Ian Fleming’s first novel Casino Royale is the book that started the James Bond adventures that have become legendary. Bond has become an icon throughout the decades and the legend is still growing with more movies. Find out why you should read this James Bond novel!
Summary Casino Royale
James Bond, a secret Service agent 007 of the British Secret Service, is given the job of playing against Le Chiffre in a high-stakes game of baccarat. Le Chiffre is bankrupt and need of money to fund his illegal activities and plans to use the winnings and it is up to James Bond to stop him.
Bond is assigned a female companion named Vesper Lynd who is the personal assistant to the Head of Section S of the Soviet Union. Other countries are also participating in this game of baccarat in order to stop Le Chiffre including the United States and the French.
The game gets intense fast and Bonds doesn’t realize what he signed up for. It is more than just a game and a lot of moving parts behind the scenes. Can Bond stop Le Chiffre from winning and will he be able to survive against Le Chiffre’s cunning?
Commentary
Like many people, when I hear or read Casino Royale, I think of the iconic movie with Daniel Craig. The acting, script, and auro the movie gave was unlike anything else. Produced by Martin Campbell, the movie went on to be a blockbuster hit.
Compare that to the novel which is brilliant in its own right but lacks the detail of the movie. That is because the movie creates a stunning setting that the book does not do because the book is short. I enjoyed the fact that the James Bond books get to the plot and don’t waste pages on describing a tree.
This novel was written by Ian Fleming in Jamaica on February 17. He typed 2000 words and sent the finished manuscript in March 1952. And that is how this book and the following James Bond books came to be written. Many of the books use Fleming’s own experiences and imagination and that has worked out pretty well for him.
Conclusion
Even today, you won’t find many novels like the James Bonds books. And yes, there have been many books that followed a similar trajectory but they didn’t have personal experience to make it as good as Flemings’ novels. I thoroughly enjoyed Casino Royale and the other books in the James Bond world and would definitely recommend everyone to give them a read. Happy reading!
I also really enjoyed Casino Royale, though I thought the ending dragged on a bit. Moonraker was also an excellent 007 book.
The first novel is where the author starts realizing what works and what doesn’t
I really liked Casino Royale when I first read it a few years ago. I recently completed the Folio Society James Bond collection (except for the yet to be released Octopussy & The Living Daylights) and am excited to dive back into the series!
The audiobooks narrated by different celebrities are also worth checking out, Casino Royale was narrated by Dan Stevens (known for Downtown Abbey and The Beauty and the Beast)