Thunderball (James Bond, #9) in Espionage Aficionados

Jul 31, 2014 Philip rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-series, pocket-books, kiss-kiss-bang-bang, mckays, character-bond, filmed, spy-fiction-british, 1960s, re-reads

Ever since learning in one of those "history of James Bond" books that Blofeld and SPECTRE only appear in three of the original books - Thunderball, OHMSS, and You Only Live Twice, I decided to reread this "SPECTRE Trilogy" sometime, (having not reread any of the original Fleming stories in over…Lord, must be 50 years). I have my dad's original paperbacks of the last two books, but the problem was finding a cheap copy of Thunderball - which I finally did at McKay's (God bless 'em), so here we go Ever since learning in one of those "history of James Bond" books that Blofeld and SPECTRE only appear in three of the original books - Thunderball, OHMSS, and You Only Live Twice, I decided to reread this "SPECTRE Trilogy" sometime, (having not reread any of the original Fleming stories in over…Lord, must be 50 years). I have my dad's original paperbacks of the last two books, but the problem was finding a cheap copy of Thunderball - which I finally did at McKay's (God bless 'em), so here we go.

This frankly was not that great a book, because to be honest, Ian Fleming wasn't really that great a writer, and James Bond himself wasn't really that great a spy, ("Bond had the crawling sensation at the pit of his stomach he knew so well - that he had probably made a dangerous and silly mistake…" - so he knows that "I think I did something dumb" feeling well?). In fact, his CIA buddy Felix Leiter seems to be considerably quicker on the uptake, having to explain several things that Jimbo himself obviously missed, (such as "maybe the guy who just tried to kill you is the same guy you damn near roasted at the clinic last month").*

Fleming's style as a writer is basically "no style;" a lot of dialogue with limited action - indeed if you take the film version and remove half the women (Fiona) and almost all the action, what's left is…exactly this book!** - tons of alcohol and overt (if cringy/awkward) sexism ("the mounded V of the bikini looked up at Bond, and the proud breasts in the tight cups were two more eyes"), and not a hint of the noir tone or unique voice of someone like, say, Adam Hall in his "Quiller" books, who was famous for his delightful, page-long run-on sentences.

That all said - undeniable dumb fun, and will definitely read the next two to finish the series. But for me at least, the Bond books are much like the Beatles: in hindsight, not that great in themselves - but "respect" for the impact they had on everything that was to follow.

FINAL NOTE Gotta say something about this particular edition's book jacket - specifically, WTF?? Near-invisible red type on an orange background; that goofy high-contrast dude with his disembodied hand who looks like he just fell out of his wheelchair…but I guess "it was the '80s, man."
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* Although Leiter's dialogue sounds as if Fleming had never actually heard an American speak.

** Okay, not quite ALL the action was removed; there IS the famous final underwater fight - but it's a mere shadow of the film version, and has people actually standing up on the ocean floor and walking towards each other, something that's near impossible under perfect conditions, much less while engaged in hand-to-hand. But everything else - Bond being captured by Fiona's gang and escaping, Bond falling into the pool of sharks (again, he's NOT a great spy), the final escape of - and fight aboard - the Disco Volante…all missing in the book. ...more

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Oct 01, 2021 Edward rated it liked it · review of another edition

Another solid Bond book, but not one of my favorites. This book does have some unique characteristics. First, the sarcastic tone of the beginning, with Bond going to a health clinic, is pretty comical and a nice addition. Second, this is the first time we see SPECTRE which is a nice shift away from always casting Russia as the enemy. Third, Bond's strategy in this book seems more haphazard than the others, and he often makes mistakes or puts himself in danger. Finally, Domino Vitali is an excell ...more

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Mar 15, 2013 Ben Farnell rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is the first Bond book that actually reads like a Bond film. But is no less of a good read for it. A cracking plot with the elements you'd expect. ...more

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