CASINO ROYALE

It only took me two days of commuting to get through Casino Royale, but by the end of it I really did feel like I'd been through to hell and back. A very pleasant sort of hell it turns out, the town of Royale Les Eaux, sophisticated people ordering champagne by the bucketload and staying up very late indeed to play at the roulette tables. This was something that had always bothered me a little, that Bond moved in these circles, that he was a bit of a snob... Yet when he explains to the gorgeous and delicate Vesper Lynd that he enjoys taking an interest in what he's eating simply because he often eats alone I actually felt sorry for him. With no company he's become obsessed with the minor details of wine, cheese and scrambled eggs. Such exoticism is blown apart (literally) when a bomb goes off lobbed by a couple of grubby commie patsies who have been paid off by Le Chiffre's bodyguards (one of whom is brilliantly described as looking like a 'Corsican shopkeeper', cos we all know what one of those looks like). The description of Bond picking himself up off the floor amongst the blood and 'flesh' brings an immediacy and frighteningly real touch. Adding to the realism is Fleming's briefing chapter, not the traditional visit to M's office, but a paper explaining the sting operation to M from S, the head of Soviet ops for the Secret Service.

Even today the mission itself seems refreshing, no macguffin to recover, no man to assassinate (pointless, remarks S, they would turn Le Chiffre into a martyr), just a plan to bankrupt a man, discredit him and force massive disruption to Soviet operations in Europe. Fleming's masterstroke is to make this all take place over a table in a casino. A game of baccarat to decide another chapter of the cold war. The scenes where Bond plays, loses, is bailed out by the CIA and then returns is simple and yet incredibly effective. If you think your hands sweat then, you're in for a shock later.

Much has been made of Bond's sadism in the movies and books, but Fleming seems to have an interest in S&M generally. Bond wants to forcibly take Vesper, spank her, he gets aroused seeing her tied up following Le Chiffre's kidnap and yet in the scene where he is tortured he begins to think about the blissful 'twilight' period where pain becomes pleasure. If you ask me 007 is a switch... However the carpet beating torture scene is horrible. Le Chiffre discredits Bond's entire profession, shows him that he plays 'childish' games. It's a great turnabout from the glitz and glamour of previous scenes. Bond's life is suddenly not one you'd wish to have. To top it all off he is branded a spy, just at the point he is rescued. It's no wonder he wants to retire.

The breakdown of James and Vesper's relationship at the end of the book is equally as tortuous, no sudden turn, Vesper simply gets caught making a phone call to her controllers and the guilt begins to gnaw away at her inside. Bond and Vesper's love withers and dies with recriminations and tears, once again you ask, do you really want to be this man? How Fleming leaves the story is excellent too. Bond needs revenge and he seems to choose SMERSH, simply because they terminate spies and that is simply what he does.

Overall Casino Royale was as refreshing to read as the Craig movie, straight into the action, little deliberation, tense and brutal, how we got from here to Die Another Day is extraordinary to say the least.