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Your Favorite Novels and Your Favorite Things About Them


16 replies to this topic

#1 dlb007

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Posted 16 December 2009 - 06:24 PM

Hi All. Having read a good deal of the Bond novels, I like many of you have my favorites, and from these books there are particular moments that stand out. I was wondering what some of your favorite Bond novels are and what are some of the reasons why that book stood out to you. Was there a memorable character, a particular exciting chase or action sequence, or maybe something else? If so, I'd like to hear about. Look forward to seeing your responses. Take care.

#2 Jim

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Posted 16 December 2009 - 06:27 PM

You Only Live Twice - not for any specific incident, but because it's so exquisitely and deliciously depressing and morbid. Almost comically so, in places.

#3 dlb007

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Posted 17 December 2009 - 04:05 PM

Two of my favorite novels are Live and Let Die and Moonraker. I particularly enjoy the scenes in which Bond is facing danger, and though while we know he will get out alright, Fleming writes it in such a way that we still have that doubt. In Live and let Die we have the scene where Bond and Solitaire are dragged over the coral in shark-infested water; in Moonraker, where Bond and Gala Brand are hiding in the ventilation system and getting blasted by the hot water.

Anyway, let's hear some of your favorite novels and your favorite moments.

Edited by dlb007, 17 December 2009 - 04:06 PM.


#4 The Shark

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Posted 17 December 2009 - 04:08 PM

The Giant Squid from Dr No. She's just too damn sexy to forget about.

#5 BoogieBond

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Posted 17 December 2009 - 04:30 PM

My favourite novel is OHMSS.
I love the action sequence where bond is chasing Blofeld by Bobsleigh and also Bonds escape
I also like the Tracy character from that novel and Draco of course. It such an exciting read. Really the best for me.

Then LALD
The sequence from where Bond scubas to the ship and gets bitten by barracuda and then caught, and the whole keel hauling sequence

Then Thunderball

Like all of the novel and like Domino of course and Bonds first meeting with her, confident smooth and Conneryesque before even Connery was Bond. And like the stalk of the Disco and bond swimming aside the Barracuda and escaping being bombed. Special mention to the start of the novel and M's fixation with health foods which Bond goes into, to May's disgust

Special mention to YOLT as well especially some of the humour between Bond and Dikko Henderson, shame the film just cruises that character.

#6 CJB

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Posted 18 December 2009 - 12:09 AM

Casino Royale.

The concept is so simple yet orginal. Bankrupting a communist puppet in a game of baccarat...only Fleming could have come up with that. Need I mention the superb execution of said novel? The aura of the casino, the tenseness of the card game, the gut-wrenching (or ball-wrenching) torture scene.

#7 AMC Hornet

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Posted 18 December 2009 - 01:24 AM

Without going into specifics, my favorites are:

Casino Royale, Moonraker, Diamonds are Forever, OHMSS, You Only Live Twice and TMWTGG.

I suppose I just like the 'texture' of the stories. With the exception of GG (which he didn't polish himself), Fleming's descriptive powers were at their best in these novels.

I also like John Gardner's Licence Renewed, Icebreaker, Nobody Lives Forever, Scorpius, Win Lose or Die and Brokenclaw. Of Benson I only like Zero Minus Ten and High Time To Kill (aka A Better Way to Die (US)).

I know there's no accounting for taste. My favorite movies all appeared between 1969 and 1977, so say what you will.

#8 Major Tallon

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Posted 20 December 2009 - 11:26 AM

My favorite among the Bond novels is On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Fleming's writing is wonderful, Marc-Ange Draco is a finely drawn character, and I quite fell in love with Tracy myself (and mourned her death). The scenes in Piz Gloria are among Fleming's best, full of mystery and menace, played out against a remote, exotic background. Bond's on his own here, cut off from any source of help, and, as Blofeld's suspicions gather around him, we wonder how he'll make his escape until, in a breathtaking sequence, he has to make his escape on skis, down an unfamiliar slope in the dark. Add in the helicopter assault on Piz Gloria and the final tragedy, and we're left with a novel that simply shines. It remains, for my money, the best James Bond novel ever written.

#9 Turn

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Posted 20 December 2009 - 04:03 PM

From Russia With Love tops my list. Everything about it seems classic. I remember reading about how long the plot set up at SMERSH headquarters took and dreaded it, but found it to be fascinating instead when I actually did read it. It's got some of the best characters. Kerim is fascinating, his loss goes beyond just being a sacrificial lamb to feel sorry for.

I love the whole Cold War feel, the setting is perfect for the genre. As somebody who hates rats, the Tunnel of Rats chapter had me on edge. Along those lines, I still get chills thinking about Fleming's description of Red Grant and his homicidal tendancies. It features some of the best sexual overtones, especially the gypsy girl fight. When Bond is trapped on the train by Grant it's the most suspenseful, tension-filled scene in the series for me. It's just a hopeless situation and Bond escapes through ingenuity and luck.

Most of us these days know the set up at the end, but I could only imagine the surprise of reading that final passage if you didn't. And I think enjoying FRWL in print has only enhanced my appreciation of the film.

I also enjoy YOLT, which I at first was led to believe was a depressing, tough read, but is actually Fleming at his best, and OHMSS.

I am also a big fan of Gardner's Nobody Lives Forever, a twisty and fun read that works well in that context.

#10 Major Tallon

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Posted 20 December 2009 - 07:59 PM

FRWL is certainly a worthy nominee. The setup is terrific, as we watch the plan being devised, the killer primed, the beautiful lure drawn into the plot. Then we watch the plan being set in motion, against a background of wonderful set pieces. We know that something is happening, but we're left following along with Bond as he's drawn into the trap, all of it coming to a climax in a suspense-laden conclusion aboard the Orient Express. That's not to mention the best cliff-hanger finale in the series.

This is a masterful James Bond book.

#11 Cuish

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Posted 28 December 2009 - 09:39 PM

-On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Simply love Blofeld's scheme to destroy England's economy with biological warfare and is still relevant today with the terrorist climate that we are in. Also love the romantic angle of the story, ultimately making the ending heartbreaking.

-Moonraker - I love this novel mostly for the insight to Bond's office routines and even moreso, the card game. I don't understand Bridge at all, but the game was such a fun read. Also love Drax and his London-caper plot. We've seen these types of plots many times before yet it feels fresh and relevant in the aftermath of 9/11.

-From Russia with Love - I love this novel mostly due to the fact that the first 100 pages or so are dedicated to SMERSH's plan to kill Bond and Grant's backstory. The suspense in the train with Grant goes without saying and not to mention the cliff-hanger ending. All in all, a great suspenseful story and while reading it, you can see why JFK included this novel in his top 10 all-time list.

Edited by Cuish, 28 December 2009 - 09:54 PM.


#12 Dr.Fell

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Posted 07 January 2010 - 04:13 AM

From Russia With Love is my favorite because of the intricate look inside SMERSH and the intricate planning involved to craft Bond's demise. The secound reason would be Darko Kerim; He was Bond's greatest ally because he was a great romantic and unlike the movie he did some rather irredeemable things.

#13 00Twelve

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Posted 07 January 2010 - 07:23 AM

Live And Let Die; I love it for the unique glimpse into the cult of Haitian vodou and for the large role that Leiter played in the story. Also, the action scenes drip with suspense and raw violence and the characters are well written even for such a short story. The race issues don't deter me at all.

On a side note, I'm a shark enthusiast so there's plenty to appeal to me in that regard.

After LALD, I'd probably have to say Dr. No, for many of the same reasons. The obstacle course never fails to grip me from outset to finale and the subtle attempts on Bond's life early on chill me to the bone. I also think Fleming simply nailed the fantasy elements here. I don't find myself incredulously questioning a fight with a squid or a tank dressed as a dragon or a guano burial, and that's a minor miracle of storytelling.

#14 sharpshooter

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Posted 07 January 2010 - 08:13 AM

FRWL is certainly a worthy nominee. The setup is terrific, as we watch the plan being devised, the killer primed, the beautiful lure drawn into the plot. Then we watch the plan being set in motion, against a background of wonderful set pieces. We know that something is happening, but we're left following along with Bond as he's drawn into the trap, all of it coming to a climax in a suspense-laden conclusion aboard the Orient Express. That's not to mention the best cliff-hanger finale in the series.

This is a masterful James Bond book.

Full agreement. Like You Only Live Twice, From Russia With Love is a solid piece of literature in its own right.

#15 Genuine Felix Leiter

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Posted 02 February 2010 - 06:09 PM

My favourite Bond novels are Casino Royale and Moonraker. I know nothing on playing cards, yet Fleming really turns the sequences involving Bond playing them into near flawless works of suspenseful art, they're terrifically well written, plus the fact that both novels turn into something different afterwards, CR into a dark relatonship drama, MR into a wild adventure.

Edited by Genuine Felix Leiter, 02 February 2010 - 06:09 PM.


#16 Attempting Re-entry

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Posted 27 August 2011 - 06:43 PM

I love On Her Majesty's Secret Service because of the sense of excitement! And Fleming's use of exclamation marks throughout is fantastic! Every time he tells us Bond's thoughts we can see how excited the character is! Ho ho! Hey hey!

#17 Secret Treaties

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Posted 13 November 2011 - 04:59 AM

Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye. I read it for the first time when I was 14 and it floored me. The book remains, for me, Chandler's great, successful attempt to drag detective fiction out of a genre ghetto. There is something Jamesian about Marlowe's journey through the world of Terry Lennox, the Wades, and his final despair. The only false note for me then and now - the introduction of the Marlowe/Linda Loring relationship. Chandler's prose is at its finest in this book - all the more astonishing considering the circumstances of his personal life at the time.

Jack Kerouac's On The Road. The best time to read this book is before you turn 25 and I did that. American literature's 20th century Huckleberry Finn, it is easily Kerouac's best novel. The sheer rush of its language sweeps you up and conjures up an image of America with a coherence and brevity that Kerouac would never again reach.

Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilych. A shattering work. He strips down his language, doesn't go for any showy ornamental effects, and the story's chilling honesty intensifies the horror.

Philip Roth's American Pastoral. A definitive, sweeping account of late 20th century American history embodied in a family fractured by a multitude of issues large and small. While this might sound like a relatively mundane idea for a novel, Roth's withering intelligence and ability make it so much more - a true achievement that helped me understand American history and character in new, unexpected ways.

There are so many more. Fleming, Stephen King, Hemingway, Ross Macdonald, D.H. Lawrence, Hubert Selby Jr., Elmore Leonard. I'm always on the look for the next great, memorable novel.