The time Fleming spends in those first few pages setting up Bond’s world is simply thriller-writing at its best. The first half of the story is really very exciting I know it’s a cliché but it is a ‘page-turner’, the story keeps you hooked.
Fleming had no idea he was writing the genesis tale for one of fiction’s greatest characters, I think it is therefore important to judge the book on its own merits and avoid the baggage which is now associated with it. However, it would be a fruitless endeavour I think to condemn the book for this. Heck, the book isn’t nearly as explosive as Fleming’s latter 007 novels. The first thing that must be said is that the book isn’t nearly as ‘explosive’ as the Bond we are used to seeing today. I recently sat down to re-read CR, I had no idea its 60th anniversary was coming, so now would seem a perfect time to discuss some of the things I found re-reading the book. Casino Royale - an exciting, haunting, introspective, Cold war espionage thriller.
