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LALD - Novel Discussion
I recently finished this book for the first time and in the most part found it to be a rather entertaining novel.
The story is very much a boy's own action adventure. Fleming has has taken the typical spy drama and played around with the formula he established in CR and this time around has weaved in themes of the occult, voodoo, buried treasure and sharks. There is a lot here to enjoy.
Bond is also given some rather human tendencies throughout the novel and is often driven by his fear and at numerous times is shown to be fully at the mercy of the villains and constantly weakened. At the novel's climax his entire body is ravaged by Mr. Big's attack and the brutal shark bite. Furthermore, when Bond gets saved at the end of the book Fleming allows his hero to not only cry but bawl his eyes out. It's an interesting change of pace from the 'superman' he can often be depicted as.
One thing I found surprising was quite how violent the book is, for instance Fleming's description of Bond killing Teehee is rather brutal and graphic. In addition, Leiter's attack and the entire climax of the book is really rather gory. One of the final images of the book is of Bond sitting in blood-soaked water surrounded by human limbs from a recent explosion of Mr. Big's boat watching sharks kill any survivors from the wreckage. This novel is not for the faint of heart.
Furthermore, Fleming is something of a sadist and seems to gain pleasure from dreaming up inventive ways to kill or maim his characters. Whether it be Leiter's shark bite or Bond and Solitare being dragged along by a boat. There is a pleasure to see such an active imagination at work and Fleming was an ace at dreaming up the most malevolent threats possible.
I also really liked Mr. Big as a character, the imagery that the big grey man conjures up is perfectly haunting anf fits well with the tone of the novel. I loved how Fleming interwove elements of the occult into the story as we can see how The Big Man controls his organisation through fear and mysticism. It's an interesting central conceit and one I feel that the filmmakers behind LALD never really made the most of. I hope elements like this reappear in future films as Mr. Big is a rather unique and brilliant bad guy.
The structure of the novel is not as fluid as Fleming's CR novel and the novel can be intermittently un-engaging but it's a still a rather fun (albeit quite dark) action thriller.
The story is very much a boy's own action adventure. Fleming has has taken the typical spy drama and played around with the formula he established in CR and this time around has weaved in themes of the occult, voodoo, buried treasure and sharks. There is a lot here to enjoy.
Bond is also given some rather human tendencies throughout the novel and is often driven by his fear and at numerous times is shown to be fully at the mercy of the villains and constantly weakened. At the novel's climax his entire body is ravaged by Mr. Big's attack and the brutal shark bite. Furthermore, when Bond gets saved at the end of the book Fleming allows his hero to not only cry but bawl his eyes out. It's an interesting change of pace from the 'superman' he can often be depicted as.
One thing I found surprising was quite how violent the book is, for instance Fleming's description of Bond killing Teehee is rather brutal and graphic. In addition, Leiter's attack and the entire climax of the book is really rather gory. One of the final images of the book is of Bond sitting in blood-soaked water surrounded by human limbs from a recent explosion of Mr. Big's boat watching sharks kill any survivors from the wreckage. This novel is not for the faint of heart.
Furthermore, Fleming is something of a sadist and seems to gain pleasure from dreaming up inventive ways to kill or maim his characters. Whether it be Leiter's shark bite or Bond and Solitare being dragged along by a boat. There is a pleasure to see such an active imagination at work and Fleming was an ace at dreaming up the most malevolent threats possible.
I also really liked Mr. Big as a character, the imagery that the big grey man conjures up is perfectly haunting anf fits well with the tone of the novel. I loved how Fleming interwove elements of the occult into the story as we can see how The Big Man controls his organisation through fear and mysticism. It's an interesting central conceit and one I feel that the filmmakers behind LALD never really made the most of. I hope elements like this reappear in future films as Mr. Big is a rather unique and brilliant bad guy.
The structure of the novel is not as fluid as Fleming's CR novel and the novel can be intermittently un-engaging but it's a still a rather fun (albeit quite dark) action thriller.
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Comments
I've only ever read LALD once in 1962 and my appetite to revisit it has definitely been stimulated by Pierce2Daniel.
His evaluation of the book as an 'actioneer' is spot on and I remember being delighted by it's pace. I also loved the Harlem setting and the train journey.
As a boy and a lover of weapons lore I remember being struck by the fact that 007 had apparently ditched the Beretta .25 and was using a Colt or S&W 38? Strange the things that stick in your mind.
Definitely on the to do list after I've worked my way through the contenders for this years Ian Fleming Silver Dagger Award. No surprise that SOLO isn't nominated!
I also agree with your assessment of Mr. Big. In stiff competition definitely among Fleming’s most memorable villains, evoking dread and respect alike in his air of mysterious menace, making the fear and loyalty he commands from his followers credible in its supernatural touches. As in most other aspects, the film adaptation indeed falls woefully short in this department. As an aside, though, Mr. Big and the power he wields does in some way seem eerily prescient of the bizarre dictatorship of Haiti’s dubiously elected President for Life François ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier, who rose to power a few years after the publication of Live and Let Die. And of course, Duvalier with his moniker in turn seems like the obvious inspiration behind Dr. Kananga in the film bringing a certain semblance of sense to the double character (though absolving none of its silliness). But still, a future film villain in the vein of the Mr. Big of the novel would be interesting to see, if probably hard to pull off.