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Goldfinger Novel Discussion
What do we make of the book then?
The novel itself is good in the most part but does suffer from some rather fatal flaws. The first being the pacing with the opening and second parts of the book in particular being really rather dull. The card game is not particularly interesting and the golf game is beyond boring and not to mention long. Bond tailing Goldfinger in his Aston Martin is also excruciatingly long as is his pointless dinner scene with him at Reculver. It's a shame that the first parts of the book move so slowly as Fleming typically has great skill in keeping the pace energetic and exciting.
Things soon change once Bond meets Tilly and is captured by Goldfinger. The third part of the book is genuinely quite exciting and fun. Fleming was great at dreaming up grand audacious storylines and I think 'Goldfinger' has his best yet: a raid on Fort Knox. At this point the novel changes tact and essentially becomes a heist thriller. The plan is great and it's introduction really gives the book the fizz it was sorely missing from the first part.
I really enjoyed this heist segment of the novel especially the planning leading up to the Fort Knox raid. The only thing I found disappointing was the actual raid itself, after all the build-up it really rather lacked in my opinion. The film improves on this as we actually get to go inside the vault etc. In the book the action and spectacle is really over before it even begins.
Another thing the novel does so well is the characterisation of Goldfinger himself. He is in my opinion Fleming's best written villain. He gives him some fantastic speeches as well as a great villainous scheme. His character traits also reveal interesting nuggets of information about the man, for instance despite being one of the richest men in the world he still can't help cheating to win bets. We are also told he has an strange obsession with gold that goes as far as painting females in the colour before having sex (he alludes that he rapes them as well) before using the same tactic to commit murder. He's a crazy and inspired villain in the best sense of the word.
In addition the opening chapter is very interesting. Here we see Bond slightly depressed after having dealt with a particularly ugly killing. It's a great insight into his character but after this brief flash of humanity Bond becomes rather zombie-ish throughout the book. This has always been a problem with the Fleming novels for me, he provides these brief insights into Bond's life but quickly moves on and makes the character a mere cypher hinging the story together. It's a shame because these moments are often the highlights of his novels for me.
However, we do get some more character stuff with Bond later when he finds out about Jill Masterton's death. Bond seems to feel genuine guilt over her murder and knows that her death will linger with him for the rest of his life. The moment where he is tied to the table also shows the grit of the man as he refuses to give into pressure. In this same scene we also sense Bond's desperation as he tries to knock himself out so he won't be conscious when the blades begin to tear him apart. I also really liked the bit where he contemplates heaven and the thought of his recent conquests meeting Vesper. Bond seems genuinely upset when he realises his vision of the afterlife is false and sadly he is still alive.
One of the big shortfalls of the book is the surprising amount of sexism and racism on show. Firstly, we find out Fleming's rather short-sighted opinion on Korean people before discovering his attitudes towards lesbianism. Fleming goes as far to knock female suffrage and at the end in the most eye-rolling moment allows Pussy to be cured by a real 'man'. These moments are very dated and a product not only of their time but also it's very conservative author. A lot of modern reviews have bashed Fleming for this and with good reason.
There are some other interesting things to note, firstly Tilly Masterson plays a much bigger role in the book then she does in the film and both Pussy and Felix have much smaller roles in the book. In this regard the film improves on the book by incorporating them more into the story.
On the whole I enjoyed it but there are some rather glaring problems. Fleming essentially wrote children's books for adults; his novels are grand, audacious and escapist fare. The stories are populated with beautiful women, fast cars, dastardly villains and grand set-pieces. Take the moment where Bond discoverers that it's Jill Masterson behind Goldfinger's card cheating - only in Fleming's world could a beautiful bikini-clad woman be introduced so effortlessly. But I much prefer the more darker introverted segments that focus on Bond himself.
The novel itself is good in the most part but does suffer from some rather fatal flaws. The first being the pacing with the opening and second parts of the book in particular being really rather dull. The card game is not particularly interesting and the golf game is beyond boring and not to mention long. Bond tailing Goldfinger in his Aston Martin is also excruciatingly long as is his pointless dinner scene with him at Reculver. It's a shame that the first parts of the book move so slowly as Fleming typically has great skill in keeping the pace energetic and exciting.
Things soon change once Bond meets Tilly and is captured by Goldfinger. The third part of the book is genuinely quite exciting and fun. Fleming was great at dreaming up grand audacious storylines and I think 'Goldfinger' has his best yet: a raid on Fort Knox. At this point the novel changes tact and essentially becomes a heist thriller. The plan is great and it's introduction really gives the book the fizz it was sorely missing from the first part.
I really enjoyed this heist segment of the novel especially the planning leading up to the Fort Knox raid. The only thing I found disappointing was the actual raid itself, after all the build-up it really rather lacked in my opinion. The film improves on this as we actually get to go inside the vault etc. In the book the action and spectacle is really over before it even begins.
Another thing the novel does so well is the characterisation of Goldfinger himself. He is in my opinion Fleming's best written villain. He gives him some fantastic speeches as well as a great villainous scheme. His character traits also reveal interesting nuggets of information about the man, for instance despite being one of the richest men in the world he still can't help cheating to win bets. We are also told he has an strange obsession with gold that goes as far as painting females in the colour before having sex (he alludes that he rapes them as well) before using the same tactic to commit murder. He's a crazy and inspired villain in the best sense of the word.
In addition the opening chapter is very interesting. Here we see Bond slightly depressed after having dealt with a particularly ugly killing. It's a great insight into his character but after this brief flash of humanity Bond becomes rather zombie-ish throughout the book. This has always been a problem with the Fleming novels for me, he provides these brief insights into Bond's life but quickly moves on and makes the character a mere cypher hinging the story together. It's a shame because these moments are often the highlights of his novels for me.
However, we do get some more character stuff with Bond later when he finds out about Jill Masterton's death. Bond seems to feel genuine guilt over her murder and knows that her death will linger with him for the rest of his life. The moment where he is tied to the table also shows the grit of the man as he refuses to give into pressure. In this same scene we also sense Bond's desperation as he tries to knock himself out so he won't be conscious when the blades begin to tear him apart. I also really liked the bit where he contemplates heaven and the thought of his recent conquests meeting Vesper. Bond seems genuinely upset when he realises his vision of the afterlife is false and sadly he is still alive.
One of the big shortfalls of the book is the surprising amount of sexism and racism on show. Firstly, we find out Fleming's rather short-sighted opinion on Korean people before discovering his attitudes towards lesbianism. Fleming goes as far to knock female suffrage and at the end in the most eye-rolling moment allows Pussy to be cured by a real 'man'. These moments are very dated and a product not only of their time but also it's very conservative author. A lot of modern reviews have bashed Fleming for this and with good reason.
There are some other interesting things to note, firstly Tilly Masterson plays a much bigger role in the book then she does in the film and both Pussy and Felix have much smaller roles in the book. In this regard the film improves on the book by incorporating them more into the story.
On the whole I enjoyed it but there are some rather glaring problems. Fleming essentially wrote children's books for adults; his novels are grand, audacious and escapist fare. The stories are populated with beautiful women, fast cars, dastardly villains and grand set-pieces. Take the moment where Bond discoverers that it's Jill Masterson behind Goldfinger's card cheating - only in Fleming's world could a beautiful bikini-clad woman be introduced so effortlessly. But I much prefer the more darker introverted segments that focus on Bond himself.
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Comments
The golf sequence is beyond dull. First we have to put up with a whole chapter of Bond talking about his favouate gold courses and meeting his old instructor before enduring the chapter with the game itself. Often throughout the Fleming novels it was clear that there were different fads the author was going through and it always felt like he went to great pains to include them in his books. For me the golf sequence should have been tighter and it's something the film adaptation realised.
The copy of the book I have is 260 pages long. The first 150 pages are spent with Bond spying on Goldfinger before getting captured and tied to the table. In the film it takes around half an hour to get to this point. It's clear from this example I think that the pacing of the novel is out of joint.
The story is a bit stupid but it's exciting and Bond is really fleshed out well as a character. I love the opening where he's reflecting on killing the henchman the day before, he's much more human in this one and I bring it up whenever anyone makes out that Fleming's Bond is just a cold blooded blunt instrument.
The story is a bit stupid and OTT but it's enjoyable, exciting and imaginative. Goldfinger is a great villain and Oddjob is brilliant and creepy too. I also like how it ties into CR and DAF (nice bit of continuity), and we have Bond in an Aston Martin for the first time ever.
It has it's flaws. It could be faster paced (I agree with @Pierce2Daniel on the golf bit), and there is a bit of racism, sexism and homophobia. Overall I think I prefer the film but I do like the book. One of the first Bond books I read and still one of my favourites.