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The Spy Who Loved Me (James Bond #10)

by Ian Fleming

3.37 · rating details · 1,995 ratings · 121 reviews

Three more of Ian Fleming's original James Bond adventures in classic, eye-catching packages

Mass Market Paperback, 176 pages

Published September 2nd 2003 by Penguin Books (first published January 1st 1961)

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Jan 14, 2009

Michael rated it

Wow. This was something else. A terrible, terrible something else.

The Spy Who Loved Me differs from all of the other Bond books, in that it's written in the first person, from the perspective of Vivienne Michel, a vivacious young lady who finds herself alone, looking after a motor lodge in north-eastern America.

The book falls into three sections... the first looks at Vivienne's background and how she came to find herself babysitting an empty motel. Essentially, this is a ...moreWow. This was something else. A terrible, terrible something else.

The Spy Who Loved Me differs from all of the other Bond books, in that it's written in the first person, from the perspective of Vivienne Michel, a vivacious young lady who finds herself alone, looking after a motor lodge in north-eastern America.

The book falls into three sections... the first looks at Vivienne's background and how she came to find herself babysitting an empty motel. Essentially, this is a depressing look at the girl's two crashingly unsuccessful relationships - losing her virginity to a cad, and falling pregnant to a German reporter (who promptly sacks her and insists that she use her redundancy check to pay for an abortion).

You know how I'd previously observed that Fleming tended toward misogyny... yeah, this is like a nasty culmination of that line of thinking.

Anyway, Michel returns to her native Canada, decides to drive a Vespa down the east coast to Florida. En route, she finds herself being asked to look after this motel. Unfortunately, the owner plans to set fire to it with Michel still there. Oh noes. Soon, she finds herself confronted with two hired goons who plan to have some entertainment with the young lady before torching the place.

So begins act two - another rather nasty series of chapters featuring said goons terrorising young Ms Michel. To be honest, by modern standards, they're not excessively brutal - there's a lot of implied threat, and they get her to make scrambled eggs for them.

But, who should appear in act three but James Bond, who saves the day. The plot picks up a bit at this point - which is just as well, because frankly it's been something of a yawn getting here. Bond joins the story for five chapters, and then sods off.

Needless to say, she melts in Bond's arms and declares the immortal line that "All women love semi-rape." I don't think I need to offer too much of a comment on that...

Oh, and for those of you hoping for Union Jack parachutes, and nuclear submarine kidnap, there's none of that... The book has nothing in common with the film, other than Bond being in it... and he's in the film a good deal more than the book.(less)

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Oct 14, 2008

Lindsay Stares rated it

It took me a long time to track down this book: I couldn't get it through the library, and I eventually broke down and bought it (a bad idea in my tiny apartment). Wow. It's totally worth the money and shelf space. Just fantastic. Be warned, it does read like a noir/romance which happens to feature (but not star) James Bond. One of my favorite things about going through and actually reading the Bond books, is that they are all different. For that, and for the narrator's perspective on Bond...more

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Dec 10, 2011

Danny M rated it

Recommends it for: SPY & SUSPENSE READERS

Recommended to Danny by: BOOK CLUB

AM I A FAN OF THE JAMES BOND BOOKS? YES I AM. MY MOTHER DURING THE 1960'S PURCHASED THE COMPLETE SET OF IAM FLEMINGS BOOKS IN THE JAMES BOND SERIES FROM A SIGN UP OFFERINGS OF A BOOK CLUB FOR $1.99. IN MY EARLY TEENS I READ EVERY BOOK AND IT STARTED ME AS AN AVID READER OF SPY AND SUSPENSE NOVELS. I HAVE PROBABLY READ THE COMPLETE SET ABOY 6 TIMES FROM 1960. I AM GOING TO WRITE A GENERIC REVIEW OF THE JAMES BOND SERIES AS EVERYONE PROBLY KNOWS THE STORYLINE FROM EITHER READING THE BOOKS OR ...more

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Nov 02, 2011

Sean Kottke rated it

Shelves: 2011

Although this book is often labeled "experimental," it's really a pretty conventional hardboiled noir story of a fallen woman in distress, who calls upon the services (and killer instincts) of a mysterious stranger. The only things "experimental" about it are an introduction from Ian Fleming on the supposed provenance of the manuscript, first-person narration from said woman in distress, and Bond's late appearance in the story. The overall story is entertaining and well-execu...more

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Aug 17, 2011

Sandy rated it

Although the fifth James Bond movie, 1967's "You Only Live Twice," was the first film in the series to radically differ from its source novel, perhaps no other 007 picture jettisons author Ian Fleming's original conception as completely as 1977's "The Spy Who Loved Me." In essence a remake of "YOLT," substituting nuclear subs for manned space capsules (check out the point-by-point comparison of the two films in Raymond Benson's excellent "James Bond Bedside Com...moreAlthough the fifth James Bond movie, 1967's "You Only Live Twice," was the first film in the series to radically differ from its source novel, perhaps no other 007 picture jettisons author Ian Fleming's original conception as completely as 1977's "The Spy Who Loved Me." In essence a remake of "YOLT," substituting nuclear subs for manned space capsules (check out the point-by-point comparison of the two films in Raymond Benson's excellent "James Bond Bedside Companion"), Roger Moore's third outing as Bond was a big, splashy, colorful and superbly entertaining film, sharing its title--and absolutely nothing else--with Fleming's original book. And this was quite deliberate, apparently, and by Fleming's request. The book, originally released in April 1962 and the 10th of 14 in the Fleming series, is, in many ways, the oddball of the Bond canon. It is the shortest of the 007 novels, the most sexually explicit, and, most significantly, is narrated in the first person...and by a woman, to boot! And whereas in the fifth book of the series, 1957's "From Russia, With Love," Bond didn't make his entrance until page 72, here, we must wait until page 90 (I am referring to the classic Signet paperback editions here; the run of books that was so popular during the 1960s, at the height of the "spy craze") for Bond to appear. Fortunately, it is well worth the wait, and his entrance at that point is as dramatic as can possibly be.

"TSWLM" takes the form of a manuscript that Fleming tells us was sent to him by a 23-year-old French Canadian woman named Vivienne Michel, and one that allows us to see Bond "through the wrong end of the telescope." Vivienne's manuscript is cleverly divided into three sections. In "Me," we learn of her background, including her childhood in Canada, her finishing-school years in London, and her two unhappy love affairs with men who turned out to be callous cads, leading to her decision to tour the U.S. on a Vespa and her short-term gig working at a motel near Lake George, N.Y. In "Them," we learn of how two thugs, Sol "Horror" Horowitz and Sluggsy Morant, had beaten her at the abandoned motel--for reasons unknown--and were about to sexually abuse her. And in "Him," we learn of the British secret agent who had happened by--"like the prince in the fairy tales," as she later tells us--and rescued her. Vivienne, as it turns out, is just as great a writer as Ian Fleming himself (ha ha!), and just as likely to use a plenitude of detail and product names while telling her tale. She is a very charming and self-assured young woman, who instantly gains our sympathies, and, in telling her own story, makes herself easily the most fully realized and (you'll pardon the expression!) completely fleshed-out female character in the Bond novels. Vivienne's tale is interesting to start with, despite its soap opera qualities, and turns out to be highly suspenseful and exciting by its conclusion. It affords us a look at Bond that is also unique in the novels; 007 had never before come off as so gallant, as such a white knight (the image of St. George and the dragon appears in the first section of Michel's tale as a bit of foreshadowing). And not just gallant as concerns the ladies; "TSWLM" gives us a glimpse into Bond's fair-play views on killing, too. When Vivienne demands to know why Bond just didn't shoot down the two thugs from a hidden position, Bond declares, "Never been able to in cold blood." And, in a moment that I just love, Bond tells Vivienne, "...these people are pros...By their own standards, that is." As it turns out, the two thugs are hardly a match for the man who had previously bested maniacs such as Red Grant and Oddjob, but still manage to give him a tough time. Bond, ultimately, has never seemed so appealing, as revealed in the farewell letter that he pens to Vivienne on motel stationery. No wonder Vivienne falls in love with him after just one night, and needs to be reminded by a fatherly state trooper that men like Bond, as well as the enemies they fight, are practically "a different species" altogether than the rest of us.

Though almost 50 years old as of this writing, "TSWLM" remains remarkably fresh, if a tad dated in spots. References to Jack Kennedy, Trans-Canada Airlines, cheap gas in America (Vivienne tells us that her Vespa would be able to cruise for only $1 a day!) and $8 motels seem like time-capsule items from another age, and yet, the book is as thrilling today as it must have been five decades ago. Fleming, apparently, was dissatisfied with the novel--one that almost comes off like a breather between the S.P.E.C.T.R.E. nastiness of "Thunderball" (1961) and "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1963)--hence his insistence on ditching the story when it was ultimately brought to the screen. It turns out that Fleming was a better writer than he was a critic, however. This is, quite simply, a marvelous, smashing tale, and one that this old Bond fan simply adores. Like the best of the Bond books, it is one that will leave readers both shaken AND stirred....(less)

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Feb 02, 2011

Nicholas Doyle rated it

Shelves: fiction

A few years ago, I read this great blog post about the various cover designs for Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, and decided that I wanted to read them - I'd never really cared about James Bond before (the first move I ever saw was Casino Royale, and that was right before Quantum of Solace was released) but the covers for the 100th anniversary editions were cool, so I thought "why not?" I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed them, and was even more surprised at how different th...moreA few years ago, I read this great blog post about the various cover designs for Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, and decided that I wanted to read them - I'd never really cared about James Bond before (the first move I ever saw was Casino Royale, and that was right before Quantum of Solace was released) but the covers for the 100th anniversary editions were cool, so I thought "why not?" I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed them, and was even more surprised at how different they were from how the movies (or my idea of the movies) presented James Bond. The 007 of the books is not the super-smooth spy with all sorts of gadgets and geegaws; this Bond is a bit of a lout, and while he is very good at his job, he also screws up a lot. A whole lot. I do have to admit I easily fell for Fleming’s writing style; he’s great at describing everything – the food, the girls, the clothes, the action – these are pulp novels of the highest order, regardless of how the movies may have changed them.
But, to be honest, after reading through the first 9 novels over the last 2+ years, I was getting a little burned out, and I was not really looking forward to The Spy Who Loved Me – according to Fleming’s Wikipedia page, he was not happy with the book and tried to distance himself from it once it had been published. The completist in me won out, however, and I’m honestly glad it did because this is actually one of my favorite books in the whole series! This is the first Bond book I’ve read that’s written in the 1st person – not James Bond, but a woman named Vivienne Michel. It’s really an odd little book – the first third is pretty much just Michel reflecting on her life up to the present, the second third is where the action starts, and 007 finally shows his face in the final third of the book. This is the first book where Bond really seems in control of the whole situation and knows exactly what he’s doing. Maybe it’s because he’s being viewed from an outsider’s perspective, but it really is thrilling when he shows up, especially considering what’s happening when he does. I finished the entire book in about 2 hours, and am actually looking forward to the next book in the series.
My only real complaint about it is the very end, where (of course) Michel quickly falls in love with the dashing English spy (it’s not really a spoiler if I say that Bond totally gets laid, is it? I mean, it is common knowledge that this is inevitable, right?) After reading 10 of these things, I still can’t really tell if Fleming actually thinks women are that easy, or if he just assumes that Bond is just so attractive that no one can resist his charms.
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May 25, 2010

Zohar - ManOfLaBook.com rated it

This short story as it comes in the midst of the "Blofeld Trilogy" ("Thunderball", "You Only Live Twice" and "For Her Majesty's Secret Service") which are mentioned only in passing.

The concept is interesting, a Bond story told through the eyes of a young Canadian woman, Vivian Michel, who runs a cheap motel in the Adirondack Mountains trying to work towards a trip through America.

The book is divided into three parts, we learn abou...more

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Apr 15, 2010

Howard Olsen rated it

The Spy Who Loved Me was my favorite James Bond movie when I was a kid, so it's disappointing to report that the book has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MOVIE VERSION, except there's a bad guy with steel teeth.

"Spy" is unique among Bond books in many ways. It is narrated in the first person. The narrator (and focus of the story) is a woman with whom Bond has an adventure/tryst. In fact, "Spy" reads more like a romance novel, than a spy novel. There's even a po...more

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Apr 11, 2009

Mark rated it

Shelves: crime-and-mystery

Continuing my (quite leisurely) re-read of the Fleming novels in order of publication . . .

THE SPY WHO LOVED ME is a surprising “palate cleanser” after the all-out action of THUNDERBALL--it's a short, fast expectation-twister, presented as the first-person account of a young woman who sent the novel's MS to Ian Fleming. Vivienne Michel, on the run from a life of heartbreak as an expat in London, encounters terror when trapped alone by two vicious gangsters in a remote motel late one...more

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Nov 04, 2011

Ian rated it

This was a re-read for me after a period of around 26 years, which is a frightening thought in itself, but it did mean that I was prepared for it to be an anomaly in the Bond series in that it is written in the first person, that of a French Canadian ingenue, Vivienne Michel, and Bond himself makes no appearance until the mid point of the novel. Fore-warned is fore-armed, as they say, and this knowledge allowed me to read without impatiently awaiting our hero at every page. When he does appear, ...more

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May 23, 2010

F.R. rated it

‘The Spy who Loved Me’ is of course the ‘odd’ James Bond novel. The book which is told from a female point of view, the episode where Commander James Bond is not even mentioned until over halfway through, the one which doesn’t seem like a spy novel at all. It’s an interesting experiment, but what struck me on (re-)reading it now was how poorly conceived and badly executed it was.

Nothing in Ian Fleming’s other novels suggests that he had a great understanding or appreciation of female...more‘The Spy who Loved Me’ is of course the ‘odd’ James Bond novel. The book which is told from a female point of view, the episode where Commander James Bond is not even mentioned until over halfway through, the one which doesn’t seem like a spy novel at all. It’s an interesting experiment, but what struck me on (re-)reading it now was how poorly conceived and badly executed it was.

Nothing in Ian Fleming’s other novels suggests that he had a great understanding or appreciation of female characters. Their role is to appear as sexy as hell, flirt, maybe give over a crucial bit of information and then at the end be saved by the dashing hero. It’s therefore possible to see it as brave for Fleming to throw away his bag of tricks and go for a female point of view. The problem is that Vivienne Michel – the ‘Me’ of the title – is one of the more irritatingly insipid characters in fiction.

Let me just describe her: she is gorgeous and unworldly; has had sexual experiences but never been with a real man; is resourceful, but only to a point; is brave, but only to a point; and as such is desperate for a hero to come in and save her. Even as the main protagonist of the piece, her sole role is to await the heroic man who she will worship for ever more. This therefore is the perfect Bond heroine, but that of course makes her more of a fantasy than a real woman.

And then, as the olive in the martini, we find passages like this:

“All women love semi-rape. They love to be taken. It was his sweet brutality against my bruised body that made his act of love so piercingly wonderful... I had no regrets and no shame. There might be many consequences for me – not the least that I might be dissatisfied with other men. But whatever my troubles were he would never hear of them.”

I can imagine that old Etonians of Fleming’s vintage felt that this was a true insight into the female psyche, but surely even in 1962 that passage must have raised some eyebrows.

A character like Vivienne Michel may suffice in a normal Bond novel, where the reader isn’t often given access to her thoughts. (My edition actually has her listed as the co-writer – as if she was a living, breathing person who told Fleming her story.) But for Fleming’s fantasies of womanhood to be asked to carry the whole narrative only serves to show how out of touch and lost in his boy’s own world the author was.

‘The Spy who Loved Me’ isn’t merely an ‘odd’ book, it is the ill starred backstairs child of James Bond novels.(less)

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May 30, 2009

Sherry rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: James Bond purists

Recommended to Sherry by: Jeff

Shelves: do-not-own-it, general-fiction

Although I have seen many James Bond films, this is the very first James Bond novel I've ever read. Unfortunately, I think it was a poor choice for an introduciton into the series. It is the only book in the series to be told from the first person point of view of a woman, (the character Vivienne Michel), James Bond himself doesn't even appear in the story until more than halfway through, and, as I have just found out from Wikipedia, Ian Fleming himself was sorely disappointed in this novel, a...moreAlthough I have seen many James Bond films, this is the very first James Bond novel I've ever read. Unfortunately, I think it was a poor choice for an introduciton into the series. It is the only book in the series to be told from the first person point of view of a woman, (the character Vivienne Michel), James Bond himself doesn't even appear in the story until more than halfway through, and, as I have just found out from Wikipedia, Ian Fleming himself was sorely disappointed in this novel, as were critics. But, seeing as I've not read the nine preceding books in the series, I have nothing to compare it to. (Insert shoulder shrug here.) Having only the movies as a frame of reference, though, this book does seem out of place with what I know of James Bond.

The back cover sells this book as full of suspense, thrills, and danger, and yes, all those elements are there...but only for a few pages toward the end. The majority of the book consists of the life story of Vivienne Michel, which I would think most hard-core fans of James Bond would find absolutely boring. The only element of the book that I would imagine fans would "eat up" is that this is apparently the most sexually explicit of all the stories in the series (again getting my info from Wikipedia). The sex is pretty tame by today's standards, but I'm sure in 1962 it would have been a thrill for fans.

But, if I had never seen a James Bond movie and had no idea who or what he was, (and also having read no other books in the series), this book really isn't that bad. With Vivienne's autobiography taking up the majority of the book, and then the story turning into action and gunfights as James Bond rushes in to save her from danger, it's really just a knight-on-a-white-horse-saving-a-damsel type story. If James Bond's name had been changed to Joe Blow, it could stand alone and be a nice piece of fluffy-romantic-thriller reading. Fleming is great at describing cars, motorcycles (or a Vespa in this case), guns, clothing, food, and alcohol in fantastic ways that make you wanna go out and buy/eat/drink them. And the slang used (in parts) is oh-so-Austin-Powers.

My one huge criticism of the book is that Fleming is not believable writing from the perspective of a woman. A man reading this book may not really get that, but being female myself, there are several passages that made me roll my eyes and groan. I realize it was written in 1962, but regardless of the era, no woman would have the thoughts and feelings Vivienne has when she survives what we today would call date rape, an abortion, and her potential baby-daddy kicking her to the curb. And a line after she first has sex with Bond where Vivienne thinks, "All women love semi-rape. They love to be taken." made me want to throw the book across the room! Yes there are all kinds of women who like all kinds of kinky stuff, but the generalization "ALL women love semi-rape"??? Come on! I know, I know...I'm applying my current-day feminism to a 1962 male author playing to his male audience. Honestly, I wasn't appalled or anything, I was just astounded that a man could write that and actually think that a woman would think like that.

So all in all, it's worth reading. I just think maybe if I plan to seriously read James Bond novels, I ought to have started with the FIRST one and not the TENTH one. Although that may have made me hate this book althogether - I don't know.

The only other thing to note is that I've learned (thank you Jeff and Wikipedia) that not all James Bond novels are created equal. The only true and original novels are the ones by Ian Fleming. There are MANY MANY more by other authors such as John Gardner and Christopher Wood that are either novelizations of the movies or were written after Fleming's death, and many have the exact same titles as the original works. Other than just being inferior in writing qulaity (this is apparently so, by the vehement reaction of good friend Jeff), many of the movies merely took titles from the Fleming novels while completely re-writing the story, locations, and characters. So any one interested in reading James Bond books, you have been warned!

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Jan 20, 2012

thom rated it

Shelves: electronic-reads, fiction

The good news is that this book takes a rather novel approach to being a Bond story, being told entirely in the first person by a female protagonist, who in the course of her adventure, crosses paths with James Bond. It's an interesting approach, and Fleming deals with it pretty well.

The bad news is that Viv is possibly the most passive female character committed to print. The world happens to her, and most of all, men happen to her. She's pushed into sex, on a number of occasions, s...more

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Feb 01, 2011

Ed rated it

Ian Fleming himself was not a fan. When he sold the film rights to his books, there was a stipulation that they could only use the title of this book. I knew that the perspective of this book was a woman secluded in a motel and that Bond himself doesn't show up for a while (turns out to be nearly page 100 of a 164 page book). Therefore, I was reluctant to dive into this one more than any other book in the series yet. So, it was a very nice surprise how much more interesting this book was than th...more

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Sep 30, 2011

Brian rated it

* The tenth Bond book.

* Having already experimented with a James Bond story that wasn't about Bond at all (the marvelous "Quantum of Solace"), Fleming here tells a Bond story in the voice of a young French-Canadian woman held hostage by a couple of underworld thugs in an otherwise deserted motel in the Adirondacks. It's not as good as the earlier short story, but it's a daring change of pace, and gripping once the action starts.

* Before that, roughly the first thir...more* The tenth Bond book.

* Having already experimented with a James Bond story that wasn't about Bond at all (the marvelous "Quantum of Solace"), Fleming here tells a Bond story in the voice of a young French-Canadian woman held hostage by a couple of underworld thugs in an otherwise deserted motel in the Adirondacks. It's not as good as the earlier short story, but it's a daring change of pace, and gripping once the action starts.

* Before that, roughly the first third of the novel, we have Vivienne's reminiscences of her early life and the affairs that eventually led her to the motel at exactly the wrong time. Or was it, in fact, the right time? One of the thugs is named Sluggsy, and the truth is Vivienne has been abused by slugs all her adult life. Bond provides a welcome dash of contrast.

* For all the misguided talk of misogyny in the Bond novels, and the more accurate charges of chauvinism, I wonder how people will react to the treatment of men in this book. They're all scum, with the questionable exception of Bond himself. (Bond, at heart, is a softie, and Fleming, too, I think. Unable to stop himself from having Bond fall for the women he meets, it's as if Fleming was delighted, at last, to tell a story in which he didn't have to worry about that. And the only way he could do it? By claiming--tongue in cheek, of course--that he didn't write it.)

* Fleming evidently wasn't happy with the book's critical reception and allowed only the title to be used when he sold the movie rights. That, I think, was a cowardly mistake, in the sense that the Bond film franchise could itself have done with a change of pace. I applaud Fleming for trying something so out of character, and even though it certainly isn't one of the best Bond books, it has its quirky place among them.

* The tenth Bond film (Roger Moore).

* As mentioned, Fleming allowed only the title to be used, so there's no other connection between book and film (unless you count Jaws' teeth, a hint of which can be found in the book).

* This, however, opens the field to one of the best ideas of the series: Bond working together with a female Russian agent. Ah, no, that's not actually correct. It would have been a great idea for a real movie (or one of Fleming's novels), but plunked down in a Bond movie, it naturally goes to waste, freighted as it with the inevitable baggage of Bond's absolute superiority and the need for the woman agent to succumb to Bond's charms with the least provocation imaginable. (It is significant that when Anya mentions the death of Bond's wife, Bond emphatically changes the subject, but not long after Anya discovers that Bond killed her fiance, she's happily sleeping with Bond.)

* Considered by some to be Roger Moore's best Bond movie, and it certainly has its moments. It is without question the film I would most highly recommend to 13- to 14-year-old boys. (In Barbara Bach and Caroline Munro, there is much fuel for heated fantasy.) But that's also its problem; the adult mind has a rough time with the story, particularly the crux of it--the liaison between the English and Russian Secret Services. I'm sure Fleming was tossing in his grave when he saw a Russian agent being ushered through Q's workshop and airlifted onto an American nuclear submarine. In typical fashion, the sheer scale of the film is its undoing.

* On second thought, I won't give the screenwriters full credit for the idea of pairing Bond with a woman agent. Though Vivienne of the novel was no agent, she did end up working with him to some degree. Which is, really, all that can said of Anya in the film.

* Great theme song, sung by Carly Simon.(less)

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Jan 15, 2012

Wellington rated it

What was that? This is different from the other Ian Fleming James Bond books because it was written from the first person from the female point of view. It read more like a young adult teenage romance ... It was a murderous beginning of a dumbstruck girl looking for love. Unfortunately, it was the only book I brought with me to the airport and so I stuck with it.

James Bond would make his entrance 2/3 into the book to save the girl and the book. Well, he saved the girl an...more

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Aug 25, 2011

Martyn Chuzz rated it

Recommends it for: 'For Bond Addicts Only'

Shelves: fiction, 2011

This book is so awful that it leads me to one of two conclusions - firstly, that it was written, despite its release date, very early by Fleming and was an extended short story that was never meant to be a novel. Or secondly, that Fleming didn't actually write it at all and published it as a favor to an admirer or in payment for something.

My reasons for the first conclusion are simple - the dialog, action and even the psychological aspects of Bond are so different from any of the oth...moreThis book is so awful that it leads me to one of two conclusions - firstly, that it was written, despite its release date, very early by Fleming and was an extended short story that was never meant to be a novel. Or secondly, that Fleming didn't actually write it at all and published it as a favor to an admirer or in payment for something.

My reasons for the first conclusion are simple - the dialog, action and even the psychological aspects of Bond are so different from any of the other novels that this feels like a starting point or workup for the character; it feels like it could have been the very first thing that he wrote around Bond. Now, the reader could say that that is obvious because Bond is being described by another character and not Fleming - but that wouldn't affect his dialog, or the evident self-doubt, a quality which is present in other tales but not so cloyingly as here (unless we are to see Viv as a dubious narrator). Also, it would seem to me, that with the editing and loss of about a hundred pages or so, there would be a very good Bond short story here - very similar to those in the 'For You Eyes Only' collection. In fact if you were to start reading this novel at Part Three and stop after Bond leaves you would a. not have missed anything important to the plot and b. would have read a fairly good Bond short. In short I didn't recognize the Bond portrayed here and so I'm fairly convinced that Fleming didn't either, which suggests that he was still formulating the character at this point. Or...

My second conclusion is just a hunch. Ian Fleming has been reported as disliking the novel enough that he would only sell the film rights if the studio promised not to use anything other than the title, which they duly did. If you take his own dislike and add in the rather strange 'disclaimer' at the beginning naming his main character, Viv, as the co-author then thoughts start to pop up. Obviously I don't mean to suggest that Viv is real in any sense but there could have been many reasons why Fleming published a book under his own name written, or half written by someone else. I have no proof whatsoever for this theory - it would just explain some of the more shockingly bad elements of the book. This novel reads, after all, as if a fan had attempted to write a Bond book as an experiment - the 'plot' itself is weak and vacillating, the lead character's back story is dull and provides no pay off whatsoever to the plot, the villains are annoying, the dialog grating and Bond is strangely off kilter in a way that he never seems to be before or after.

Not good at all. If you adhere to conclusion one above then this is a strange blip in the middle of some strong and atmospheric spy thriller writing. If you like the sound of number two then ignore this as a 'non-Bond' and move on to the infinitely better 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service'.

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Nov 29, 2011

John Pringle rated it

It’s disappointing that this book got such a bad reception from critics—The Daily Telegraph, The Observer, The Times, Time all criticized it. Even the critic Anthony Boucher, who is usually pretty fair, wrote that with this book the "author has reached an unprecedented low."

Personally, I think this novel contains some of Fleming’s best writing. Told in the first person from a female viewpoint, in Vivienne Michel he presents a fully fleshed Bond girl—strong, independent, and...more

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Jul 09, 2011

Jeremy Leipert rated it

At the level of the sentence, Fleming is not a great author; I am never impressed by his turns of phrase, metaphors, or descriptions. But what he does very well is develop interesting ways to tell the story, and this book is, perhaps, the best example of both these points. The book is written from the perspective of the Bond girl, and Bond himself is a subsidiary character. The book is still (in places) sexist but even that is complicated by the fact that none of the men in the book (or the narr...more

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Feb 09, 2012

C.J. rated it

Recommends it for: Bond completists

Shelves: fiction, spy-thriller, reviewed

There are some books which simply compel the question "Why?" This is one of them.

Why did Fleming choose to write a novel in the first person of a female protagonist? I have no idea. Perhaps he was tired of complaints about the way he wrote his female characters; perhaps someone, whom he felt he must answer, had accused him of misogyny and he wanted to show an empathy for the fair sex; perhaps he was simply bored and wanted a change.

Whatever the reason, Fleming ma...moreThere are some books which simply compel the question "Why?" This is one of them.

Why did Fleming choose to write a novel in the first person of a female protagonist? I have no idea. Perhaps he was tired of complaints about the way he wrote his female characters; perhaps someone, whom he felt he must answer, had accused him of misogyny and he wanted to show an empathy for the fair sex; perhaps he was simply bored and wanted a change.

Whatever the reason, Fleming makes a fair fist of it. His Vivienne Michel is well executed; the character has had less than happy experiences with men but she is resilient and remains unembittered and untwisted. She is a strong yet attractive character. This is not the writing of a misogynist in any degree.

The problem with The Spy who Loved Me is that the reader comes away with the feeling that it started from the wrong premise. Graham's Marnie, my own Motherhood or any of du Maurier's forays into the opposite sex, start with the story and then tell that from the POV that seems to work best. The Spy who Loved Me, on the other hand, gives the impression that Fleming started off with the character and then groped around for a story to hang it on. Very likely under editorial pressure, he tried to turn it into a Bond novel. Unfortunately, some eighty pages have already been spent explaining how Vivienne came to be where she is at the start. When the action starts, it feels as though it has been tacked on as an afterthought. No doubt it has; it's a McGuffin (the term Hitchcock coined to describe the matter that the film purported to be about). The arrival of the villains is nothing more than an excuse to bring Bond into the thing. When, half way through the novel, James Bond actually arrives, it is far from vintage stuff: a jaded and world-weary depiction of a jaded and world-weary 007.

Had Fleming followed his first instincts and written a novel about Vivienne Michel, leaving Bond out of things entirely, he might have done something creditable; it comes across in every line of the second half that he did not want to write Bond. As it is, The Spy who Loved Me ends up neither fish, flesh, fowl nor good red herring.
Many years ago, charlatan traders used to sell "mermaids", fabricated from half a monkey carcase sewn onto half a fish. The Spy who Loved Me has a similar quality.

(Incidentally, anyone concerned about the infamous "all women like semi-rape" line can rest easy. Placed in its context it is clear that it it is not referring to rape at all.) (less)

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Nov 27, 2011

William rated it

Well, that was disappointing. I guess this was Flemings attempt at noir romance. If it weren't for his engaging style and my wondering when Bond was ever going to get around to entering the story I'd have never finished it. Fleming does a good job telling the story in the first person from the perspective of the "love interest", but nearly half the story is background and Bond doesn't even enter until the final third of the story...then vanishes before the end. While still very tam...more

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May 02, 2011

Bookworm Amir rated it

As the introduction/foreword had said, that this is not the typical James Bond novel. Heck, the first 3/4ths of the book is entirely about a girl-women's life and how she is treated with 3 guys.

This is actually my first James Bond novel to read. I bought this because of the James Bond movies, this was my favorite. And of course, the movie was completely different from the novel itself.

As said, the relationships in the story and the development of the character was engaging an...more

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Aug 20, 2010

Roy Phillips rated it

Recommends it for: adults

Most people do not "get" this book.

James Bond is only an ancillary character, and the tone is decidedly feminine. Bond comes off as a little bragadocious, and also idealized in his manhood (in contrast to other Bond novels in which he struggles with alcoholism, abandonment issues, and what modern psychologists would call Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).

James Bond was Ian Fleming's "Golden Goose" and I think that he was very brave in subjecting his cha...more

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Aug 15, 2011

Steve Mitchell rated it

The tenth James Bond book is the oddity of the series. Bond is not even the main character and does not put in an appearance until two thirds of the way through. The main character is Vivienne Michel - credited as the co-author - and the book is written in the first person.

The first part of the story had Michel reminiscing at how she ended up alone in a deserted motel and the events of her past. She has been asked to wait for the owner’s representative to turn up the next day so that...more

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Jul 24, 2009

Jeff rated it

This is a very different Bond novel. James Bond himself does not appear until the third and final act of the story. The entire story is an interlude in the Blofeld Trilogy, taking place between Thunderball and On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The story is told from the point of view of Vivienne Michel; whom is running a rural New York State motel and being attacked by a duo of thugs; whom Bond conveniently shows up and kills during the final shoot-out.

This novel was panned horribly...more

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Aug 05, 2011

Mark Wilson added it

A rather unique book in the Bond series, "The Spy Who Loved Me" shares nothing in common with the film apart from the title. Fleming takes a huge gamble with the tenth novel, writing it in first person perspective from the point of view of the girl. Written in 3 parts, James Bond is nowhere to be seen until Part 3. Having said this, the novel isn't lacking for it, as the story is still so engrossing that you just have to keep reading on. If you haven't read a Bond novel before (althoug...more

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Jul 29, 2011

Russell Grant added it

This was a real odd one. It basically reads like a romance novel, and in the first person of the female protagonist. Bond doesn't show up till the last 3rd of the thing. When he does appear, it's completely predictable as far as the plot and what's going to happen.

It's also really readable. Fleming does a great job with the story, and the real odd thing is, you end up getting a better understanding of Bond himself. Seeing Bond through the eyes of another person, you get an idea of the loathing ...more

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Jan 11, 2010

Erik rated it

Shelves: fiction, mystery-crime

After reading a good portion of the Bond novels over the past two months, I am now convinced that Ian Fleming is a darn good writer for the first 75% of each book and nothing but a pulp hack for the final 25%. He excels in character development (at least above average) though his action sequences meant to wrap up plot lines are pretty mediocre. TSWLM is case in point - the first half of the book is interesting in fleshing out a character who narrates the novel. Once we are introduced to the J...more

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Jan 03, 2012

Joe Ohlenbusch rated it

This was a 3.5. It was something different hearing about James Bond from a woman's point of view which I was very interested in. It's true that Bond doesn't show up until 3/4 of the book. The first parts were all the back story on the main girl, Viv, which was interesting because of the change of society since then. It was very sexual, much more so than the books before, which probably was frowned upon back then. The action started going when Bond got there though. I think this book worked...more

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Feb 06, 2012

KatieSuzanne rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

I'm becoming more impressed with Ian Fleming's ideas of how to approach a book series. This book was told from the perspective of the girl. James Bond doesn't even show up till halfway through on his way back from an official assignment. There's no way you'd ever see that in one of the movies. The story line is pretty cool and exciting and the characters are all interesting, but the book as a whole was sort of like reading a girl's diary. She goes on in detail about every guy she's ever dated an...more

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About Ian Fleming

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Second World War Navy Commander. Fleming is best remembered for creating the character of James Bond and chronicling his adventures in twelve novels and nine short stories. Additionally, Fleming wrote th...more

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Quotes from The Spy Who Loved Me

“Love of life is born of the awareness of death, of the dread of it.” — 8 people liked it

“All women love semi-rape. They love to be taken.It was his sweet brutality against my bruised body that made his act of love so piercingly wonderful.” — 2 people liked it

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The Spy Who Loved Me (James Bond #10)

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