Yes, it's dated, and yes, it's sexist, and yes, many of the plot devices have been used by Fleming before ... but it still has good forward momentum and stylish writing. Not his best (by a long shot) but enjoyable -- and I (for one) enjoyed the golf match. May be the only Bond novel that the movie is superior to the book. ( )

This has been a long time coming. Doctor No, as much ass as it kicked in the Bondverse, will have to wait—I read it in November and it’s been far too long, I’m afraid, that I couldn’t give it a proper review, and now…now…—, it’s time for Goldfinger to get a comment or two! It’s time to look at Bond’s seventh adventure! an adv. trailing off of the high note double-face-punch of From Russia, w/ Love and Dr. No, an adv. that I really expected to keep up the quality of the previous bad-guy’s-name-as-story-title book (especially considering I associated good feelings with the film), but it fails to come anywhere near it, or even near the quality of Diamonds are Forever, previously imagined as the low point for the series.

We’re introduced straight away to the villain, a cunning, wealthy douchebag the likes of which we’ve seen before, in a fashion the likes of which we’ve seen twice before: Villain X is cheating at a card game for an incidental figure of cash he doubtlessly doesn’t need, and it’s up to Bond to figure out how he’s cheating and put an end to his highly original trickery. This game, a repeat of scenes from Casino Royale and Moonraker, is the best part of the story. Auric Goldfinger is a terrible character, the sort of clichéd, 2-dimensional villain you find in numerous young adult thrillers these days, with piercing x-ray eyes that seem to see through Our Hero(ine) at all times (i.e., this is brought up every time Bond looks at Goldfinger). After Bond successfully helps Background Character From CR beat a cheating fat blob of shit, he travels back to England and talks with M about his next assignment no one could have foreseen: GO WATCH THIS GOLDFINGER CHAP HE’S GOT A SUSPICIOUS AIR ABOUT HIM I DARESAY.

Oh, and Oddjob is here to kick ass and chew bubblegum as one of the more fascinating flat, racial stereotypes.

'Have you ever heard of Karate? No? Well that man is one of the three in the world who have achieved the Black Belt in Karate.’

Taking a break from the story—which at this point starts to feature a 30-page action-packed game of golf b/w Bond and Goldy—, we all know that Ian Fleming held a lot of typical beliefs of snooty upper-class white folks back in the mid-20th century, and Goldfinger actually manages to be more racist and more sexist than any previous Bond story—including the infamous Live and Let Die. This time all enmity is directed rather than at women (general), or the French, or Negroes, or Germans, or Americans, or Russians, or even the majestic Chigroe of Doctor No, but at Koreans and, you guessed it, lesbians!

…Bond intended to stay alive on his own terms. Those terms included putting Oddjob and any other Korean firmly in his place, which, in Bond’s estimation, was rather lower than apes in the mammalian hierarchy.

Fleming is downright vicious in creating his cast of Korean servants, and I mean vicious. He doesn’t hold anything back, doesn’t hide any of his beliefs behind “kind” patronizations like before. Yes, Mr. Fleming, we know Koreans are all heartless, stupid, disgusting people, the most ruthless people on the planet, who only communicate by raping ugly white women and making incoherent barking noises. Sure, sure…

Bond said amiably, ‘I may be able to. I got us out of our graves.
‘After getting us into them.’
Bond looked thoughtfully at the girl. He decided it would be ungallant to spank her, so to speak, on an empty stomach.

The (apparent) Bond girl this time around is one Miss Tilly Masterton (and until the end of the book, I mistakenly read that as Masterson; it seems the scriptwriters did as well), but she sadly turns out to be a lesbian, and because of this, she’s killed for being wrong and stupid. Her actions that lead to her death make absolutely no logical sense, and only serve to push Ian’s belief that lesbians are…well…I’ll let Ian speak for himself:

Bond came to the conclusion that Tilly Masterton was one of those girls whose hormones had got mixed up. He knew the type well and thought they and their male counterparts were a direct consequence of giving votes to women and ‘sex equality’. As a result of fifty years of emancipation, feminine qualities were dying out or being transferred to the males. Pansies of both sexes were everywhere, not yet completely homosexual, but confused, not knowing what they were. The result was a herd of unhappy sexual misfits—barren and full of frustrations, the women wanting to dominate and the men to be nannied. He was sorry for them, but he had no time for them.

Thankfully, Bond’s manliness is enough to magically turn the leader of the lesbian outcasts, Pussy Galore (as sexist and cheesy as it is, that name is awesome), straight with absolutely no character development involved. A couple glances is enough to correct her “mixed up hormones,” or whatever the fuck sex equality and voting rights did to the poor girl.

Around page 140 of 191, after a long game of golf, and an even longer “chase” scene, Bond and Tilly are captured by Goldfinger and co., and for some reason, I guess for the sake of the plot, Goldfinger has the brilliant idea to keep Bond around and in fact hire him to help his men break into Fort fucking Knox. Things go awry and Bond bangs Pussy. The end.

‘There is no harm he can do at the rear of the plane but he is not to approach the cockpit door. If need be, kill him at once, but I prefer to get him to our destination alive. Understood?’
‘Arrgh.’

F.V.: 60%

[988] ( )

Goldfinger received only four stars because of it's length. At this stage I've read a large number of the Bond novels and have fallen in love with their length. This story, while good, seemed to drag on a bit too far for my taste. ( )

The most cartoonish and movie like of the James Bond novels that I've read so far. But none the less a good read. I am always impressed how Fleming condenses so much plot in 250 pages or less. ( )

Ian Fleming classic. Auric Goldfinger is amassing great gold stores world-wide and James Bond is sent to bring down his organization. ( )