainingly by David Tennant, on my list for some time so decided to read and listen.
As with all Fleming’s output, the book, from 1963, is very dated. Fleming writes well in a very well-spoken English style but the book is as misogynistic as you would expect. It begins as Bond watches a young woman, and becomes concerned that she is considering suicide. We find a little bit about their relationship in flashback before they are both captured and whisked off to meet a shady Corsican who takes a shine to Bond.
The next section, where the book almost loses its way, follows Bond, typically poorly undercover, to the mountaintop retreat of his arch enemy, Blofeld, whose sinister plan seems to resolve around becoming certified as a Count and hypnotising some British farm girls into liking cows and an Irish colleen into appreciating potatoes… However, things take off when Bond’s identity is uncovered and he has to escape down the mountain in a genuinely exciting fashion, pursued by Blofeld’s thugs and an avalanche.
Those who have seen the movie will know the tragic ending. Indeed the film followed the book fairly closely and, having watched the movie recently, both are overlong and slightly out-stay their welcome. Enjoyable but disjointed, Tennant’s narration just about holding it together.
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment