Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

Casino Royale is the first Ian Fleming novel introducing James Bond.

Compared to the movies, the story is simple, the villain not outrageous, and Bond more self-conscious than he is portrayed on screen. I can see how his fastidiousness for detail and desire for the finest things would appeal to a reader of Casino Royale in 1957.

Bond arrives in Royale-Les-Eaux to confront Le Chiffre, a SMERSH-controlled trade union treasurer and member of the Russian Secret Service. Le Chiffre has taken from the coffers and must win to cover the losses. The game: high-stakes Baccarat.

Bond is assigned as a rich Jamaican playboy to bankrupt him with help from MI5 agent Vesper Lynd and Felix Leiter of the CIA. The casino atmosphere and all its intricacies are fascinating, and the game itself is page-turning.

It was fascinating to learn about Baccarat; the skill is in the bluff if you have the nerve to outwit your partner. With millions of francs on the table, the game at Casino Royale is intense. The story continues, involving the kidnapping of Vesper and Bond's attempts to rescue her in a wild nighttime car chase. Bond is captured as well and brutally tortured. How will he escape and save Vesper Lynd?

Being the first Bond novel, Fleming introduces Bond's classic dry martini, in a deep champagne goblet: "Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?" The drink is his own invention, unnamed until he meets up with the enchanting Vesper.

What strikes me about Fleming's James Bond is his meticulous nature. The way he prepares his clothes, a certain fashion, a certain order. Sure, he has excellent taste and orders from the maître d', who relays the order to the chef. Classy, but bordering on obsessive.

He has dated ideas such as working with Vesper, commenting on women doing men's jobs and getting in the way, a part of his personal outlook. I thought with his international lifestyle and proclivity for seducing beautiful women of all races, he was above such misogynistic thoughts. Bond falls deeply in love with Vesper, and the romance takes up a good portion. So, I was surprised by the rather famous final line of the book.

Casino Royale was relatively short and more character-driven than the films. Felix Leiter of the CIA is a great addition to his team of other spies, enlivening the scene, and Vesper Lynd was an unusual and appealing "Bond girl."

Ian Fleming has said that he created Bond to be an extremely dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened. The name James Bond, he thought, was masculine, brief, and unromantic. "I thought, by God, that's the dullest name I ever heard."

Not a superhero, but a real man with problems who confronts evil. Gentlemanly and knowledgeable, cold and controlled. Fleming has created a character that continues to grow, and it may be because of these flaws he remains so.

1953 / Hardcover / 187 pages