On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

On Her Majestys Secret Service forms the middle act of the informal SPECTRE trilogy of Flemings novels. The antagonism with Ernst Stavro Blofeld reaches its peak in a final act calculated to destroy 007. The book is gloriously plotted, and since the action is confined to Europe and Europeans, the repugnant, racist worldview never quite kicks in.
Where I find some fault is the relationship with Tracy. A rough count in the text yields three days that Bond spends with her before they agree to marry. While she definitely helps him out of a jam at the midpoint of the novel, I dont believe that Fleming has built the emotional stakes of a true whirlwind romance. As with most of his female characters, Tracy does what is convenient for Bond and for the story. Sure she has an interesting broken past, but we are force fed these details through an overly long monologue from a key supporting character. I dont feel that the relationship is genuine, and so everything built off of it feels cheapened. It might have been more interesting to encounter Tatiana Romanova or even Viv Michel – someone with whom had a relationship and connection in a prior novel build that flowered into a deeper romance.

I’ve been making my way through the Fleming/Bond books for a while now and OHMSS was so fantastic that I started it in the morning and, despite some interruptions, finished it before bed the same day. I can’t say the same for all other Bond books – some have actually taken a few days to get through. But OHMSS just clicked from the first page and I almost couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.

If I had any minor quibbles it would be with the plan to send beautiful young farm girls back to England to destroy the agricultural system. The idea to destroy livestock and crops is perhaps fine, particularly for a spy novel set in the 60’s, but it just seems comical that the farm girls are, from their descriptions, beautiful. Bond even beds one (of course). And yet – just reading about M, Bond, and others figuring out the plot – again about agriculture – is exciting and keeps you turning the pages. To make that kind of evil plot interesting is a testimony to Fleming’s writing.

But the real story is the exciting escape from the mountain top hideaway and then the tragic ending. Both are amazing and the latter is devastating. I can’t wait to pick up You Only Live Twice tonight.

I read “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” when it was first published in 1963 and thought it was the greatest espionage novel I ever read. I’m not sure why I decided to read it again, but I did and it’s even more magnificent today than it was back then. What a timeless creation from Ian Fleming, one of the greatest novelists of all time. Fascinating, captivating, exhilarating and heartbreaking. I went on to read “You Only Live Twice” and am now rereading “Thunderball.” The movies derived from these books may be entertaining as lightweight diversion, but if you really want to capture the spirit of James Bond, you have to read the originals as Fleming intended them to be experienced. This Blofeld trilogy is unique and unmatched in all English literature.

I’ve seen a handful of Bond movies over the years but this was the first novel in the series I’ve read. I haven’t seen the movie based on this book yet as I much prefer to read the book first. To give you an idea of where I’m coming from, I enjoy the newer movies the most; however, I do enjoy the earlier ones even if they do feel a bit dated and campy at times. As such, I shouldn’t have been surprised to find this book to have a very similar feel to the earlier Bond movies.

On the plus side, there were some unexpected plot points such as Bond learning about family trees, coat of arms, etc. so he can pretend to be an expert undercover. There were some decent chase scenes with tense moments. You can also tell that Fleming drew a lot on his experiences as a spy especially related to the Soviet Union because there is a feeling of authenticity.

Unfortunately, as spy novels go this one lacks depth. While I tend to feel the John le Carr novels are too dry and dense, this novel was almost the exact opposite. It doesn’t require much thinking, which can be a good thing if you’re looking for a light read. Many of the attitudes in the book, particularly Bond’s toward women feel very dated, despite Bond being more serious about his relationship with Tracy here than probably any other “Bond girl”, On the other side, they make such a big deal about Bond wanting to catch Blofeld but they don’t do a whole lot with him. There are perhaps 2-3 scenes with Blofeld with only the chase scene being satisfying at all. Overall I get the feeling this may not be bad for a Bond novel but it’s possible they are not my “cup of tea”.

The movie stayed closer to this book than just about any other. This is the epitome of Bond — Fleming at his best narratively. This novel has it all, even though one could argue that the peevish Blofeld’s goal here is a bit laughable… but the way he wants to achieve it is pure Bondian super-villain! I will always rate the movie highly, even though George Lazenby is oft-derided by the narrow-minded. I think Lazenby would have made a fine Bond if he had been allowed to try again, and arguably Diamonds Are Forever would have been more serious and wouldn’t have led to the comedic downfall (imho) of the franchise. Having said all this, the novel is a perfect winter read, preferably around Christmas, and works well with a revisiting of the movie, which also is packed with all the best elements. If I had to recommend one Fleming novel to someone who’d never read him, this would be the one despite its place in the chronology… it’s classic thriller!

–W.D. Gagliani, author of Savage Nights

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