50 replies to this topic

[The Admiral]

This thread is intended for reviews and ratings of Live & Let Die 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.

[ChandlerBing]

I read this one fairly recently. It's a pretty good book.

[SirMiles83]

Just finished LALD for the first time. Only FYEO left to read of the Fleming Bond work. LALD is a thrill-ride of a novel. Later, I'll post a better review, but right now, all I can say about the book is: wow.

[ChandlerBing]

Live and Let Die is a terrific view of life in the USA in 1954. It's interesting to read in that aspect. One gets an idea of how things were back then by Fleming's narrative. Interesting to read the unedited version if I could find it. I've always heard about the communist conspiracy stuff in other things, but to read it in a Bond book would be interesting to say the least.

[James Boldman]

I read this a while ago I and really enjoyed this Fleming novel.
I rate it 4 stars out of five, I think it's really good.

[Cesari]

For me LALD is one of the best Fleming books. I read it a long time ago like all the Fleming's books and I always find it amazing.
One of my favourite really!!

[White Tuxedo]

What got me is how well the book is written.

[Qwerty]

This is one of my favorite Ian fleming books. I think the action and locations are wonderful. I've read it about five or six times. Also, contains one of my favorite literary villains, Mr. Big. Solitare is nice too.
Ian Fleming created a great genre in Casino Royale, but he mastered it in Live And Let Die.

[Neil S. Bulk]

It's a stunning book, with some great action set pieces.

Neil

[DanMan]

5/5. Tense and thrilling, a great read. A Fleming Masterpiece.

[Bond111]

This is one of Fleming's best without a doubt. It's nice to see Bond in America, more specifically Harlem during it's growth period. The action scenes are as exciting as they come. A very well written and fast read.

[DanMan]

The end scenes when Bond and Solitaire are being dragged through the water is probobly the most tense scene that I have ever read.

[deth]

Originally posted by DanMan
The end scenes when Bond and Solitaire are being dragged through the water is probobly the most tense scene that I have ever read.

I wonder why they showed up in the FYEO movie....?

[Tehuti 004]

I quite enjoyed this book, quite a bit of emotion in it, for Bond and the reader.

I especially felt sorry for that conductor that be-friened Bond on the train.

[Derringer]

I'm enjoying LALD. My question is: Who is the outrageous looking beauty that modeled for the cover of the book [holding the two playing cards over her pefectly formed breasts]?

[B007GLE]

I don't know who the cover girl in the most recent is, but I think there was something about who the models wre on CBN not toolong ago.

I love this book. It may be favorite Fleming in that its a great Fleming story that was not properly translated to film. Which makes me like the book better than say OHMSS.

The one bad thing is all the "Negroes" besides Mr. Big who say things like "Yassuh!" Mr. Big in contrast is truyly a great villain and written very well.

This book perfects "the Fleming sweep" and you can see it's influence on all the later Bond novels and the films. You can also see how ol' Ian spent his winter vacation in 1954.

[CommanderBond]

what a thrill ride i enjoyed to book cover to cover. to me it reflected the times in which fleming wrote it ..... I loved it

[Johnson Galore]

Originally posted by deth



I wonder why they showed up in the FYEO movie....?

Great book which has been cut up and used throughout the film series. Every time I read it I wish they would go back and make a LALD film based squarely on the book. Fleming's approach is much more visual in this one than in Casino Royale.

[Derringer]

I liked it. I like them all. Finished LALD and FYEO recently. Am now reading a Clive Cussler novel [Golden Buddha], and The Spy Who Loved Me. Headed to New Orleans on business in the morning, so I will have plenty of reading time, which will hopefully keep me out of the French Quarter

[Xenobia]

It never ceases to amaze me how much humanity Bond has in Fleming. That goes contrary to what a lot of people think about Bond and about Fleming.

It's an excellent read, but I'll give it four stars for now...only because I haven't read enough Fleming to judge it properly.

-- Xenobia

[Oddfeld]

I always remember this book as the one that for me really cemented the Bond/Leiter friendship.

Their next meeting in DAF after Leiter's surgery was very touching.


Excellent book.... makes the film even more annoying in comparison.

[Johnboy007]

Without a doubt, my favorite, way too many great parts of this book too deny it's grandess.

[1q2w3e4r]

Great book, one of my favs to be honest. Definantly a solid 4 out of 5. The characters are well filled out, though Mr Big proves to be the cut of for Drax in Moonraker really isn't a bad point in my opinion.

The friendsihp development with Lieter is a highlight and the relationship with Solitare is interesting and well done. The scenes in Harlem early in the book are interesting. The highlights for me has got to be the duel with the Robber in the warehouse and Bond's attempt to access The Big Man's island and the fight with the barracuda.

It would make a great book to film transfer even now. Pity they chopped it up for a handful of movies.

[dajman_007]

I just finished LALD a few days ago and I would have given it 10 stars if I could've. The only bad part of the book was the '73 movie that followed. This is probably the best bond novel I've read except possibly HTTK by Raymond Benson. There was never a dull moment. Why couldn't the movie follow the book. WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY?

Edited by dajman_007, 10 February 2004 - 03:57 PM.

[Qwerty]

I just finished LALD a few days ago and I would have given it 10 stars if I could've. The only bad part of the book was the '73 movie that followed. This is probably the best bond novel I've read except possibly HTTK by Raymond Benson. There was never a dull moment. Why couldn't the movie follow the book. WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY?

LOL! It is a great read, but straightforward copying from the books had been done by then pretty much, and the book did have some controversial material at the time. Still, one of my all time favorites from the master.

[Double-Oh Agent]

LIVE AND LET DIE

Ian Fleming picked up where he left off following his debut novel Casino Royale and the result is Live And Let Die. Though not quite as good as the first book, LALD, nevertheless, is an entertaining and fun read. The novel is full of action as Bond goes up against a large criminal organization led by the mysterious and dangerous Buonaparte Ignace Gallia aka Mr. Big.

On this adventure Fleming sends Bond to New York and he immediately becomes the target of Gallia's virtual all-Black organization. When Bond comes face to face with Mr. Big, Fleming once again displays a knack for creating eccentric, unique, and disturbing individuals. From Mr. Big's grotesque appearance featuring a gray-colored, football-shaped head and the voodoo symbolism all around him to Tee-Hee Johnson's perpetual laughter, it is clear that Bond is in trouble. That point is further driven home in a well-written scene which sees Bond receiving his second dose of torture in as many books. (Hope the man has good insurance.)

While Bond is injured, at least he has a couple of good allies on his side. Simone Latrelle aka Solitaire is a somewhat naive and frightened girl who can also see the future, who nevertheless decides to jump to Bond's side. It is her escaping Gallia that drives the plot to the Florida coast and on to Jamaica. The other significant ally is the amiable Felix Leiter who is always a joy to behold and never more so than in this book. He and 007 really "bond" in this novel and so it is even more of a shock when the reader learns of the tragedy that befalls Leiter. Driving that point home is the sick message left by Gallia's man in Florida, The Robber: "He disagreed with something that ate him." Bond's confrontation with The Robber in the marine warehouse is tightly written and one can't help but approve of Bond's method of revenge. The Robber has only two scenes in the entire book but both carry a lot of weight making them distinctly memorable and him one of Fleming's better henchmen.

In Jamaica we meet two more of Bond's allies--John Strangways and Quarrel. Neither play a huge role in the outcome of the story but they are a likable duo who also give Bond valuable information as he prepares to confront Mr. Big.

Bond's undersea journey to the Caribbean island is very suspenseful and one can't help but feel uneasy with 007 literally swimming with sharks and barracuda. Fleming really knew his underwater stuff and that is in evidence here. The aforementioned uneasy feeling is topped only by the climax of the story where Bond and Solitaire are about to be keelhauled over a coral reef toward the awaiting oceanic predators on the other side and Bond coldly decides to drown his fellow prisoner before their intended fate is met. The setup is full of suspence in what turns out to be a race against time between the ticking of a timer and the speed of a yacht. Once again the villain's demise is appropriate and just, although Fleming's painting of that picture via the descriptions of the sights and sounds of Gallia's final seconds are a bit unsettling.

The big problem with the book is Fleming's attempt at imitating Black people's speech. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work and gets more in the way of storytelling that it does in just telling the story and it makes the people speaking seem less intelligent. Nevertheless, there are many more good points to recommend the novel. The plot is good and the action brisk and fast. The returning characters grow from the first novel, particularly Bond and Leiter and their budding friendship, and one is anxious to see the next chapter in the 007 saga. And for a writer, that is a mission well accomplished.

Rating: 006 out of 007

[Gri007]

Just finished Live And Let Die last night.

It is bigger and better than Casino Royale. There is more pages and more action. It is on the same scale as the Bond movies.

Fleming was proud of the way he had wrote the Carriabean accents, and so should he. He did a wonder full job of doing it.

A great read and a great thriller.

Well done again Fleming for giving us a good sequel.

[marmaduke]

If pushed to state my very favourite Fleming (and thus Bond novel) it would have to be LALD. Why? great atmosphere created (as stated by another contributor to this thread, it gives you a great feel of what life in the USA during the mid 50

[bond_girl_double07]

I just reread LALD and it's honestly one of my favorite books of all time, Bond novel or no. Several of the scenes in this book are incredibly exciting (the end sequence, Bond's night swim, the escape from Mr. Big's club, and of course Bond's discovery of the wounded Felix!) and Fleming does a remarkable job if intermixing his beautiful descriptions of New York and the Caribbean with scenes of incredible action. Everything about this novel is so beautifully spaced, and the pacing and narration are absolutely perfect. Anyway, I love it very much and I wish I'd known about the Blades Library Book Club when you were all reading it the first time!!!

[Double-0-Seven]

This was the first Ian Fleming book I read.

I managed to get a bargain on one of the old Pan editions (I believe it's the 1964 edition although I can't remember off the top of my head) and began reading it as soon as I got home. I was very excited to finally read one of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels. Before this I had only read John Gardner's GoldenEye novelization, as well as Raymond Benson's novelizations of Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, and Die Another Day.

As soon as I started reading, I was hooked. I was busy with school at the time, so it took me a few days to get through it all, but I enjoyed every page of it. I loved how Ian Fleming described everything in lots of detail, and how I could easily picture everything in my head. Every scene was just as exciting as the last, and it was my favorite Bond book up until I read Casino Royale a few weeks ago.

I'll say it gets four out of five stars.