From Russia with Love (James Bond Series)

This book is one of my favorite James Bond novels. It has everything: a beautiful Russian spy, a top-secret decoding machine, a suspenseful train ride, a twisted plot devised by SMERSH to rid themselves of 007, and one of the most lovable characters in Darko Kerim. An excellent read if you're into the spy novels.

SPOILER ALERT--It is painfully obvious why Ian Fleming wanted this to be the last Bond novel--he was obviously running out of ideas by the fifth book in the series. Rather than presenting a plot-filled spy caper, he gives us a novel whose first half is heavily dominated by the proceedings of the Soviet govt, even to the point where he engages in the ill feelings that the heads of the various departments feel towards one another. Some of it is amusing, but Fleming belabors it. Then, we get this thin scheme that a Russian spy will claim she has fallen in love with Bond, which Bond's ego will allow him to fall for, and a meeting in Turkey is arranged. The problem is that Bond's lengthy ensuing exploits in Turkey end up having nothing to do with the Russian scheme, and simply kill book space, as Darko ends up playing none of his expected role in arranging the meeting of Bond and Tatiana--she simply shows up in Bond's bed one night. In a matter of a few hours, she falls for Bond--with no explanation as to how or why--yet, as a cheap plot device, she still insists that they take the train to France (in step with her govt's plan to kill Bond) rather than follow Bond's suggestion of going by plane, and we get no explanation for why she does this. The train scene, like the scenes in Russia early on, simply drag out, as Fleming takes us from one country to the next, at one point devoting an entire chapter to the removal of two Soviet spies by customs. When Nash shows up, Bond simply assumes he was sent by M, even though he was distrustful of Nash from the first moment. While there is some satisfaction with the way Bond kills Nash and avoids being killed by him (even though it was foolish of Nash to assume he killed Bond), it is ruined by Bond's sheer clumsiness in handling the shriveled old Klebb later on, during which he gets himself killed (as Fleming planned it). While Fleming intended for his follow-up novel, Dr. No, to be an outrageous caper that would turn off his readers demanding more from him, it ended up being a far more engaging piece and produced a much more satisfying ending than From Russia with Love.

Good book from so many years ago. Some things written then are not too PC for these days and would be chopped by the censors, I am sure. They called it like it was back then, too bad times have changed so much.
Need more of the $1.99 specials and I would buy the whole set

JFK's like of this book is understandable. Bond is caught up in a battle with the bad guys that presents a beautiful girl to pry the needed info from him. The information was not as important as the the girl falling in love with Bond. Nothing like doing your job and have a romantic relationship in the process. Fleming does a great job of presenting the plot that includes espionage along with an initimate romance of an innocent lady that was recruited to pry the info needed info from Bond regardless of the romantic moves that Bond was known to use. JFK may have used some of these tactics in his job at the White House.

This is one of my favorites! Author Fleming has an interesting style all his own- he is very creative when it comes to his description of characters and gadgets. It is a little quirky and kinky in parts. That seems odd and out of place, but it is a really fun story.

This is a step down from Casino Royale, an utterly unbelievable honey-trap with utterly unbelievable bad guys posing as anti-Communist propaganda. Fleming seems to take for granted that in the 50s spy game, everyone knows about everyone else: where they live, what they live. Bond keeps wondering why they're setting him up, if he's just a work-a-day spy. The story's best moments are a few good suspense scenes, the portrait of girl -- though never finished at story's end. No fan of spy novels need bother with it.

My biggest complaint with FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE—aside from the usual male chauvinism and innocent women who need a real man—I was well into this novel (over a third of the way) before Bond made his appearance. Did I really need to know that much about Mother Russia? I think not. I’d have been happier with much less, frankly, and I would have kept a few more sanity points.

I even debated skipping ahead, but since I’ve approached my task of reading the entire Bond series the way one might approach a calculus exam, I trudged onward, even if there were times in the beginning where my unhappiness reached a near monumental level.

And then Bond showed up in all of his male glory and all was right with the world. Or at least I thought so…until two tribal women in loincloths fight each other to the death, one with a massive bosom and the other a little less endowed, as the sun glistens off their naked, perfect bodies. Excuse me…what? Son of a Walther PPK! My inner goddess just cursed a red, white, and blue streak. And I probably fainted from a heatstroke.

At this point, I might have actually cheered for a buxom beauty the size of a tank to haul off and repeatedly whack Bond with a knotted rope while his pants are around his ankles and a group of Russian women stare on in equal parts delight and horror. Turnabout is fair play, right?

Other than being young and nubile and having looks that could kill, I was not particularly impressed with Tatiana Romanova. She might have had a certain amount of innocence, but I wasn’t buying it.

This supposed thriller left with me few thrills, except for the one I received when I finished it.

Side bar – I’ve started watching Mad Men. The reason I mention this is between reading the Bond novels and watching that AMC show—which end up being somewhat enjoyable for entirely different reasons and equally aggravating for the rampant, raging sexism—I feel like I’m next in line for lung cancer, even though I’ve never smoked a day in my life.

Robert Downs
Author of Falling Immortality: Casey Holden, Private Investigator

This is my favorite Bond book. I enjoy the descriptions of the locations and development of the characters, and the action is very good. However, if intelligence agencies, and their officers, acted like the Soviets and British nothing would get done! And Bond comes off just as described; a stuffed dummy needing the sawdust let out.

Fabulous book, not what I was expecting. Bond films are often nauseating, bordering on carry on films at times with the cheesiness.
Fleming's book version of Bond shows him as fallible, and the book doesn't even concentrate on him for any more than a third of the whole thing.
So good I've just ordered four more of Fleming's books.