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Apr 02, 2011

Joel rated it:

I am glad to be a man in 2011, because it sounds so exhausting to hear about what life was like in the 1950s. I mean, imagine you are Ian Fleming's James Bond, sexy 1950s super spy: Every time a woman mouthed off to you, you had to take her over your knee and spank her. That sounds awkward! (My lap isn't that big.) And if you were in a relationship and she started to get fat, you'd have to beat her until she lost weight. I don't want to get home from a long day of international espionage only to More...

41 comments like (45 people liked it)

Apr 05, 2011

Sandybanks rated it:

What I learned from this book (in no particular order):

1. The ideal Soviet master assassin is a man who is:

a. the offspring of a German wrestler and a Southern Irish hooker;
b. extremely muscular and hairy;
c. possessed of a high threshold for pain;
d. manic during the full moon; and
e. asexual (“Sexual neutrality was the essence of coldness in an individual”) --- bu More...

32 comments like (13 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

David rated it:

Ian Fleming should get more credit than he does for writing fast-paced tightly-plotted thrillers. A little improbable at times? Sure, but the James Bond of the books is nothing like the superhero of the movies. This is adventure fiction that stays within the bounds of reason, and it's full of (almost) believable heroes and villains and not nearly as many outrageous gadgets as in the movies either. (Bond is actually given a cynanide pill dispenser in this book; he laughs and washes them down the More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 18, 2010

Elizabeth rated it:

I feel guilty reading these books for a variety of reasons. One, they are sinfully good. Two, they are undeniably racist and sexist. Three, I think I'm reading a first edition (the real owner of these books stole/borrowed them from a distant relative) and they are disintegrating in my hands as I read them. Every time I turn the page it comes away from the binding. Is it sacrilege to destroy a 1st edition Bond book?

The most surprising thing about these books is Fleming's prose. His d More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 02, 2011

Steven rated it:

A standard James Bond thriller. The Bond woman this time is an attractive (of course) Soviet female agent. Bond is up against a Soviet spy agency, SMERSH, as he tries to retrieve Soviet technology for Great Britain. A rousing, action-oriented tale. Not great writing, not great plotting, not great characterizations. But a lot of fun! And a quirky ending. . . .

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 17, 2008

Jill rated it:

This book was an unexpected surprise... I started it and within the first few pages, there were boobs and I thought to myself, this is going to be like a trashy romance novel for dudes. And there were parts of it that were. (two naked gypsies fighting to the death? seriously?) There were also parts that got made my feminist sense tingle like spiderman. But on the whole, the book was actually really well-crafted and gripping, with incredibly insightful tidbits that made me stop and say " More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 11, 2012

Two Bibliomaniacs rated it:

We knew going into this one that it would be difficult to ignore the expectations set by the movies franchise. Still, there were questions we needed answered... Would Ian’s Fleming’s Bond live up to the likes of Sean Connery, Roger Moore, and Daniel Craig? Would literary Bond’s Martini be ordered with the same confidence and single-mindedness as seen on screen? Would Bond’s ability to escape during a prolonged and overly detailed bad guy exposition be just as satisfying in novel form? Hmmmm More...

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Dec 10, 2011

Danny rated it:

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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Oct 06, 2011

Devlin rated it:

This book is very special to me for one particular reason...it was the first book I had bought with my own money when I was a child. It was, of course, the cover that compelled me to purchase it, I think most of us are guilty of judging a book in this manner. I used to while away the hours in a local bookshop. I would walk up and down the isles dreaming of all the wonderous adventures each tome held within. Then, I saw the spy section of the shop. The covers, the titles, all left me in awe More...

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Aug 28, 2011

Dfordoom rated it:

Recently I’ve found myself involved in an extraordinary number of discussions on the topic of James Bond, and more specifically on the subject of Ian Fleming’s original novels. Since it as years since I’d read any of the novels I got hold of a copy of From Russia with Love (one of the bond novels that I’d never read) and sat down and read it.

Fleming’s spy novels are not quite as I’d remembered them. While they certainly emphasise a fairly glamorous and action-packed side to espionage I More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 12, 2011

Jonathan rated it:

I enjoy James Bond films, and while awaiting the debut of Quantum of Solace, found From Russia with Love on the shelves of Kelly’s lake cabin I picked it up, curious to see how Ian Fleming’s character compared to those of the films. One look at the book and it is clear that Ian Flemings novels opposite to the political-military thrillers like Hunt For Red October and the book is marketed as a mystery. Yet the book contains no enigma- the Soviet plot to kill Bond is revealed in the exposition. P More...

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Jan 10, 2011

Joshua rated it:

An oh-so-innocent Russian cipher clerk is recruited into a SMERSH plot, being told that she would feed England false information after "defecting". Little does she know that the actual plan is to humiliate MI6 by staging a murder-suicide between her and her escort, James Bond.

This is technically a review of the Simon Vance audiobook, but it's an unabridged reading.

The Good:

Action scenes: Fleming writes them so well. That penultimate scene with the t More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jun 28, 2010

Kathleen rated it:

"From Russia with Love" is not a book I would have read if I weren't interested in the James Bond ethos, which I would never be interested in at all if the characters in my serial-in-progress weren't committed to a fictional James Bond movie--for a reason I'll never fathom but will only drop if I decide my unfinished story was a failed attempt by all counts.
In this thin novel, the detailed descriptions of people's faces and hair, their clothes, gaits, accents, little indulgences a More...

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May 08, 2010

Matt rated it:

As the story goes, Ian Fleming's fifth Bond novel was going to be his last. The first four of his spy series had not been as well received and popular as he'd like, so his intention was to end on 'From Russia With Love,' with James Bond finally meeting his match and dying in the end.

Fleming spent more time writing and re-writing this epic than any of his other novels, and it shows. There is so much brilliant exposition, and the prose is tip top. It is about 150 words into the novel bef More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 26, 2010

James rated it:

I did enjoy this. I enjoyed Kerim Bey's character and the way Flemming describes the streets of Istanbul. I love the fact that Flemming includes within his characters the prejudices of the time; the brutal mysoginy he describes and the ammorality lend real personality to the story, book and characters. Unfortunately, people can't appreciate that these discriminations lend a reality to the novel, usually a reality that they can't come to accept and is almost ever-present in the Bond series; they More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 02, 2009

F.R. rated it:

With 'From Russia With Love' I thought I'd reached a book which would be close to the film. As such I was somewhat surprised by the first 100 or so Bond-less pages. And yet, that opening worked very well. Fleming has spent the last four books building up the character of James Bond, and so can take time away to show the rest of his universe. Besides, much like Harry Lime in the film of 'The Third Man', the fact he's constantly being talked about means he's actually always there.

This More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2011

Suna rated it:

Apparently this was JFK's favourite Bond novel.
Wonder what he made of the fight to the death between the two Romany women.

The beginning of this book had me revel in the stylistic tightness, sharp wit and political observations that to me hadn't been up to par since Casino Royale.
Rosa Klebb is one seriously terrifying individual.
I couldn't get behind Tatiana Romanova, unfortunately. She was a bit of a goose, in spite of her martial background.

And then Fle More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Sep 21, 2011

Brian rated it:

* The fifth Bond book.

* Second appearance of Mathis (briefly).

* Though he doesn't realize it until very late in the book, Bond finally gets to go after SMERSH directly. I'm not giving anything away. The wonderful first third of the book takes us behind the scenes of SMERSH and lays out the plan to take care of Bond and deal a crippling blow to the British Secret Service.

* The remaining two-thirds doesn't quite live up to the opening. The middle portion takes plac More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 16, 2012

Glenn rated it:

...or so they say...

From Russia with Love is the 5th novel in the wildly popular James Bond series. With my own personal quest to read the Ian Fleming series, I found the fifth entry to be the most rewarding so far.

There are two reasons this offering sticks out. First, this novel spends the majority of the first half following the Soviet "villains" and the reader is present when their "plan" is hatched. Bond isn't introduced until one-third of the b More...

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Nov 03, 2011

Gerald rated it:

From Russia with Love was the fifth of Ian Fleming's 007 books, published in 1957. Apparently he wasn't sure whether he wanted the franchise to continue, and you have to read the sequel, Dr. No, to find out how some of the plot points in this one were resolved.

Interesting, I think, is that the movie Dr. No (based on the sixth book) was the first James Bond film, and From Russia with Love was the second. Swapping the order of the plots actually necessitated some changes to the stories More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 27, 2010

Finn rated it:

A cleverly constructed James Bond novel. The first half of the book focusses entirely on other characters and the meticulous build up to a Smersh scheme to discredit and destroy the pesky British agent. The psychological portrait of the chosen killer, Red Grant, makes a compelling short story within the novel as a whole and it is with suitable trepidation that the reader encounters the unstable Irishman later in the novel when Bond mistakenly accepts the man's cover story of being an ally. More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 14, 2011

Ryan rated it:

Ian Fleming crafted some juicy espionage thrillers, but no Bond yarn crackles as intensely as From Russia with Love. Its strength lies in its structure. The first half of the book focuses entirely agents of SMERSH, Russia’s (real-life) counter-spy organization, as they outline a plan to both humiliate and assassinate James Bond. Tension mounts as the players are introduced: the organizer, Rosa Klebb; the unwitting femme fatale, Tatiana Romanova; and the cold-blooded executioner, Red Grant. This More...

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Dec 02, 2010

Jason rated it:

This was my first attempt to read a James bond book, and I was hoping it would be as much of an action packed thriller as the movies (at least some of them...). Sadly it was a book that barely kept me entertained, and I found the characters shallow and the plot completely unbelievable. Having said that there was just enough intrigue that I didn’t stop reading, but ultimately I was left disappointed. I don’t think I will attempt another James Bond book.

I was also amazed at how raci More...

1 comment like

May 07, 2009

Ryan rated it:

With all the hype surrounding the movie release of Quantum of Solace, I decided to pick up an Ian Fleming novel to see what kind of writer spawned so many huge movies. I bought From Russia With Love more or less randomly expecting a pulp fiction, throw-away escape. Instead, I was very pleasantly surprised to find the book well written, the plot solid and the background surprisingly accurate. Unlike the movies that tend to get overblown and focus on the action, this was a low key suspense thri More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 15, 2008

Ejl rated it:

Despite being my favorite Bond film, this novel displays the first solid hints of a formula to the superspy's adventures. It's not because of the structure, as Fleming daringly keeps Bond out of the picture until several chapter into it. Nor is it the setting - Istanbul may be "exotic," but the action scenes there are amongst the most vivid of the series (aided by Fleming's own presence in Istanbul during the riotous times of a couple of years prior to writing this novel). The big i More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 29, 2010

Bruce rated it:

My second Bond novel, and, while I enjoyed it immensely, it is very unsatisfying in that it now seems evident that the Bond series feature no through lines about other aspects of Bond's life besides his profession. While Dr. No, Bond's next adventure, ties up some loose ends, not the slightest mention is made about the fate of Tatiana Romanovna, the Russian spy with whom he really falls in love. Fleming being such a meticulous writer, this can't be mere carelessness, but rather that it doesn't More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 08, 2010

Karolina rated it:

I've been going through the entire series of James Bond novels written by Ian Fleming in order, and this one - the fifth of fourteen - is definitely the best thus far.

At the beginning of the series, the books were comical to me, a modern day reader, because I couldn't imagine the thoughts and dialogue expressed being considered acceptable today. The women are useless and everyone knows it, racism is a normal thing, everything is somehow a communist plot, and the writing itself is ov More...

1 comment like

Jun 26, 2011

Clark rated it:

It's so interesting to read the James Bond novels and compare them to the films. The most shocking thing to find out is that often the plots are similar, but Fleming is so much more experimental in the way he approaches structure and perspective. I've seen it in a few of the books so far. This one has about sixty pages at the front in which the plot against Bond is being concocted before we ever see Bond. There is also a shocking interiority to the main character. The films give the impression o More...

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Jan 28, 2009

Amy rated it:

I picked this up (well, added it to my Kindle) because it had been on JFK's list of fave books and because he group of friends included respected authors such as Noel Coward and Evelyn Waugh. Fleming's style of writing is more commercial than literary, but his prose is forceful and direct. Additionally, the character of Bond is much more nuanced than any of the movie adaptations would suggest. I saw the movie "From Russia with Love" after reading the book and even though it is a wel More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 31, 2009

Ed rated it:

The only flaw with this book is that it takes nearly 90 pages for James Bond to even show up. That aside this is the best overall plot since Casino Royale and has Grant, one of the nastiest villains ever. What's interesting here is that Bond is smart enough to know he is entering a trap but crazy enough to move ahead with his mission anyway. Fleming takes you into Istanbul and resists his long winded and often racist tangents that pop up in the other books. This was made into the second Bond mov More...

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