"Octopussy" by Ian Fleming 1967

[realexplodingcat]

Nothing much of interest to speak of lately. Maybe I should stop reading and go play in traffic. But there's something nice about reading outside on the front porch as darkness falls on another spring evening.

Don't get too excited about this one. You'll be disappointed if you're expecting a girl with eight...uh...cats.

This has the honor of being the last Ian Fleming James Bond book ever published, the last one I acquired, and the last one to have been read by me for the first time. Unaware of its existence during my adolescent obsession with Bond, I finally acquired Octopussy in the dowry of books I received from my father-in-law.

Octopussy is an unusual Bond book, because it is only one of two collections of James Bond short stories (the other being For Your Eyes Only). It is also unusual for its depiction of Bond as a kinder, gentler spy.

Bond is not actually the protagonist in "Octopussy," the book's namesake. The story is about Dexter Smythe, a retired Major in the British Royal Marines living in Jamaica. One day, his idyllic existence is interrupted by a polite, but mysterious man from the Ministry of Defense--James Bond. Smythe is under investigation for a crime he committed during his time stationed in post-war Germany. Bond is a quiet, but intimidating presence as Smythe tells the story of his involvement in a gold smuggling incident.

The plot for "The Living Daylights" will be familiar to anyone who has seen the film by the same name. Bond travels to Germany to protect another agent who is trying to escape from East Berlin. Intelligence reports indicate that a highly trained sniper will be sent to kill this agent as he makes a break for the border. Bond's job is simply to kill the assassin before the assassin can kill the agent. For two reasons, this story is the best of the trio and also a great story in general. It is an excellent work of suspense on par with any of the longer works. However, it is elevated above a simple suspense tale by a rare exploration of Bond's sensitive side in which we witness him questioning the morality of his license to kill.

The third story is "The Property of a Lady." In probably his most subtle case ever, Bond attends a Sotheby's auction of a Fabergé Egg to keep an eye on who places bids for the art object. The lady who offers the Egg for auction is a known double agent for Russia working inside Britain. The Egg is suspected of being a covert payment to this lady for her service to Russian intelligence. No killing. No explosions. Just the gentle movements of wealthy bidders.

This book offers a fine trio of stories, each a intriguing alternative depiction of James Bond.

Comments

[sabethea.livejournal.com]

that made me check my JB collection, and yes, as i thought, it's one of the ones i have. and i am tempted to re-read it.

[explodingcat.livejournal.com]

I'm tempted to re-read them all. I went through my Ian Fleming phase maybe 15 years ago. I still have all the books. But this past year I read 2 that I had never been able to find back then. As a more mature reader, I'm noticing the great nuances of Fleming's style where a lot of suspense/action fiction just do not have much in the way of nuance or subtlety to them (particularly the Bond writers after Fleming). And I know I never noticed or could appreciate that 15 years ago. So, I'm thinking a re-read would be very rewarding.