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Literary 007 Reviewed: Ian Fleming's 'Live And Let Die'

CBn Forum members review the second James Bond novel

Nice to read some different perspectives on the novel.

LIVE AND LET DIE's never been one of my favorite Bond novels. I very much like many of its story elements, and it's chock full of great moments, but it never comes together in a satisfying whole for me.

Not one of my Fleming favorites either although it has some excellent parts: Leiter's maiming; the scenes in Harlem; the voodoo drums playing on Mr. Big's Island when bodies wash up on shore. On the downsides: I've never bought Mr. Big not killing Bond in Harlem instead of breaking his little finger (breaking his little finger was a nice touch that reminds us unlike the movies that being Bond is no fun); Leiter just getting sapped instead of killed; and never found Solitaire that interesting compared to other Bond girls. Also, Bond seems much more cardboard compared to the look at his inner life we get in CR and even to some extent in the beginning of MR. There is also an issue of what certainly to a modern reader appears to be racist elements, although one could make the argument that Fleming believes black criminals are just as dangerous and intelligent as white criminals, but there are certainly passages that make one wince today.