Live and Let Die

First off I only paid .99 cents for the kindle book. It was completely shortened by about 150 pages. Sure you get the gist of it. But it was like reading a long short story. You can finish it less than an hour and a half. But nowhere does it say that this is an abridged version. I would have bought the paperback for 12 bucks otherwise. But now. No. I’ll watch the film while it’s still on Netflix. Thanks a lot for negligence.

This is the second James Bond Novel authored by Ian Fleming. James Bond comes to America, Harlem, then Florida, then Jamaica. It is a decent spy action thriller. I have never been a very big fan of James Bond movies, but this novel seems, pretty much like a literary version of a James Bond film.

The book was written by a British author in 1954. Coincidentally, 1954 is the same year of the historic United States Supreme Court Decision “Brown versus Board of Education”. So what? The modern Civil Rights movement was just gaining traction in America. This novel is more consistent with the pre modern Civil Rights viewpoint. James Bond, as a white person, does battle with American black organized criminals. There is a LOT of dated ethnic nomenclature and stereotyping that could offend some readers. I do not believe in censorship or rewriting of novels such as this. I actually find a novel such as this provides much fuel for inner contemplation. Just be advised there is a lot of ethnic references in this novel.

Personally, the above observation aside, I think this is a somewhat better written novel than the first James Bond novel, “Casino Royale”. There is a lot of descriptive narrative that I felt was more sophisticated than the prior novel. This novel can be read without having read the first novel. There is one character, an American, Felix Leiter, who makes an appearance in this novel, who had also been in the first novel. Obviously, “M” and Miss Moneypenny are ongoing characters.

When I was a youth growing up in America in the 1950s and 1960s, I was not allowed to read James Bond novels. I had friends of my age who did read them. All they talked about was the sexual aspects of these novels. By today’s standards, I do not find these novels are not to be particularly salacious. But as a parent and grandparent, I would be very careful about allowing a child or grandchild to read these novels.

In summary, I am glad I read this novel, I liked it, but did not love it, I would not read it again without good cause. Thank You…

Live and Let Die, the movie, was my introduction to James Bond. While very problematic, it redeemed itself somewhat by turning racist stereotypes on their head. Having read the source material, I now understand the source of those narrow minded tropes. The novel assumes African people are simple and naive, able to be turned and led by superstition and fear. Yet, the gentry of 1956 would have seen the book as liberal or progressive due to its advocacy of some elements of black culture and its hypothesis that there were some black geniuses. Yet throughout we see the old standards of racial prejudice: oversexed women, black men as brutes, fears of racial mixing, and a vast network of African Americans working to destabilize America in the name of Socialism.

The yarn itself is decent. Fleming knows how to write succinct chapters that propel the story and get you to turn the page. The narrative is pulpy featuring pirate gold, black gangsters, man-eating sharks, and wanton women. There is the ghost of research into Jamaican sea life, yet the depiction of Harlem nightlife feels like something that was described to the author by a friend who had read a book about it. It feels like the book was calculated to shock and titillate, and the author achieves that, but perhaps not in the way that was envisioned.

First off – any critics who can’t see past the dated racial terminology in this book are missing an (admittedly cumbersome) attempt at a progressive breakthrough. Yes, this book uses outdated terms like “negro” and worse. However, it also establishes “Mr. Big” as the world’s first truly credible black criminal mastermind, someone able to outsmart both British and American secret services. This book is not to be missed.

Fleming states at length that “Mr. Big” is an absolute equal to his white counterparts. He has the best education, he has the best networking, he even makes use of the latest technology. Many racists of the era would have said it would be impossible for a black man to achieve these feats. Fleming was trying to present an unflinching look at the real feelings a British agent and 1950s Americans would have had toward black people, while at the same time demonstrating that this state of affairs was certainly temporary. England’s obsession with voodoo mysticism is also front and center – although anyone trying to jump to a conclusion too hastily again needs to reference the fact that Mr. Big is using his voodoo connections as much for manipulation as anything.

The book also shows Fleming’s obsession with America, and therefore Bond’s obsession too. Bond already carried a Colt firearm in his glove compartment, and clearly viewed America as a cultural hub. Now he’s in America, learning American lingo, and finding a seat at the hippest black clubs in Harlem. It’s a largely American story, ranging from Harlem to Florida, with a tropical island section at the end – beginning Bond’s stereotypical association with villainous islands. This book is a cornerstone of Fleming’s work, and Bond’s career, and is thoroughly engaging in its own right.

Live and Let Die isn’t always the white-knuckled thriller that Casino Royale was, but it’s a solid book. I enjoyed myself, and the look back at 50’s America is fascinating.

Its funny when you reread a book, especially one that you read years (decades ago), even more when it was written in the 1950s, become part of popular culture and see it with modern eyes.

In 1954 James Bond was a character in a book by Ian Fleming, there had been no movies, Bond was just a fictional character whose first outing in Casino Royale had warranted a follow up, Live and Let Die. My memories of reading this were that it was a good fun read, that it was quite a lot like the film a film that would not be made for another 20 years, Sean Connery had not even shaken his Martini, let alone Roger Moore.

To me the book seemed that it was fin read and nothing seemed to stick in my head about it I probably read it about 1980, society, culture has changed a lot since then, even more so since the book being published in 1954 and reading it now was a metaphorical kick to the gut.

The Watts Riots, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King the whole civil rights movement was in its earliest of days, and the events that would make history were waiting to happen.

So, it is hardly surprising that the terminology used throughout the book is enough to jolt the reader, indeed it might have been out of place in 1980, but by todays standard it is certainly politically incorrect. The term Negro is the most common use of description for any person with black skin, and even the other N word slips in once or twice. There is a stereotypical feel to some of the lesser characters although they may well have been depictions of the times, and Harlem is shown as a stronghold of diverse nationals of different race and origin, mostly no-white, who stand out like a sore thumb when they dare enter this place. All the hoodlums are known by street names, and there are gangs everywhere.

Funnily enough, I read this while watching the second series of Marvels Luke Cage, and it was quite interesting to see that although there were major changes in the way Harlem is depicted there was a lot that remained familiar as well.

The story should be well known to anyone who has seen the movie. Bond is sent to New York to help the CIA investigate the sudden appearance of gold entering the market gold that comes from many different countries, but all from a similar period. Has someone found Blackbeards treasure? The main culprit seems to be one Mr Big, a powerful crime lord based in Harlem, big in every sense of the world. Is he just a crime boss or is he working for the Russians?

Using voodoo as a method of control Mr Big dominates the gangs of Harlem, running the gold from Jamaica to Harlem, but can it be proved, and can he be stopped. Not only is he ruthless, powerful, he also has the assistance of the beautiful Solitaire, who may just be able to read the future.

Featuring characters returning from Casino Royale, that will become part of Bond lore. It shows the goog guys on the back foot, who only just manage to survive by the skin of their teeth and fortuitous timing. It is brutal in places, a rollicking good adventure showing just why Bond would grow to be so much bigger than the written page.

Perhaps though, it must also be consider a historical document a snap shot of a time, portrayed in popular fiction, showing how things have changed, from not just the story but in the way the story is told, down to the diction and attitude.

In a time when a book like Little House on the Prairie can be withdrawn from the American syllabus because of its racist attitudes and authors prejudices, it should be remembered that these are reflections of the times and should be used to teach rather than to be redacted. Are we months away from popular books being re-edited with offensive terms being removed in favour of more modern politically correct terms, rather than making the reader wince and realise this is the way things once were.

If this is the case, Live and Let Die would be a lesser book no longer part of the time from whence it came, but as much a bastardised piece of work as the titular character and we would be a step away from the Firemen coming to burn the freedom of speech at Fahrenheit 451.

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