On Her Majesty's Secret Service

It's really two books this one. The 'A' plot (Bond looks for Blofeld, Bond finds Blofeld, Bond fails to catch Blofeld) is not one of Fleming's best; it's filler between the world-threatening melodrama of Thunderball and the presumable resolution of You Only Live Twice.

It doesn't help that 007 spends much of the book surrounded by air-headed dolls who give Fleming far too many excuses to indulge his every worst assumptions of women. He also bizarrely seems to confuse allergies and phobias.

That said, the action sequences are, as you'd expect from Fleming, superlative – especially Bond's ski-run escape, aped so many times since – and there is a genuine sense of threat throughout.

The other side of the book is 007 and Tracy. True she's show more a pencil sketch (and early in the book looks dangerously like the caricature of a fallen woman saved by the grace of man's penis) but she's a sketch of exactly the sort of woman I can imagine Bond asking to marry him: capable, exotic-but-basically-British, and most importantly someone who'll protect that lost little boy at the heart of him. Diana Rigg was perfect casting.

The chapter leading up to the wedding is glorious (Bond's stag night with the ex-Luftwaffe pilot turned taxi driver in particular), soppy and heartwarming. It needs to be; you have to want them to be happy. Because when the other foot lands, as it always had to, it is cruel and heartbreaking and first-class writing. Exactly the sort of sledgehammer blow today's TV series are praised for delivery – but Ned Stark had nothing on Tracy Bond.

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This was really good. After the events of Thunderball (allowing for Bond's American vacation in The Spy Who Loved Me), Bond has been tracking down Blofeld, but to little avail, and he feels like he's being wasted on detective work. Driving back from a mission, he meets Tracy, a damaged woman who captivates him, and he ends up helping her feel wanted for the first time in a long while, and her father-- leader of the Corsican underworld-- tries to get him to settle down with her. Then, following a lead, Bond ends up infiltrating an alpine Swiss resort where it seems Blofeld might be hiding; Blofeld's given himself away by writing to the College of Arms to get himself a title.

Fleming is firing on all cylinders here. Even though the book's show more two plots could feel only tenuously connected, they interact much more organically than the way books like Goldfinger or Thunderball open. Tracy is a convincing love interest for Bond; one can imagine that he would settle down with her because they clearly love each other for who they are, damage and all, rather than wanting each other to change.

The parts with Bond infiltrating Blofeld's clinic are good; Fleming's focus on pedantic detail serves him well when writing about heraldry, and when focusing on Bond as an infiltrator. I like how there's a countdown of sorts once the Secret Service agent from Station Z is captured by SPECTRE, and  Bond must work quickly and efficiently but unobtrusively to find a way out of the situation. The way Blofeld's plot slowly reveals itself is well-handled, and the action sequences are excellent, some of the most tense in the series, as Bond must make two escapes down a mountain, one via skis, the other via bobsled. Fleming makes you feel the intensity and the struggle of these escapes. As always, things are difficult and grueling for the literary Bond. The only thing I don't like is that Blofeld's plan feels like a reduction of stakes after the previous book, less grand and less interesting, while it should be bigger and bolder.

The very end is famous-- I knew what was coming even though I've never read the book or seen the film-- and it works, even if it's obvious. It really is devastating. Overall, this is probably the best Bond book, except for maybe the first one.

Some other notes: Bond using the phrase "Sucks to you" was not a thing I expected, nor was him being familiar with the St. Trinian's films. There is a nice callback to Casino Royale at the beginning (we are reminded how much Bond cared for Vesper), which sets up the more emotionally vulnerable Bond of this novel. This was the first Bond novel to be written after the film series began, and Fleming explains why Bond has a Scottish accent on screen by explaining that Bond's father was a Scot, something previously not mentioned. He also debuts the (real) motto of the (real) Bond family, "The world is not enough," which would give its name to a Pierce Brosnan film. The weirdest reference to the films, though, is that Bond sees Ursula Andress, who played Honey Ryder in Dr. No, in Blofeld's clinic! show less

After an hour or so of listening, I realized that this story is one of the few that is followed pretty religiously in its movie and that movie is BATSHIT CRAZY. Plastic surgery Blofeld! Swiss (I think) mountains! Agricultural terrorism! Genealogy! And listen, I've seen all the Bond movies and read a lot of the books (and even pretty much wrote a dissertation about the first one -- check CourseHero for my breakdown of Casino Royale) but the misogyny in this one is breathtaking. Knowing what I know about Fleming -- he hated writing the Bond books, he was literally terrible at everything else he tried on for a career, and, unlike John Le Carre, he was never an actual spy -- I read Bond's masculinity as an avatar for a writer who is show more embarrassed by the way his life turned out. All that is to say that I don't let the misogyny bother me too much, especially not when the climax of the book ends in an outdoor ice skating rink.

David Tennant's narration, of course, was wonderful. Which is why I chose this book in the first place. show less

Solitudine

Puoi essere quello che vuoi, ma prima o poi senti quel desiderio, quel bisogno primordiale delle cose semplici, normali. E' l'istinto che ci guida e non ne possiamo fare a meno. E' quello che ci salva, che ci spinge verso una strada, una persona. James ritrova sulla sua strada Teresa "Tracy" e capisce che non può fare a meno di lei. Vuole condividere qualcosa e non può più farlo restando da solo. Soltanto che il destino è beffardo e la felicità un attimo. Blofeld sfugge ancora una volta alla resa dei conti e 007 di conti ne dovrà fare con sè stesso. L'avventura, l'azione è sempre concentrata in pochi frangenti. A differenza delle pellicole, è il pensiero del nostro agente, il suo animo, la sua indole il vero corpo show more della storia. Come sempre, un uomo prima di tutto, con tutte le licenze possibili, ma non quella di derogare dalla sua umanità. show less

I listened to the audio version narrated by David Tennant. One thing his performance made clear to me was Fleming's fascination and obsession with varieties of English masculinity (reading the novels I just he was obsessed with rape). He just seems to love them all, from the officious, stuffy English academic or bureaucrat to the no-nonsense, upper-class-but-not-a-snob-about-it James Bond. Fleming also gets to vicariously enjoy being the perfect husband. Fleming has also been pretty clear about his ideal women but he is a bit more single-minded on that front. I find all of Fleming's Englishmen and masculine camaraderie kind of suffocating to be honest.

Bond is driving along one day, mentally drafting his resignation from MI6. He's fed up with the boredom his work has held over the past year -- basically detective legwork that any respectable PI could do. But then he is passed by a Lancia Spyder that also happens to be driven by a beautiful girl. Bond is immediately intrigued. This car chase ends up setting him on a path to the elusive supervillain Blofeld, who has set up shop in the Swiss Alps with agents of SPECTRE, the world's leading evildoer organization. If Bond can find out what Blofeld is doing and thwart his plans, that would certainly provide some much-needed job satisfaction.

I really enjoyed this book, finding it amusing as well as thrilling. Bond is given access to show more Blofeld's lair by posing as a member of the College of Arms -- Blofeld wants to know whether he has claim on a long-lost family title. There is a lot of heraldry rigmarole that Bond has to pick up, which he finds ridiculous, thus making it a lot more amusing for the reader. And one does have to give Fleming points for originality.

The Alpine setting was a relief to read about in the throes of a heatwave, and the skiing was decidedly thrilling. The denouement was so intense that I almost couldn't bear to read on, but I had to know what happened. Very gripping indeed. I also liked the atmosphere provided by the liberal use of untranslated French, Corsican and German (one can infer the general meaning from context).

I haven't seen the movie of this one but may have to rectify that soon. Also note that this is the second of a nominal trilogy, so there are slight spoilers for Thunderball, which I guess will have to be my next Bond! (The third volume of this story arc is You Only Live Twice.)

Recommended for Bond fans and skiers. show less

Bond may love his Bentley, but it's no match for a "pretty girl" in an Italian sports car, and neither is he. Not that it stops him from cheating on his fiancée with a country lass with a chicken allergy in Switzerland, but he does remain faithful for their entire marriage. Unfortunately for her, it only lasts about 3 hours before his carelessness gets her killed and the car totaled. He also stands by watching without lifting as finger as a fellow British spy is tortured and killed, and lets Blofeld escape. Twice. And almost dies of fatigue during an escape when his cigarette adled lungs give out, and he's such an alcoholic that he needs to stop mid-chase to down a flask of schnapps (after filling up on whiskey at dinner to prepare for show more his nighttime black diamond ski run).

Blofeld is watered down in this one, with a ridiculous plot more suited for Dr. Evil (Austin Powers) and a silly fixation on attaining an aristocratic title for no purpose other than his own vanity. This is not the same menacing and fascinating villain from Thunderball. His henchwoman is also too close for comfort to Frau Greta Farbissina from Austin Powers.

Still, despite (or perhaps because of) Bond's many shortcomings (and the tragic results), it's one of the more entertaining books. The scenes with M are as funny as always, as are his interactions with his father-in-law.

RIP Vespa Lynd and Teresa di Vicenzo aka Tracy Bond. show less