Casino Royale

Casino Royale is the first Bond novel.  I'll confess that I picked it up because of the fabulous Penguin edition pulp cover.  The first 50 or so pages dragged.  I stayed with the book for only two reasons: it is on my 1% Well-Read Challenge list (I'm up to 15.78%), and Neal read it and wanted me to check it out, too. 

Once the situation is established, though, the story picked up.  From the point where Bond sits at the Baccarat table with Le Chiffre until the final page, I read it in one sitting. 

Around the time the film came out, I listened to an NPR show about Ian Fleming and Casino Royale.  The journalist discussed how Daniel Craig's (my secret boyfriend)portrayal of Bond is much closer to Fleming's character: dark, brooding, uncertain.  I was interested, then, to take in this truer picture of Bond. 

At times the writing has a similar feel to Miss Pettigrew in the overuse of descriptors, but as the pace picked up, I found this less distracting.

Ultimately, I believe any Bond fan will have a good time reading the novel and seeing the connection to the film Bonds who are so familiar.
(Review taken from my Goodreads page)

Two more books to go on my challenge.  What are you dipping into this holiday season?

Comments

[Karen]

I'm reading Outliers. Oooh, I should have told you all about it at lunch the other day. It's actually really good and, in certain parts, fairly insightful regarding some of the stuff we intuitively know about teaching but could help out. I kind of have a mind crush on Gladwell, I cannot tell a lie.

[Robert Krieger]

well, i have to confess that i'm reading proust---volume two of "remembrances of things past". for a shrink, it's a real busman's holiday, since it is a remarkable account of the internal process of a mind. happy holidays!

[Heather]

I hadn't heard of this list - thanks for posting about it. I'm at 5% for the books I've already read. A lot of the books I've been stashing lately are on the list, too.