James Bond, vol. I - Caracatița: povestiri

by Ian Fleming

141 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Ian Lancaster Fleming was an English writer, best known for his postwar James Bond series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his father was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Henley from 1910 until his death on the Western Front in 1917. Educated at Eton, Sandhurst, and, briefly, the universities of Munich and Geneva, Fleming moved through several jobs before he started writing.
While working for Britain's Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War, Fleming was involved in planning Operation Goldeneye and in the planning and oversight of two intelligence units: 30 Assault Unit and T-Force. He drew from his wartime service and his career as a journalist for much of the background, detail, and depth of his James Bond novels.
Fleming wrote his first Bond novel, Casino Royale, in 1952, at age 44. It was a success, and three print runs were commissioned to meet the demand. Eleven Bond novels and two collections of short stories followed between 1953 and 1966. The novels centre around James Bond, an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6. Bond is also known by his code number, 007, and was a commander in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. The Bond stories rank among the best-selling series of fictional books of all time, having sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Fleming also wrote the children's story Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang and two works of non-fiction. In 2008, The Times ranked Fleming 14th on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Fleming was married to Ann Fleming. She had divorced her husband, the 2nd Viscount Rothermere, because of her affair with the author. Fleming and Ann had a son, Caspar. Fleming was a heavy smoker and drinker for most of his life and succumbed to heart disease in 1964 at the age of 56. Two of his James Bond books were published posthumously; other writers have since produced Bond novels. Fleming's creation has appeared in film twenty-seven times, portrayed by six actors in the official film series.

Reviews

[Stan Cosmin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cred că așteptările mele au fost prea mari.

[Florin-Iulian Hrib · Rating 3 out of 5]

„Caracatiţa” este o culegere de patru povestiri cu personajul James Bond, inventat de Ian Fleming prin prisma experienţei sale în cadrul serviciilor secrete britanice. Cărticica se citeşte rapid, povestirile avînd un ritm potrivit acţiunilor cu spioni. Cea mai bună dintre povestiri dă şi titlul acestui volum, deşi acţiunea se învîrte în jurul altui personaj, Bond fiind unul secundar. E o carte de buzunar, numai bună de citit în tren/metrou.
Nota 7,80.

[Iulia Gheorghe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bond își aglomeră până la refuz cea de a treia zi cu un program aproape de nebun, de muzee, galerii de artă, grădina zoologică și un film, percepând cu greu ceea ce privea, ochiul minții lui era împărțit între fată și acele patru pătrate neluminate și țeava neagră și necunoscutul din spatele ei - omul care mai mult ca sigur că va ucide diseara.

[Luck · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first story was interesting, although Bond is only a secondary character in it. Despite the other three stories being meh, I liked the way the author writes. Fun to read