18 replies to this topic

[freemo]

This thread is intended for reviews and ratings of From Russia With Love by members of the The Blades Library Book Club here.

Please do not reply directly to reviews in this thread, rather start a new thread to ask questions or post comments about reviews.

[Qwerty]

Once again, a good read. As strange and against what is the normal for most Bond fans, I looked forward to our previous book, Diamonds Are Forever, more than I did to this one when it was announced we would be reading it next. I believe I'm one of the very few Bond fans of the literary series to just not like this book the way the majority of Bond fans do. I'd call it a great book for sure, and it most definitely is, but it just does not jump out at me the way certain other books do. That said, I did enjoy reading it.

The villains of From Russia With Love are some of the very best ever created by Ian Fleming. Rosa Klebb, being the disgusting, repulsive, yet powerful toad-like woman she is, is a fantastic character. Her scenes, on the whole are short, but the ones she is featured in are quite memorable. Her trying to "get better acquainted with Tatiana Romanova" is rather a odd, yet effective scene, and the thought of that woman in that dress is incredibly described by Fleming. (Even for how sick the thought is.) Red Grant on the other hand, features a bit more later on in the book, and I still haven't decided (even for reading this book many times) which version of his character I like more, the cinematic or the literary. Certainly the opening chapter is magnificently overflowing with details, and it works well. Chess master, organization planner Kronsteen is another great addition. I particularly enjoy his thought process upon receieving his call for duty, but while moments away from winning the game. As a small note, I find General Grubozaboyschikov to be very rarely spoken about when discussing Fleming's characters.

Tatiana Romanova and Kerim are both great additions to the book as well. It's such a good scene when Bond and Tatiana first meet, very, very well written.

"Tatiana dabbed the eyes with the sheet. Brusquely she pulled the sheet down to her shoulders again. She knew that she had been forgetting her job. It had just been that . . . Oh well. If only he had said the machine didn't matter to him so long as she would come. But that was too much to hope for. He was right. He had a job to do. So had she."

I think I like the opening half, The Plan, of this book, more than the second half. I found the planning and ideas and setting things up very interesting. The second half was great, the locations, the action, but it just did not have the same sense.

And the ending...well, it's just outstanding. One you must read for yourself. On the whole, From Russia With Love was a good read. Not great, but good. 4/5.

[The Admiral]

Bond felt his knees begin to buckle. He said, or thought he said, "I've already got the loveliest..." Bond pivoted slowly on his heel and crashed headlong to the wine-red floor.

Wait...wait - where's the next chapter gone?!

*Frantically looks through the blank pages at the end of the book and realises they are nothing more than... blank*

ARGH!

What a way to leave a book

I think From Russia With Love is another of the books that was followed extremely closely by the cinematic version. The main difference being that in the film, SPECTRE was used rather than SMERSH.

I think after reading the book, I wish that the film had featured SMERSH instead. I'd have love to seen the chapters onwards from "The Moguls of Death" played out.

Devin has summed up the book pretty well. It's a great book. But I don't think it had a lot of power to it compared to others I've read so far. However a great book.

Got to now wait a whole month before we all start reading Doctor No... the anticipation!

[Blofeld's Cat]

I've just finished Part One: The Plan and absolutely enjoyed it.

I can still remember when I last read this book over 30 years ago that I was bored and impatient with everthing up to this point because there was no sign of Bond at all.

But, in reading the part this time round I was enjoying every little piece of setup and can only assume that my feelings have changed over the years as a result of a fairly recent reading diet of Tom Clancy (and others) who take pains to detail the set up of his books.

[B007GLE]

I love this book.

I think that Moonraker and LALD may be more exciting but this is abetter novel. (Which probably the reason that Kennedy chose this out of all the Fleming titles to list as one of his 10 favorite books.)

I think I prefer MR and LALD a little more because they are such good books and the books are much better than the films. FRWL is a great book but an even better movie. The things that were added: Grant as Bond's "guardian angel"; the way bond gets Tania out of the embassy rather than just waiting ofr her at the station; the helicopter chase; the way Kelbb makes her apperance at the end.

What is truly amazing aboutthe book is how much it plays with the formula that Fleming set up in the 1st four books. There is a lot of talk on CBN about Gardner's Man From Barbarosa being "experimental" FRWL is far more experimental than that and yet that is rarely discussed.

This was the first Bond novel I read over 25 years ago. I had not gone back to it since and it is just as good as I remembered.

One last thing regarding General G. qwerty is right, he's not mentioned often which is a shame.I wish Bond had a chance to "take him out" andbring closure ot hte SMERSH books. Reading about him he really is a precursor to Blofeld, except he's not a capitalist.

[Max Zorin]

For the longest time this was my favorite Bond novel, and after re-reading it, I can understand why. It has some of Fleming's best characters, and the movie gets it down almost perfectly. Grant continues to be my favorite Fleming villain, and the fight between him and Bond is almost as thrilling in text as it was on screen.

[North Scorpion]

I have just completed reading the book this afternoon.

Like many who read the Fleming novels nowadays, it is difficult to see the work as standing alone and separate from the film that followed. As much as I tried, I kept having Mr. Connery's voice coming into my head while reading some of the dialogue.

Notwithstanding, this work stands on its own legs and shows why this was chosen as the second (why not the first?) feature. It offers everything one would expect from a Bond novel. It also offers a very risque novel in terms of the sexual mores present at the time of writing. I can see why this is viewed by some as the first truly great James Bond novel. One note does ring sour, however. Karim Bey' treatment of women seems to be less of a reflection of Turkish men's attitude than Mr. Fleming's state of mind at the time. Interesting.

I find the ending most interesting. Not because of what it means to the novel (as we all could imagine the literary equivalent of 'James Bond will return in...' on the page), but what Mr. Fleming was thinking at the time. Was he confident that everyone knew Bond was returning so he could take chances? Was the publisher quaking after reading the ending, fearing readers reactions? Interesting.

A thoroughly enjoyable read and I look forward to the continuation...

North Scorpion will return in...Dr. No

[Byron]

I find the ending most interesting. Not because of what it means to the novel (as we all could imagine the literary equivalent of 'James Bond will return in...' on the page), but what Mr. Fleming was thinking at the time. Was he confident that everyone knew Bond was returning so he could take chances? Was the publisher quaking after reading the ending, fearing readers reactions? Interesting.

Some good questions Scorpion.

Great book, second only to LALD from the books i have read thus far.

[manfromjapan]

Just finished the book and I rate it as the best one I have read so far. I am reading them in chronological order. It is a compelling, captivating, vividly described thriller. I liked the villains and Bond's relationship with Tania, the action is good, the sex erotic and Kerim is a wonderful character. I thought Casino Royale couldn't be bettered!!! It is better than the film, which I love, but in the novel the Bond/Grant fight is arguably not as exciting as the film version is.

Edited by manfromjapan, 10 March 2006 - 09:49 AM.

[Agent 76]

I finished the book today, and I have to say I'm very pleased with it.
It was for certain, a great read, full of fantastic descriptions that only Mr Fleming can give, the details, the actions of James Bond are well written.
I was a little surprised with the relation between Bond and Kerim Bey, just because it seems to me that Bond admires Kerim a lot, almost like a father figure, or somenone he admired as spy working in the name of the Queen.





ps: next I'm going to read Dr. No for the first time, looking forward to it!

[Blonde Bond]

Yesterday I finished reading Ian Fleming's "From Russia With Love" and I did it rather quickly. Took about week or less to read it through. It was simply because this book was so intriguing. The book closely followed the same story that followed in the movie adaption, years later. There were,of course, some differencies, that weren't included in the film.
I liked the start and how the better part of the first half of the book was dedicated to the villains, building up characters like Red Grant. Let me just say it for the record; that man was a cold blooded sob. Much easier to be hated, than the his movie counterpart.
Now, I want to be honest; because of the first half only dedicated to the villains and their plotting, I felt hasty, and I wanted the story to move forward, so I could again meet my favorite british spy. But thinking afterwards, it was a good decision from Fleming to build the backbone of the story, and only when it was the time, did he move forward in the story and reintroduced us with the character we already knew from the previous novels.

Even though the novel was like a Tourist's-Guide for Spy Guys, when it got to the point, when bond had arrived in Istanbul. The few chapters taking place in the gypsy-camp & the massacre's aftermath were very familiar to me, since I had seen the movie before I had the pleasure of reading this fine book. The fight between those two gypsy girls was however told in more brutal way than it was in the movie and after Kerim had shot his long time enemy,Krilencu, Bond's thoughts of disgust came as a surprise, since Bond himself was a cold blooded killer himself, if needed. Here he was, kinda judging Kerim's way of delivering the vengeance.
The ending, that took place on the train was a far more thrilling ,than Bond's and Grant's fight in the movie, and I found myself thinking how will Bond handle this situation and escape from death?
The ending of the book came as a surprise, being different than the ending in the movie. It left me wanting more, left me wanting to know what 007's health, both physical and mental, would be in the following book, Dr.No.

All-in-All, although containing a very familiar story,and not from my favorite bond movie either, this was the best book in the series so far.
The first half alone made this my fave 007-book.

I give it /

BTW, sorry if my english sucks.

[bond_girl_double07]

Ohhh my good god, I think I skipped this book when I was reading all the Flemings in order recently!!! I think I assumed I'd read it a few years earlier, but none of the passages in the middle sound familiar (I do remember the intro with Red Grant, but nothing else).. I'm so pumped, I have one more Fleming left to read!!! EEEkkkk!!!

[Qwerty]

I'm so pumped, I have one more Fleming left to read!!! EEEkkkk!!!

I'm willing to bet that many members would say you've left (one of) the best for last.

Looking forward to your review after you've read it.

[bond_girl_double07]

I'm so pumped, I have one more Fleming left to read!!! EEEkkkk!!!

I'm willing to bet that many members would say you've left (one of) the best for last.

Looking forward to your review after you've read it.

I think I must have started FRWL when I was much younger and never got past the character introduction of the first couple chapters (I agree with Blonde Bond that they're important.. but when you're 15 all you want is action hehe).. When I read all of the other Flemings this year, I knew I'd read a few all the way through, so I hit that same section of character building and skipped to the last chapter just to refresh my memory (thinking it was a reread).

This feels like finding a $20 you didn't know you had but so much better!!! The Blades book for this month is going to have to wait a few more weeks

[Qwerty]

This feels like finding a $20 you didn't know you had but so much better!!! The Blades book for this month is going to have to wait a few more weeks

Still very glad to see contribution in this book club going relatively strong. The more discussion of all these books, the better!

[bond_girl_double07]

This feels like finding a $20 you didn't know you had but so much better!!! The Blades book for this month is going to have to wait a few more weeks

Still very glad to see contribution in this book club going relatively strong. The more discussion of all these books, the better!

The Blades is amazing, I wish I would have found it much sooner than I did!

I'm looking forward to the response to License Renewed.. the opinion of Gardner seems quite varied..

[dajman_007]

I didn't like this one for as much hype as it gets. Maybe it's because the movie followed the novel so closely that I knew what was coming. I don't really know what it was but this one didn't excite me as much as the first four (none of which were closely portrayed by film).

[McThing]

Ive just finished re-reading the novel again and its still a great read. Its my favourite of the series.

[Greene Planet]

From Russia With Love.

After reading Fleming's debut novel, I desided to read FRWL, mainly becuase when I bought it, the seller had said that it was his favorite. But when I read it, he was right. It was a very good read. I'm surprised that he hadn't recived an EDGAR award for Thrillers, his style of writing hasn't gone out of date, and will never leave. I like how he re-introduces SMERSH, which he roughly translates to "Death To Spies".
Overall rating: 9.2/10