Casino Royale (James Bond Novels)

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Bond...James Bond is the name. And the game is extreme Baccarat. Ian Fleming's 1953 novel - premier introduction of the post WWII, fantastical cold war intrigues of Her Majesty's Secret Service's Master Spy, Agent 007, Bond - is a riveting read.

I first read CASINO ROYALE, as well as a few others in the series, while in my early teens - back when I'd only read stories in order to immerse myself in the plot - to find out what happens next, essentially - not caring a jot about writing style, descriptive detail, or character development. Back then, I found it curious that the Bond of the books was so different from the Bond of the movies (THE SPY WHO LOVED ME and MOONRAKER being the contemporary releases of that time.) I wondered, for instance, why the James Bond in the movies didn't have black hair and why, in the books, he wasn't funny at all...Indeed - well, so much for my pre-adolescent review.

Now, more than 20 years later, indulging on a whim, I'm reading the series again. And I must say I am thoroughly enjoying it - but not for the same reasons I had when I was young. I'm actually nearly through it in its entirety - and must say that, though they're all very good, CASINO ROYALE has a palpable raw depth rarely visible in the rest. I can now see and appreciate the fine quality of the writing, the extraordinary sculpturing of an ideal action hero, and the magical lure that has begotten the most well-known, long-standing film series of all time. And, yes, these books are great fun!

"M," head of the British Secret Service, hands Commander Bond what appears on the surface to be a posh assignment: thwarting an enemy Russian spy, Le Chiffre, in his attempt to win an exorbitant 50 million francs - KGB funds which he had lost through an ill-advised investment in a chain of brothels. Agent 007 lives an intensely hard lifestyle, and he's known to be the best gambler in the Service. He's therefore assigned to break Le Chiffre's bank at the baccarat tables of the Casino Royale, in the French Riviera.

SMERSH, the Russian Secret Service in charge of all diplomatic killings for the Fatherland, is right on to Le Chiffre. Though he's very desperate, Le Chiffre happens to be a first rate baccarat player. He plans on winning that 50 million francs at any cost, employing a couple of potent assassins enforced to help see it through.

Though James Bond must face Le Chiffre as a force of one at the baccarat table, he has his own team of assistants: Rene' Mathis of the French branch, American CIA agent Felix Leiter, and the beautiful Vesper Lynd of the S branch of British Intelligence. Vesper is officially the very first Bond girl - and she utterly mesmerizes our master spy: he sees her as an entity of wonder.

Truly, this story does not own any of the qualities that could easily be made into a movie. There's plenty of tension, plenty of action, and quite a lot of romance to boot. However the tension is mainly in the climatic card game, which, minus the author's excellent descriptive prose, would appear tedious on the screen; the action is definitely intense, but includes a harrowing torture scene which should not be witnessed by the squeamish; and, well, without the advantage of being able to follow the thoughts of our hero, a film version of this story might easily cause the romance to appear as carelessly thrown in.

Vesper's an intriguing Bond Girl, though. Her fateful role exacts a twisted surprise ending, which inevitably sets the tone and atmosphere of Bond's future relationships with women. This is perhaps the only book of the series wherein Bond takes a good, hard look at the moral portents of his own place in his profession - sort of a teasing glimpse into the window of his heart - but only that peek - as it seems thereafter shut fast and hard. Keen, sharp, dark and moody: James Bond remains ever the quintessential Man of Mystery.

It's hard to believe the book is nearly 50 years old but it is. This novel marks the entrance of James Bond into the world. The real Bond doesn't have much to do with his movie counterparts--he's colder, more ruthless and has no charm or humor. He's also a deeper character. 10 years later at the end of the Bond cycle he would grow and become more humorous and personable, (See "You Only Live Twice") but here meeting him may be like taking a cold shower if you're only familiar with Connery, Moore, and etc.

As the prototype novel of the Bond series "Casino Royale" has less action and more concentrated violence than the future books. Its mood is claustrophobic but it's grasp of defined character is somewhat airy. Bond is not quite fully fleshed out--what we can grasp is that he believes himself a professional but often loses or comes close in both love and business. He speaks like a misoygnist but falls very badly for women; he plays cards like a pro but needs to be bailed out. The other characters are also compelling--Leiter and Mathis are agreeable national stereotypes, while LeChiffre is the first of Fleming's great villains--subtly monstrous and grotesque to the point of being king devils, not people. Fleming never wrote a convincing female character until he spoke in first person for the heroine of "The Spy Who Loved Me," but Vesper Lynd is one dimensional in a non-shameful way.

Fleming's style isn't yet fully formed, but it's still evident. No one has written better scenes of torture (And this undoubtedly one of the most harrowing torture scenes you'll ever read) or card games than Fleming, and as an action writer on the whole he was undoubtedly a master, and deserves to be acknowledged as one. At the moment his literary reputation is quite low. Fleming was hardly the reactionary super-evil crypto-fascist, rabid-racist, hyper-misognyist, ultra-snob that some have claimed him to be (In books full of astoundingly stupid errors and lazy readings), and the coming years will hopefully force many to fully note his many flaws and his considerable strengths. He deserves the same ranking as Chandler or Hammett--minor artists, but artists none-the-less.

The biggest difference from the later novels is the degree of moral exploration Bond undergoes. The novel's supposed climax is engineered to come very early, and Fleming daringly gives an entire chapter for Bond to afterwards think--he actively questions his job and the role he plays in the entire Free World/Soviet struggle. Beyond that he questions the nature of evil. After CR, Bond never attempts this sort moral exploration again, and the future novels as a result aren't as deep. There's a reason for this....

Fleming's master stroke was his realization that a convincing adventure tale in the spy genre could not arise from the conflict between the ideologies of the Soviets and the West. It was too much of a gray area and Fleming did not want to be a political writer--he wanted to create myths and fairy tales for adults, and he turned out to be the best writer of the century in doing so. So Fleming decided that Bond would not fight against Communist spies but rather the organization of terror that made them spy--evil fantasy villains--so he created SMERSH as Bond's opponent. He would use them as villains until the lessening of cold war tension enabled him to create an even less political replacement--SPECTRE.

The first part of the novel thus details Bond fighting against Communist agents, but Fleming builds the climax early. Afterwards he builds another tale dealing with the ramifications of the first. During this he has Bond question his role, and by the end, with its shocker finish, Bond has renounced the role he has questioned and decided to from now on go after the force that makes spies spy. Having created an all-purpose group of fairy-tale villains for Bond to fight in future novels, Fleming has no more need for any further moral exploration by Bond--the knight doesn't bother wondering whether he should slay the dragon.

That I think is why Fleming's friend Raymond Chandler always said that he had never bettered "Casino Royale" and to an extent I agree--the novel marks the point where Bond is in between the realistic world of betrayals and moral ambiguity and the thrilling world of surrealistically evil villains and larger-than-life exloits. Bond never returns to this point again, and we are deprived of the pleasure of seeing him walk that edge.

CASINO ROYALE introduced the world to James Bond, and James Bond introduced the world to a style of living which, although fictional, is just SO attainable---just---that there isn't a man who hasn't tried or at least dreamed.

Ian Fleming's Bond is spare and tough, a kind of Spartan in a sack suit. In that regard he has influenced the cinematic Bond, but has never been the same character as portrayed by Connery, Lazenby, et. al. Fleming's writing is uncomplicated but finely crafted, and the story is dark and mordant with a strong central thread of tension and suspense which never wavers.

This earliest novel has an almost 1930's feel to it, with a healthy dose of immediate postwar Cold War paranoia. Things are never as they seem. CASINO ROYALE immediately introduces us to two of Bond's favorite preoccupations---women and casinos. Bond is paired with the incredibly sensuous Vesper Lynd, and the two set out to foil the plans of LeChiffre, the Russian agent fallen on hard times who is desperately trying to recoup some Moscow-funded business losses to the tune of 50 mil.

Bond beats LeChiffre at the gaming table and then LeChiffre beats Bond, who is naked and tied to a chair at the time. While the language is restrained, Fleming leaves us in no doubt as to our hero's predicament. Unlike his modern-day counterparts, Fleming doesn't have to be cartoonish or pornographic to draw us a prose-picture, and that, more than anything, recommends his work.

After so many years of being out-of-print in the U.S., Penguin finally had the verve and the nerve to release the complete Fleming ouevre in an attractive set with some really dynamic cover art.What a pleasure to see the Master returned at last.

Like many, I have long enjoyed the Bond films as a kind of escapist entertainment, excusing its less than "enlightened" view of women as first a reflection of the times and then later as a knowing skewering of the attitudes of those times. (This isn't to say that I haven't appreciated the "Bond women," which makes me something of a hypocrite, I guess.) The recent movies have tried to capture some of the kinetic excitement of contemporary action flicks, while giving at least a token nod to the change in contemporary social mores by losing some of the sexism of the early films (e.g., "M" is now played by a woman). The first films, though, are enjoyable, too, for reflecting some of the popular sensibilities of the Cold War and of the 1950s lounge culture. The hero is the archetypal 50s playboy: an epicurean man of action and big appetites who is often sardonic and self-absorbed.

As the first Bond novel, CASINO ROYALE exhibits some of the traits of a first novel: without being too clumsy about it, Fleming introduces the essential elements of the Bond stories: Bond himself, "M,", "Q," SMERSH, Felix Leiter, Miss Moneypenny, and the whole Bond-lite version of the world of espionage. You get a sense that Fleming is still working out a style. The writing borrows from pulp fiction, and rarely rises above it. The novel draws fairly well a picture of the main character, James Bond, though the character has little depth at all. We don't really *know* Bond, we just observe him, and sometimes experience his own, usually shallow, thinking. He's sort of like a shark: dangerous, menacing, cruel, and single minded; he acts quickly when he needs to, but otherwise moves deliberately. Unlike a shark, though, he is particular about what he drinks and eats (and smokes). What might strike the casual Bond movie fan, though, is Bond's apparent lack of interest in women--certainly, at least, when there's work to be done. This is not the Bond who's jumping into bed with a bevy of Bond beauties at every turn.

The plot is simple; most of the action takes place around a card table. The scene played around the game Baccarat, however, are surprisingly effective. Fleming explains the game, and the tension created by the circumstances of Bond's particular games is palpable. The actual "action" scenes, such as they are, are less intense--this includes the de rigueur car chase.

There are two elements of the novel that are particularly disturbing. One should be aware of these elements in reading this novel, and especially in permitting children to read it. One is that the strongest violence in the novel surrounds the torture that Bond undergoes. Though 1950s sensitivities prevent the writing from being very explicit, the scene is nonetheless intense and with deep, underlying sexual overtones.

Second is the novel's pervasive misogyny. I mention above that the reader is not presented in CASINO ROYALE with the promiscuous Bond. No, women do not rise even to the level of one-dimensional sex objects. Rather, women in the CASINO ROYALE world are what distract men from their work, and when things go wrong in that work are usually the cause. The one love affair that Bond has, though apparently genuine as far as he is concerned, is largely driven by his need to discover that torture has not made him impotent.

What I found particularly interesting is how Fleming explains, late in the novel, why his Bond novel is not a traditional espionage novel: it does not focus on actual spying, but on the threat that causes it. "The business of espionage could be left to the white-collar boys. They could spy and catch the spies. He would go after the threat behind the spies, the threat that made them spy." Fleming's Bond is not Le Carre's Smiley: Bond, his apparent intellect notwithstanding, is out to eliminate the threat, not the spying.

CASINO ROYALE, with the caveats given above, is an enjoyable read: there are fine elements to the story, and it is a kind of time capsule for an earlier popular spy fiction, one that leads later to a more sophisticated, and more intellectual engaging, body of espionage literature.

In 1953 Dwight Eisenhower became president, the hydrogen bomb debuted, Stalin died, the Rosenbergs were executed, and a new hero arrived in time for the iciest phase of the Cold War. Ruthless, hard, loner-by-choice James Bond debuted that year in Ian Fleming's "Casino Royale," as someone much different than he was in decades to come.

This Bond doesn't employ gadgets, doesn't shoot his gun, and has odd feelings about women. Meeting one here, he notes in her eyes "a touch of ironical disinterest which, to his annoyance, he found he would like to shatter, roughly." Yeah, I can totally see Roger Moore in that role!

Bond's lack of likeability is a key and singular strength in "Casino Royale," set in the mythical French port town of Royale-les-Eaux where Bond has been sent to outduel a KGB operative named Le Chiffre - at cards. If Bond's successful, a key Soviet puppet operation in France will go down in bankruptcy and scandal.

As others note in these reviews, not much happens in "Casino Royale." The action scenes are brief and rendered in a low-key, realistic manner. Fleming keeps things humming not with the "Fleming sweep" of a long drawn-out set of varied action sequences that were a hallmark of his later work, but with verisimilitude and an appreciation of his main character's tortured psychology. You smell the late-night sweat around the tables of boule and chemin-de-fer; feel the hangover Bond has trying to acclimate himself in a den of lust and greed.

Fleming's writing would never be quite this good again, in part because he no longer needed to sell Bond to the audience and in part because he treated later Bond volumes as a chore and a joke. Bond in later volumes seemed to mutate from this character into something softer and jollier. Fleming found the metahumor of Bond, and the movies, when they came, added more. So this is the one chance to see Bond as someone serious, a prisoner of the Cold War he ostensibly serves, not without questions even after enduring horrific torture at the hands of Le Chiffre, about what makes him right and others wrong.

"Surround yourself with people, my dear James," suggests a friend. "They are easier to fight for than principles."

But Bond follows this advice to his peril. The last third of the novel loses many, as the main business is long concluded. But it's here that Fleming works his black magic most effectively upon the reader, and on Bond, who finds himself captivated by a woman named Vesper who speaks in riddles and denies him her deeper self even after they've made love. "People are islands," she tells him. "They don't really touch."

Of course, Bond is a perfect counterpart to Vesper that way. Fleming imbues "Casino Royale" with a sort of romantic fatalism that hangs in the air long after the basic but exciting story is done with. It's the same sort of fatalism with which many viewed the world around them in 1953, when the Cold War did not bode so well for the Free World.

Things changed, worldviews brightened, and Bond became a happy bounder with a taste for the good life while that dark core within him, plumbed so well here, would only be hinted at from time to time after. "Casino Royale" may not be the most enjoyable Bond book, but none can match it for its raw, staying power.

Now that Casino Royale has been released as a movie I decided to reread the book to see if it held my interest as several readings before, and yes it did.

When Ian Fleming set pen to paper to write about things he knew well, having been involved during WWII with such matters, he tailored the figure of Bond on things he not only knew well but fashioned Bond after many things he, Fleming, spent his entire life pursuing. While Bond is not an exact clone of Fleming he is most certainly somewhat Ian Fleming's near shadow.

This first book not only establishes a style and pattern of writing for the other 13 books in the Bond series, but sets a new enemy before us: SMERSH, short for SMYERT SHPIONAM which translates "Death to Spies". And in the case of James Bond in this first book he gets the ideogram for SMERSH cut by a knife into the palm of his hand. As Bond would later say in another book, "he got the point".

The location of the story is Royale-les-Eaux and casino, situated as a resort in N.E. France. Since the book was first published in 1953 that may be an approximate time for the action, and it most certainly has to be a few years after WWII from references made by Bond. Quite a bit of the story is set at the card tables within the casino involving the card game baccarat. Other than 'M' there are only 5 main characters: James Bond, Vesper Lynd, Rene Mathis, Felix Leiter, and one of Fleming's most interesting creations: Le Chiffre or the cypher. And had it not been for the intervention of SMERSH, Le Chiffre had the best of Bond and would have killed Bond in this first novel; Le Chiffre certainly came close enough. Sub characters concern a group of Bulgars or Bulgarians who are hired hit men trying to use several camera bombs to blow James into tiny, little pieces. The reader's interest is held to all of this as the story unfolds, what could have happened 50 years back is quite plausible yet today, too.

As Raymond Benson states in synopsis of this first James Bond novel: "Most atmospheric of all novels; most serious and violent of all novels; Bond at his coldest and most ruthless.". I would also add as the reader arrives at the end of the book, a most philosophic James Bond, and through his philosophy as he speaks to Rene Mathis, James gives us his reasons to continue on with the "00" number. He explains that his number is 007 and the "OO" number is only given to agents after they have killed two people in cold blood prior to becoming an agent. When he begins his lengthly philosophy Bond seems bent on resigning from the secret service, but by dialogue's end, he has convinced himself he must, however, take on this new evil: SMERSH.

And as all of us having both the books and DVDs know quite well, it has been and continues to be, one glorious and bumpy adventure, one after the other.

If you are a newcomer to James Bond and decide to read the books, and that is really the only way to come know Bond, it is advisable to read them in the order written. Though they stand independently, one from another, and can be read as such, reading in sequence will allow your knowledge of things "Bondian" a gradual growth. As in this first novel we find that Mr. Bond wears suits that cost $6000.00. Now in the 1950s that could amount to 2 year's salary for most factory workers! Just one of many other inside items never finding its way to the silver screen.

Good reading, shaken but never stirred.

Semper Fi.

This is not only Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel but one of his best. It is richly textured, well written, clearly defines the Bond character and has survived not only as good literature but as a great period piece of the 50s. It also gives us a glimpse of the often unseen smoke filled cocktailed night life found in Europe's plush casinos of that era. Clearly, James Bond is a worldly character that lives and breaths in this unseen world described by Ian Fleming in this novel. James Bond can easily adapt to any locale or situation, size it up and endure. He is both innovative and resourceful and he must rely on his talents and instincts to survive. This is a very good Bond novel. The interestingly designed retro cover too adds to the ambiance.

I'm a completist, and I tend to be a chronological completist. When I come across something new, I dive right in at the beginning. Imagine my surprise when, as a grade-school student, I bought the first Rush LP and realized it sounded nothing like the other Rush I'd heard and enjoyed. The experience reading this book, the first James Bond novel by Ian Fleming, isn't entirely the same, but there are some interesting similarities.

When considering the James Bond canon, many start with the movies, often forgetting the original source material: Fleming's novels. Odd that the man also wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but not so odd: Hence, Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang? The James Bond mythos begins not with "Dr. No" the movie but with "Casino Royale" the novel, and it is here that the character is established, his mission set, and the many aspects of his world slowly unfolded.

And it's a wonderful read, despite the movies. Read them as independent. Forget Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, etc. -- and take James Bond as Fleming offers him. He's even more intelligent. More wordly. More skilled. More erotic. More calculated. More romantic. And more compelling. Gone are the cartoony, gadget-driven plotlines and guy-gets-girl interoperative liaisons. And we end up with a character perhaps as hardboiled as Quarry but not as cartoony as Mack Bolan... much less the silver-screen Bond.

Drop the movies. Pick up the novels. Read them starting here, No. 1. Allow Fleming to develop the real James Bond in your mind. Allow yourself to forget the existing cinematic plotlines and instead revel in the original source material that developed those in some ways pastiche films. You may think you know the extent of Bond's world. Not so. Not so.

James Bond, the British Secret Service's most expert gambler, travels undercover to the French Riviera. His mission: to break the bank of "Le Chiffre", a French gangster secretly in the employ of the KGB. Joined by Vesper, a beautiful spy, Bond plays Le Chiffre for a fortune at the luxurious Casino Royale, raising the stakes sky-high even as Le Chiffre's assassins close in. This novel first introduced James Bond to the world, and its conclusion is perhaps the most shocking of any of the books in the series. A great book for 007 fans to read! Buy this book when it is back in stock!

When British journalist Ian Fleming handed the manuscript for this novel to friends they implored him to write a second one, reasoning that if "Casino Royale" failed he would never want to produce another one.
They need not have worried, as the James Bond books became one of the most enduringly popular series of novels in modern history and now, over 50 years later, much of "Casino Royale" still grips it's readers with a taut, yet breezy style.
Having first read the novel in my youth I decided to revisit the Fleming series after the phenomenal success of the movie "Casino Royale." Over the years I had listened to a large portion of James Bond fans who consider this to be the best of Flemings Bond novels.
But, I quickly realized upon rereading this novel that the pages did not turn quite as willingly or excitedly as they do for some of the other novels such as "Moonraker," "From Russia With Love" or "On Her Majesty's Secret Service."
I think that Fleming had yet to settle into his rhythm and perfect his characteristic "Fleming sweep." Though a very enjoyable read I felt it too episodic with the climax of the novel seemingly mid-way through the book.
Taking his inspiration from a real World War II incident in Portugal in which Fleming had attempted to defeat a Nazi at cards this freshman effort by Fleming pits his fictional creation against SMERSH's banker Le Chiffre.
Much like Fleming had attempted a decade earlier(he lost the game against the German), British intelligence sends the best card player in the service to the fictional French casino in an effort to bankrupt the operations of the Russian intelligence service.
This novels climax to me is the card game for there is no greater novelist who can enliven the action at the card tables like Fleming. And fittlingly the baccarat game in "Casino Royale" is riveting, holding the reader's attention throughout. It is not surprising therefore that I had forgotten the second half of the book in which Bond is tortured and ultimately falls in love with Vesper Lynd, as the most interesting and entertaining section of the book had already passed.
That's not to say that you should not read this novel, you should. It's a fun read and a good introduction to the world of 007. just don't be surprised if you find your attention tends to wander during the second half.
Well recommended.

"Casino Royale," which appeared in 1953, was Ian Fleming's first published novel. It introduced readers to James Bond, a character who is now firmly ensconced as an icon in the popular imagination. So how does it hold up now, 41 years later, after the character of Bond has been reduced to a self-regarding poseur in film after film? Unfortunately, not that great, especially when compared with the stronger novels in the series.

Here we have Fleming finding his voice, and also feeling out the character of Bond, who is not fully realized. The brilliant descriptive gifts that Fleming shows later in the series (it is already more pronounced in the second novel, "Live and Let Die," published in 1954), the ability to bring characters to vivid life, to capture the tension of Bond's life as an agent--in other words, the techniques that a novelist acquires with practice--are seen here in rather primitive form. The plot is disjointed, with the villain eliminated only two-thirds of the way into the book. And the last third--well, it contains some writing that is downright embarrassing, especially compared with the talent Fleming shows in later works like "Doctor No" and the magnificent "You Only Live Twice." Again, this is an apprentice novel.

As for the character of Bond, he is most unappealing here. He lacks the humor and personal likeability that Fleming gave him as the series progressed; here, he is a humorless, dour, arrogant man, and when Fleming injects the last chapters with bogus melodrama, it makes Bond even less interesting.

That is not to say that "Casino Royale" doesn't have its good points, but they are relatively small compared to its shortcomings. This is worth reading for Bond fanatics only.

"Then the enigmatic cards would be burnt or defaced, a shroud would be draped over the table, and the grass green battlefield would soak up the blood of its victims and refresh itself."

So describes the tale created by the James Bond writer Ian Fleming. Like many individuals, my interest in the James Bond movies led to the search of the books that helped create the movies I grew up watching. With so many books to choose from, I decided to start reading the books in order of their publication. This is something I highly recommend. Casino Royale helps set the tone of the future books that follow. In this novel James Bond's task is to out gamble Le Chiffre, a paymaster of the murder organization SMERSH. This leads to a few action packed sequences as well as a highly intense gambling scene which is highly remarkable due to the size of the novel (about 150 pages). I feel that this novel offered a more realistic version of James Bond when compared to movie version which everyone is familiar with. Ian Fleming's James Bond is a person who depends fully on luck and often falls into deep despair because of the turn out of his luck. I also feel that this novel was helpful because it allowed me to see into Bond's mind and read his thoughts. Reading this novel allowed me to know his character on a more personal level. If you have any interest in the James Bond movies, I highly recommend that you start reading the novels and that you start with Casino Royale.

Meet Bond, James Bond, British covert agent with a "00" designation. This is the first novel in the world popular 007 series. I picked it up, because I wanted to read it before I saw the movie treatment. It has been a number of years since I've read any of the books and this was an excellent reintroduction to Bond and company.

Please, do not attempt to compare the books to the movies. The books are tighter, have more character and are better stories. Unlike the globe trotting movies, the book, with the exception of a few short flash backs, has only one setting, The Casino Royale and it surrounding area. The plot is simple. A mover and shaker in the covert underworld has gotten himself into a financial bind. In a last ditch attempt to climb out of the hole, he decides to gamble his way out of dept. Bond is sent in to make sure this doesn't happen.

Considering the age of the book, it's actually refreshing to see how well it holds up and how relevant the story is to today. This includes one bomb incident that is pawned off to the press as terrorists.

Overall, it's a good light read, a bit of a history lesson and not your move Bond.

In his first published adventure, Ian Fleming's James Bond is despatched to the dangerous arcade of Casino Royale, where nothing is ever as it seems, to gamble a decadent Soviet operative known as "Le Chiffre" into oblivion in a winner-take-all game of Baccarat. But the unexpected lurks behind every corner, and Bond must put his trust in the beautiful but enigmatic Vesper Lynd. In the end, only one man can hold the winning card...

CASINO ROYALE is chronologically the first of Ian Fleming's legendary Bond novels, and indeed it is one of the finest. Atmosphere and characterization are at the heart of Fleming's Bond stories, and CASINO ROYALE is exceptional even by Fleming's usually high standards. Bright lights and the air of expensive cigarettes radiate from each page, and the whole is a taut, rarely-equalled example of the Cold War thriller. 007 himself is introduced as the ruthless, rather sinister assassin who set the archetype for all secret agents to come, despite the best efforts of some of the movies to turn him into a playboy with a gun fetish. The unreadable Vesper Lynd adds sugar & spice to the plot, and in my opinion makes for one of the two most alluring of all the Bond Girls (rivalled only by Tracy from ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE), and the intense hot or cold affair between she and Bond is a real stinger. Despite the relatively spartan action scenes, notwithstanding one of the most horrific torture scenes in popular literature and a purely theoretical weakness which the excellent 2006 movie more than makes up for, CASINO ROYALE never wants for suspense, and once it's begun the novel is almost impossible to put down. A classic not only of the spy genre but as a drama, CASINO ROYALE is most heartily recommended.

Long before the gadgets, the babes, the multi-million dollar franchise there was a small little novel written by a bored ex-intelligence officer that piqued the interest of the American public in the 50s. This novel Casino Royale{and it's following novels} even today still represents the truest form of the character known famously around as agent 007...James Bond.

This review is geared more toward people who are more familliar with the movie franchise and are about to take their first plung into reading one of the Fleming novels.

Here a few things you should know and prepare yourself for before reading:

1. You have to keep in mind that these novels, were written mostly as short stories rather than full novels. You will find that story lines tend to happen rapidly and that there isn;t as much dwelling on sequences as you would have in a full novel. You could probably finish Casino Royal in one reading if your up to it. This could be jarring to some people, but trust me it will be worth it.

2. These novels were also written in the 50s and by an elderly British gentleman as well. Hence you will find dated references and some jarringly politically incorrect moments. Don;t be surprised if you get offended by a phrase her or there.

3. A lot of Flemings life and own experiences make up the framework of a lot of the story as well as the characters makeup. You'll get several references to Jamaica, chemin de faire and proper cuisine---all of which are pleasures that Fleming himself enjoyed.

4. The Bond of the novels is a radically different character than the Bond of the films. The novel Bond is more human, a misogynist and somewhat of a depressed character. You tend to see more of a tortured soul in this character

5. These novels can tend to be a lot more darker and violent than the movies. There is more of a sinister feel to Bond's profession.

Whether you are a fan of the Bond movies or you enjoy a good spy novel, Ian Fleming's Casino Royale is an excellent place to start. The novel served as the worlds very first introduction to iconoclastic superspy James Bond who is easily one of the most recognized fictional characters in recent memory. This one book spawned a movie franchise currently 21 films strong spanning over four decades, as well as a number of independent films and a massive collection of non-Fleming novels. If that is not enough reason to give Casino Royale a try, I will give you a few more.

Although a bit outdated at this point, the Cold War setting provides a great introduction to James Bond. The story finds the veteran agent on his way to the casino in hopes of foiling the SMERSH (basically the Soviet version of the CIA) agent Le Chiffre's plan to regain SMERSH money he mistakenly invested. The goal is to force Le Chiffre to seek sanctuary with the British or American secret services in exchange for information. Bond, the best gambler in the secret service, is sent to break Le Chiffre's bank.

The story starts off a little slow, filling the reader in on background information about some of the important characters and institutions, but quickly picks up pace and does not slow down for a page. Fleming does not waste words. His descriptions are only as detailed as they need to be. Instead of devoting pages and pages to detailing a characters appearance or whatever, Fleming provides some broad brush strokes and lets the reader fill in the details. This allows the reader to develop a personal connection with the characters, letting us create a bond with Bond (that pun really was not intended) and the other prominent characters that makes us truly care about the outcome.

The action scenes are minimal but efficient. The lengthy gun fights in the movies are much more restrained and, in truth, much more realistic. A secret agent would try to remain secret, not just walk in with guns blazing. Casino Royale is a gritty novel. It is no way a glorification of secret agency but instead a mere description of it, showing the reader what life is like for an agent.

Fleming's characters are quite intriguing. Le Chiffre is a truly hateable villain whose cruelty will make most any reader cringe. Vesper, the lead female, is a delightful character whose wit makes you laugh and whose melancholy is, at times, palpable. And of course Bond is a truly admirable character that will appeal to any reader. He's tough, intelligent, courageous, persistent and, above all, very human. Bond's humanity is often lost in the films, yet in Casino Royale he can be wrong and he can lose.

In conclusion, there is a whole lot to like in Casino Royale. A fast-paced, intense plot, likeable heroes and detestable villains, strong but brief writing (brevity is, after all, the soul of wit). If you are looking for the novelization of the recent film adaptation, however, you may be disappointed. There is no tremendous chase scene to start off the movie or a brutal fight in a stairwell against a man with a machette. But there truly is a whole lot to like. Quite simply, its a fun book to read.

I'm not the world's biggest fan of the James Bond movies, although I do enjoy them a bit. I've seen a handful of them in the cinema, and will gladly watch one on TV on a Sunday afternoon if there's no football on. But I'd heard good things about the novel series that the movies were based on and I was curious to see how James Bond worked in print. I'll probably read more books in the series, because I liked the style, but my overall impression of CASINO ROYALE, the first James Bond novel, was negative.

The plot revolves around the need for government agent James Bond to beat a Russian spy decisively at the Baccarat table in a ritzy casino/vacation resort. It doesn't get much more complicated than that, although the sections of the book involving the initial stakeout and the game itself are satisfying and competent. They seem to be very influenced by the pulp thrillers that had come in years past, though they bring little new to the table. They're fun though. My main problem came once the initial conflict has been resolved, all the way at the two-thirds point. The final third of the book involves a bizarre romance and an even stranger set of ruminations on good vs. evil. This section is, to be frank, childishly inept, and ruins any good will I had stored up from the casino plot. Yes, deliberations on what separates agents working for the "good" guys and spies working for "evil" governments is an interesting idea and one which has sparked numerous thought-provoking debates and discussions. But this isn't one of them.

James Bond himself isn't terribly developed yet; I assume his persona would become better established in subsequent novels. He's humorless, moody and drab. I never really felt there was enough to get a grip on the character. The rest of the cast are sketchy as well. Of course, since most of them are lesser agents who only show up when they have a plot point to fill, that's to be expected. Bond's love interest receives more characterization from her slinky portrait on the cover than from anything that appears in the pages.

To be honest, I'm faintly surprised to hear rumors of Hollywood producers wishing to film this (on the premise that it's the last James Bond novel that hasn't been faithfully adapted to the screen). It seems to me it would be rather dull after the excesses recently displayed in the movies. There's only one explosion, a relatively tame car chase sequence, no helicopters, jet-planes, or space vehicles. In short, it's comparatively tame. Hopefully they'll adapt the better parts of the book (the gambling and casino intrigue) and cut out the bad (the last sixty or so pages). Merging the book's successes with the better-established characters may result in an entertaining film, but it has its work cut out for it if it wants to be great.

Having grown up as a fan of the movie series, I decided to actually read one of the Fleming books. I was happy I did so. I enjoyed it far more than I had anticipated, thinking it had the strong potential to be extremely dated, given current political global realities (not to mention the realities of "political correctness"). Having rarely dipped into the espionage genre, I suspect Fleming was one of the first Cold War spy writers, and from that aspect alone, it makes this an interesting read. But the story, as well, is great fun. This is NOT heavily character-driven stuff. We don't know a great deal about this character, James Bond, from Fleming's writing, no delving into his childhood, why he became a spy, what motivates him. None of the ingredients that LeCarre might include. But perhaps that's the point. Bond is a man of mystery, as deep and mysterious to the reader as he is to his compatriots. The plot is a fun one: Bond must outlast the Soviet spy based in France, Le Chiffre, in a game of bacarrat. Fleming's pacing and suspense are well doled out. The chapters are short and the ending has a twist. What could possibly be better on a cold winter's night. Pass the gin and olives.

A nifty little book. James Bond is lean and mean and flawed, and you imagine him (it's impossible NOT to...) as a young Sean Connery, yet with some of the elder Connery's gravitas. The slim adventure spy novel is a quick read, with some plot turns that you'll NEVER see in the movies. Yes Bond usually ends up being "tortured" in some way, but not like this, my friends...
You get an electric ripple up your spine as Bond describes the perfect martini, like you are present for some unbelievably momentous occasion but you're the only one who recognizes it as such.
Ian Fleming was clearly a developing talent at this point, and now I feel impelled to start the next in the series (..looks like I won't be reading anything else for quite some time...) just to see what he comes up with!

Being the first book to ever start off James Bond, I think it is a great book! The discriptive analisation (sp?) of the baccarat table as Bond and Le Chiffre duke it out in gambling, and the chilling climax when Le Chiffre is shot by SMERSH. Brillent, bloody brillent.

Casino Royale introduces us to James Bond, among the most enduring and popular cultural icons of all time. After a KGB official known as Le Chiffre has misused Soviet funds, Bond is dispatched to break his bank at the bacarat table where Le Chiffre is attempting to rebuild his funds. SMERSH is already hunting Le Chiffre down, and this will hasten this powerful Soviet agent's demise, publicly humiliating him in the process. Intriguingly, this plot almost takes a backseat to the development of Bond's relationship with Vesper Lynd, the very first Bond girl. Le Chiffre meets his fate with about seventy pahes of the novel remaining. Vesper's secret, and the effect it has on Bond, sets the tone for Bond's future relations with women, and helps to explain why he treats them as he does. This novel is riveting, and Ian Fleming creates an aura of danger and excitement even at a casino table. If you haven't yet read a Bond novel, this is the place to start.

(This review only applies to the Book not the movie) I have read Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice, The Man with the Golden Gun, From Russia with Love, and Casino Royale. I have come to the conclusion that Fleming's Bond novels are hit or miss. I would consider Casino Royale to be a miss. However, it was his first book so it is understandable.

One major problem is that Fleming had not fully developed the character of James Bond yet in this novel. Bond is not the Bond people know at this point. Granted the character of Bond is quite different in the Fleming novels than the movies anyways but in Casino Royale, he resembles neither.

Another problem is the plot. James Bond must go to a casino and defeat a Russian agent ,Le Chiffre, in baccarat. Le Chiffre is trying to win money in order to pay back a Russian union in which he illegally took $25 million from. Le Chiffre knows if he does not get the money he will be killed. MI-6 feels it would humialate the agent and Russia if Bond can keep from winning the money. Now this plot would work well if this was a short story but it is hard to make an entire novel based upon it. In fact, the climax in the book takes place only 2/3 through it which shows that Fleming was running out of ideas.

The book is not all bad. There are some good points. The last third of the book digs into Fleming's political philosophy which he normally ejects into his books. As someone who is a fan of history and politics, I always find this fascinating. Ian Fleming, believe it or not, was a very politically conservative person. Also, the baccarat game between Bond and Le Chiffre is very exciting and written very well.

I noticed that a lot of reviewers had a problem with Fleming describing everything in great detail. This is just his style, after reading a few Bond books you get used to it. Like I said Casino Royale is not one of Fleming's best. My favorite one is From Russia with Love. It has a better plot and is more fascinating because it gives a detailed look into the Russian Spy system. Also, Fleming developed Bond's character by the time he wrote From Russia with Love.

Perhaps my opinion could not be considered valid since the last time I attempted to read a James Bond novel, The Man with the Golden Gun, I distinctly remember arriving to the end without anything ever actually happening in the novel. Because of this, I formed a somewhat skeptical view towards Ian Fleming's writing abilities.

I was born unaware that GoldenEye was not a stand-alone movie. I always figured it was the first in a series, until one day, my stepfather took me to Blockbuster and rented some of the classic Bond films. The family gathered around the TV, and we sat eating strawberry ice cream on waffles. I liked them--the movies, although the waffles were okay, too--but I wasn't exactly thrilled with them.

Much of the political niceties and dialogue floated mercilessly over my seven, maybe eight year old head. Even so, a love--or at least a longlasting affection--was planted in my little uneducated heart on this occasion.

So, nine years later, aware that a movie adaptation of Casino Royale is to hit the big screen in a few months, I decided to give Ian Fleming another shot, to see if his books are just as exciting as the movies. And to that, I can most certainly say that I was not disappointed.

At first, I found the plot kind of laughable, but hey, it's James Bond, isn't it? A Russian agent of espionage has recently ran into some financial trouble, expending a large sum of Soviet money into a whorehouse in France that was shut down by the passing of a new law criminalizing all forms of pornography, prostitution, and pimping.

Of course, the Soviets are on this guy's tail, the capitalist anti-soviet powers are as well. Mi6 determines that a straight assassination of Le Chiffre, as he is called, may give the Soviets a reason to make a martyr of him in order to condemn the capitalist powers. Keeping this in mind, M assigns recently promoted Double O agent, 007 James Bond--who is widely considered to be the best gambler in the Secret Service--to meet Le Chiffre face to face over the Baccarat tables of the Casino Royale and actually gamble him to ruin.

Mi6 emphasizes that Le Chiffre owes a massive debt to the Soviet Union and if he can work up the 50,000,000 francs he put into the brothel and pay back the Soviet Union, then he gets off scott free. It is up to James Bond to be absolutely certain that Le Chiffre does not balance his debt and ensure that Le Chiffre is assassinated by Soviet forces.

Contained in the book are very interesting descriptions of a fictionalized SMERSH (shortening of the Russian phrase "Death to Spies") based on the actual Soviet counterintelligence agency, attempts on the life of our James Bond (including one slightly breathtaking scene involving a bomb), and one of the most gripping (relatively) bloodless battles depicted in literature of all time.

The showdown between Le Chiffre and James Bond across the Baccarat table is incredibly nerve-wrecking and Ian Fleming is a genius at capturing the exact tension of gambling at such high stakes.

The writing style of the novel is significantly better than quite a few others in the series, much more engaging and easier to follow. Although one user states that Bond is not really funny, there are quite a few moments in the novel where Bond's familiar wit bleeds out of the dialogue. In fact, the only two drawbacks are the rather striking brevity of the novel, and the usage of French words that are, quite frequently, never explained.

All in all, Casino Royale is an incredibly exciting and gripping book, and a very worthy first step in a legacy of novels and films that would last 44 years and, very possibly, way beyond that.

I'm just curious as to why this, one of the best Bond tales, took fifty-four years to hit the big screen.

I have to confess that I grew up on the Roger Moore Bond films, more as a function of time and place than any particular preference. Later, I would come to appreciate the Connery films, but it would take many years and the stylish re-issued paperbacks for me to tackle the Bond literary franchise from its humble beginnings.

I am delighted I did. This is a darker, edgier Bond, one I daresay more suited to the grim political climate of the early 2000s than the carefree, black-and-white, Cold War rhetoric of the 1970s and 1980s. Bond is a killer, and Fleming likes to make us reconcile that with his genteel exterior as much as Bond himself is forced to live alongside that reality while sipping champagne and eating caviar.

Despite, or perhaps because of, all the film/literary differences, this book stands well on its own merits. Fleming's style is more along the lines of a Michael Crichton, with a strong sense of place and detail (especially in regards to food and cars) than his whiz-bang high-tech successors in Clancy and Gardner.

With the subtleties of chemin de fer laid clear for the reader, one can learn a great deal from Fleming without ever feeling written down to. In fact, Fleming's attention to detail is often almost fetishistic, and he drops brand names and specifications like he was describing a Playboy Playmate's measurements and requirements for an ideal date. This doesn't leave character development short-shrifted, however, and a great deal of the novel's prose is spent on Bond's feelings about his chosen profession and its consequences. A delicate balance is struck and I find the novel to be as savory to digest as one of Bond's expensive meals.

"Casino Royale" is Ian Fleming's first book featuring James Bond, unlike the movie series, where "Dr. No" is the first. I wanted to read Casino Royale because it is the only Bond book that was not made into a movie - if you don't consider the spoof movie with Peter Sellers, David Niven and Woody Allen.

To my surprise, in the books Bond is not the ultimate undestructible human being. He's a common enough person, who almost vomits when he sees the remains of a man who just exploded. Also, he is not that comfortable around women, he thinks about quitting his double-oh position, and he has a problem about being good or being evil. Surprising, huh? The biggest surprise is that he doesn't kill a single person in the entire book.

What I liked about "Casino Royale" was watching the developing of one of the greatest characters of the 20th century, as the author imagined him. The story is simple enough, about financialy breaking a communist agent in a french casino. Fleming writes simply, directly to the reader. There's a touch of the "noir" fashion - the sarcasm, the perfect women - and an unquestionable feeling of the fifties.

"Casino Royale" is a fast, simple read, and necessary to understand the Bond-universe.

Grade 8.0/10

Not completely divorced from the flavor of the films to follow several years later (Bond is, after all, brought down in a "gadget" scene where metal spikes are released from the back of the villain's car while Bond pursues him), this first James Bond adventure nevertheless delivers a more introspective and moody Bond than we are used to from the films. For my money that's a plus, as in the unusual, unpredictable plot structure: the main hero vs. villain story is satisfyingly concluded about two thirds of the way into the book, and the rest of the story concentrates on Bond's physical recovery from his assignment, and the psychological ramifications of Bond's harrowing experiences during the case. These concluding themes are almost as interesting as the earlier caper plot (those it's weird to see Bond for a while get seriously philosophical about who is truly "good" and who is truly "bad" on the geo-political stage), and it's all capped with a memorable ending. Fleming's writing also benefits from an effective sense of place; no one is better at describing restaurants, casinos, tourist districts, local customs, etc. We feel like we're really along with James Bond on his adventures.

Casino Royale was written in 1953 and is the first appearance of the Bond character, nine years before the first movie, Dr. No. He even introduces himself as "Bond, JAMES Bond" in this book.

I read all the Bond books in chronological order as a teenager in the 70's and decided to reread them since it has been so long and I have forgotten them to some degree, and started off just recently with the the first, Casino Royale.

What I like about he Bond character in the books, and in particular Casino Royale is that he is not the impregnable super spy; you can really sense the insidious danger he is in throughout the book.

The plot is about a Soviet SMERSH agent in France named La Chiffre who invested all the money SMERSH sent him in support of the Communist underground, on brothels. When France made them illegal, he suddenly had no money. His plan is to win it all back at the baccarat tables at Casino Royale. Bond's job--to beat him at the card table and prevent him from getting his money back. This will put him in bad form with SMERSH and disrupt the Communist fifth column in France.

In response to the "reader" who's review appears here at Amazon from April 1997, who asked why Bond was needed ...no Bond and La Chiffre wins back all is money at the baccarat tables, and his disruptive underground Soviet fifth column goes on in France.

It would be interesting to see the Bond movies done over adhering to the books where one could sense the danger Bond faced. Some of the early movies were similar to the books, but then began to deviate creating a plastic, unrealistic character that we really know is in no real danger.

I am of course writing of both Ian Fleming and James Bond.

This story is a chilling tale of East versus West in a Cold War classic. Fleming (in his first outing as a writer of fiction) develops the character of Bond. He's witty, charming, a lover of fine foods, Martinis, and of course his privately contracted cigarettes. However, Fleming manages to show how this cold British agent can have his heart shattered when the heroine makes an untimely exit -- Fleming's Bond is a very real Bond with real emotions; not like the Bond we seen on the movie screen.

Of course, the casino scene between Bond and Le Chiffre is a classic! There are several assasination attempts on Bond coupled with one of the most horrifying torture scenes in all of English literature.

Ian Fleming's legendary James Bond was conceived when he sat down at his home (Goldeneye) in Jamaica to create an alter-ego, for Fleming (at the age of 42 and about to leave bachelorhood) decided to dabble in writing a thriller. "Casino Royale" was the product of this brain-storm and a man with a very unassuming name would live a fantastic fantasy of a life -- James Bond.

Having seen all of the Bond films, I decided that it was time to begin reading the novels that started it all. Where to begin? With "Casino Royale", of course, where the world was introduced to 007. I found this book to be entertaining, with a bit of a dark edge to it. Not much character development; we don't really get a very good description of who Bond is or even what he looks like. This could possibly be due to the fact that Fleming did not intend to create a series of 007 novels, or it could've been a conscious effort to leave character development for later books. Regardless, "Casino Royale" is a good read, if not exactly a hot page turner. It is definitely interesting for those intrigued by 007; an absolute neccesity for those who wish to read the entire series

The James Bond franchise kicks off with a rather glam assignment on the French Riviera, at a hotel and casino in Royale. Against his will, Bond is paired up with a female agent named Vesper, along with CIA agent Felix Leiter, and another industry man, Rene Mathis, to work as back-up. Bond's assignment is simple: he must bankrupt rogue Russian agent Le Chiffre at the tables, which will ruin him and strike a blow to the Soviet Union. The descriptions of the casino games were quite detailed and left me with a desire to go out and play baccarat. Some of it was confusing, but mostly the action of Bond's game against Le Chiffre at the tables is quite tense. When the game is over and the story should end, but doesn't, it's pretty obvious where it's going next, yet it remained compelling, setting the stage for the man Bond would later become.

An amusing thing about vintage literature is a different attitude that prevailed when the book was written. In this case, aside from the technology, its mark of the times is unbridled sexism. Women are portrayed in a poor light; silly, vacuous, and deceitful. I much prefer the plucky, indomitable heroines in Doc Savage novels, women who don't jump to the fore in a men's fight, but who don't shrink and break into tears at the first sign of trouble. Vesper could have learned a lot from them.

As far as thrillers go, this one scores okay. There was one car chase scene that didn't exactly raise the hair on the back of my neck, and otherwise most of the action was in the casino. For a leading man, Bond was portrayed as solitary yet personable, far from infallible, but strong in his convictions. It will be interesting to watch his character grow through the series.

Though not astonishingly great, this book is nonetheless very readable, and held my interest from beginning to end, leaving me with a desire to visit its leading man again. For an adventure over 50 years old, it has stood the test of time and still manages to be a good read today.

When I first read Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel, "Casino Royale" (1953), it was 1967 and I was 13 years old. What most impressed my tender pubescent sensibilities about the book, back then, was, of course, the scene in which Bond puts his hands around Vesper Lynd's breasts and feels "the nipples...hard against his fingers." Pretty hot stuff for a 13-year-old! When I reread the book 20 years later, what impressed me most was the terrible torture scene in Chapter 17, certainly one of the toughest experiences 007 is forced to undergo in all of Bondom; a grueling treatment that leaves Bond wondering whether he will ever be able to function again as a man. (Fortunately, for the ladies of the world, he DOES recover.) And now, almost 20 years later, to refresh my memory in preparation for the release of the first serious big-screen treatment of "Casino Royale," I have read the novel a third time. And what impresses me most now, as a middle-aged adult? Probably what a terrific introduction this short novel is to the world of Bond, and how many elements are already in place that Fleming would return to in the other 13 Bond books. The dastardly villains, the SMERSH organization, the fascination with cars and booze and cigarettes, the blowing out of smoke with a hiss through clenched teeth, the unruly comma of black hair over the forehead, the beautiful women with unpainted fingernails, and, of course, the gambling...they're all present here. This first Bond novel tells a simple story, really, detailing Bond's preparations before a high-stakes baccarat game with Le Chiffre, the embezzling paymaster of a French Communist trade union; the card game itself; and the game's aftermath, involving that horrible torture scene and a love affair that Bond enters into with Ms. Lynd, his assistant from headquarters. I suppose the producers of the new big-screen version felt that a story about a card game and a romance was not enough to justify a $100 million+ picture that was meant to jump-start the franchise, and thus went the route of modernizing and embellishing. Thus, the plot for the film has been revised to include terrorists and some serious globe-trotting (the book's action is confined, for the most part, to northern France). Good as the new film is, though (and it IS one of the best Bonds in many years, and perhaps the most serious Bond film since 1963's "From Russia With Love"), I still prefer the book. It is easily one of the most atmospheric of the Bond novels, not to mention violent, and although the Le Chiffre character isn't around long enough to make much of an impression, as compared to later Bond villains, he's still pretty nasty. We also meet, for the first time during the course of this novel, Bond's boss, M; Bond's French ally, Rene Mathis; and his CIA buddy, Felix Leiter. Vesper herself is an intriguing and mysterious Bond girl, with secret motivations, who attracts Bond so strongly that he contemplates quitting the Service. Fleming throws in an interesting philosophical discussion on the nature of good and evil, and the renowned "Fleming Sweep"--which refers to his ability to pull the reader in and, through the use of remarkable detail, convince the reader of the veracity of even the most improbable scenarios--is already in full evidence. This is a book whose short chapters almost demand to be read one after the other, and with its short 144-page length (I refer here to the vintage, yellow-colored Signet edition from the mid-'60s that most older Bond fans will fondly remember), the novel can easily be read in a few breathless sittings. Much as I love and revere the Bond films (most especially the first half dozen, natch), the Fleming originals are a more serious and, in their own way, more exciting world of their own. And "Casino Royale" is a perfect introduction to that world.

Fleming opens with a graphic, and quite unflattering, description of what a nasty place a casino can be at three in the morning. It's so dead-on that you might think that the rest of the novel is going to be a polemic against gambling, but it's not: Bond loves gambling, which is the reason he gets tabbed for the job in the Casino Royale. Fleming gives a neat sketch of the happy gambler on page 37: "Bond had always been a gambler. He loved the dry riffle of the cards and the constant unemphatic drama of the quiet figures around the green tables..."

It goes on for a while in that vein. It's as if Fleming had to tell his readers, "yes, I know that gambling is really dreadful, but here's why it's so much fun, too."

The plot isn't that complicated: a Soviet-funded agent whose main gig is to serve secret financier of a French communist trade union, bought a chain of brothels with money Leningrad had sent him for his labor organizing. After the French government outlawed prostitution, his investment went south, so the agent, known only as Le Chiffre (the cipher), does what everyone facing bankruptcy should: he takes the twenty-five million francs remaining in the union treasury and heads for the casino. It's up to Bond to beat the villain at baccarat and allow SMERSH, the Soviet anti-spy organization, to expose him for what he really is.


For devotees of movie Bond, the novel may be a little disappointing. James Bond, despite his 00-status, doesn't actually kill anyone in it: two Bulgarians who try to assassinate him about a quarter-way through the book actually blow themselves up, in a scene that is straight out of Spy vs. Spy. And he's pretty far from a ladies man, too. That's not to say it's a bad book; it isn't. But with a half-century of hype behind us, we're probably a bit jaded, but Casino Royale, while well written and a decent thriller, isn't really that exceptional, and the Bond of the book is a shadow of the movie Bond.

That said, you can have some real fun reading the book once and imagining David Niven as Bond, then starting from scratch with Peter Sellers, then moving on to Woody Allen.

In summary, it's a quick, fun read, and a really good look into the past, so if you want to laugh a little, give it a read. And it's got one of the best literary descriptions I've seen of French-style baccarat, so you can read it for genuine historical detail, too.

One last note: The fact that the book is larded with French words and phrases shows how much authors' expectations of readers' cultural literacy has dropped. The casino, for example, doesn't have a main cage--it has a "caisse." And the people who work there aren't cashiers--they're "caissiers." It adds to the sense that the world Fleming is bringing to life is, a half-century later, a few steps removed. I think most books written today assume that the reader can barely understand English.

This is not only Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel but one of his best. It is richly textured, well written, clearly defines the Bond character and has survived not only as good literature but as a great period piece of the 50s. It also gives us a glimpse of the often unseen smoke filled cocktailed night life found in Europe's plush casinos of that era. Clearly, James Bond is a worldly character that lives and breaths in this unseen world described by Ian Fleming in this novel. James Bond can easily adapt to any locale or situation, size it up and endure. He is both innovative and resourceful and he must rely on his talents and instincts to survive. This is a very good Bond novel.

Like other reviewers, I read the James Bond novels when I was a teenager and now, twenty years later, I'm rereading them again, starting with 007's debut, "Casino Royale."

When I first read it years ago, I remember reading it in one sitting and the book continues to be a quick read (although it took a couple of days now in my cluttered life--and I'm not a fast reader). I'd forgotten how lean and fluid Fleming's writing was.

I also found some passages unintentionally funny. In one scene Bond decides that one of the nasty thugs he observes has lost his humanity not because of "infantilism" but because of drugs--"marihauna." Fleming also notes that most of the good Americans appear to be from Texas (the one thing I remember from reading all the novels before was that Fleming thought Americans were either Texas cowboys or Chicago mobsters--and in "Diamonds Are Forever" they were both: mobsters who dressed up as cowboys to shoot at each other!).

The Bond misogyny is also here ("Women were for recreation") but his relationship with Vesper Lynd is not only well integrated into the story but becomes a pivotal moment in the formation of the super spy's development.

When I first read these books, I thought "Casino Royale" and "From Russia With Love" were the undisputed classics of the series. If I get through them again, I wonder if it will be the same. My opinion still stands with "Casino Royale." I also like these new covers to the Penguin editions.

I'm also looking forward to the new movie in a couple of weeks.

The new James Bond is in production and it's the first one with a title taken from an Ian Fleming Bond story since `The Living Daylights' in 1987 and supposedly the first to actually stay faithful to a novel since `On Her Majesty's Secret Service' in 1969. So the million dollar question has to be, is Ian Flemings first book worthy of a faithful screen adaptation. My answer to that would be a resounding no. I cannot imagine that `Casino Royale' was written with any intention of it being turned into a feature length film. Despite its brevity at 181 pages it still moves at a very slow, methodical pace. Fleming takes the time to carefully describe everything in careful detail including a full dossier on the villain `Le Chiffre', a short history of the Casino Royale and the obligatory exhaustive description of every meal Bond consumes.

`Casino Royale' is a story on a very small scale. `Le Chiffre' is a banker for SMERSH, the real life Cold War era Soviet organization with the frightening name of Smert Shpionam (Death to Spies). He has managed to get himself into some financial difficulties with SMERSH after risking and losing a sizable amount of their money on outside ventures. His plan is to win back enough money playing baccarat at the Casino Royale to get himself back in the black but standing in his way is British spy and baccarat expert James Bond with a sizable bankroll from MI6.

The pivotal Baccarat game doesn't even occur until well into the story and then the reader is treated to several chapters on the nuances of playing the game. The other problem with using Casino Royale's plot in a film is that the baccarat scene has previously been played homage to in Bond films making it already a cliche.

Make no mistake; this is not the Bond from the films. `Casino Royale' contains no humor and Bond is particularly human as opposed to the unflappable, indestructible movie Bond. The book Bond finds himself in a situation where he is vulnerable, frail and helpless. Book Bond is also considerably more introspective. The `action' portion of the book is essentially over with page 124 which means 57 pages of Bond recovering and contemplating the nature of good and evil. `Casino Royale' is clearly a setup for future novels, establishing motivation for Bond's hatred of SMERSH and showing his coldness with the final memorable line, "the bitch is dead".

`Casino Royale' is a good book but new readers should be aware that it exists in an entirely different universe from what they're used to with the films. The most poignant and emotional point in the book is the unexpected ending which would make for an interesting and unique finale for the film. I have to confess that I enjoyed later novels more than Casino Royale but in Fleming's defense it was his first Bond effort.

This is the first James Bond novel written by Ian Fleming so it provides a delightful view of the character before he became an iconic figure. While Bond is particular about getting his drink right and which car he drives, they are not the same drink and car we have come to identify with him from the movies. Also, although his boss is a mysterious character referred to as M, there are no Moneypenny or Q in sight. Without Q's inventions Bond relies more on his wit than his toys to stay alive.

Originally published in 1953, Casino Royale takes a young Bond who is questioning rather than convinced of the righteousness of his tasks and puts him in what I see as an improbable situation. Le Chiffre, a French Communist labor leader, was embezzling union funds to purchase a string of whore houses only to have them closed when they are outlawed by a new law. He needs to earn back his lost funds and decides to do it through casino gambling. Eager to discredit Le Chiffre before SMERSH hitmen can kill him, Bond's superiors send him to Monte Carlo to beat Le Chiffre at Baccarat. The game between these two is described wonderfully so that even someone who has never gambled can get caught up in the excitement. However it is hard to believe that the British government would bankroll someone to defeat an enemy agent at a game of chance that wasn't fixed.

Unlike the movies, much of what is in Bond's mind is revealed in this novel. His sexism is fully-developed with thoughts like this: "These blithering women who thought they could do a man's work. Why the hell couldn't they stay at home and mind their pots and pans and stick to their frocks and gossip and leave men's work to men?" Even with an attitude like this, he manages to develop a romantic interest in his partner Vesper Lynd.

This first Bond novel is exciting and well-written. The premise seems far-fetched, but once past that it is an enjoyable introduction to the greatest spy in 20th century literature.

Do yourself a favor-- before the new movie version of this comes out, read the first of the Bond books to see where it all started. We're so used to the movie depictions of Bond that it's easy to forget the nasty piece of work that Fleming created more than fifty years ago as a masculine wish-dream. In this first outing, Bond is alternately cruel and surprisingly tender with his first literary lover, Vesper Lynd. This is Bond before he became a joke, and he's the better for it. In later volumes, the villains became more outrageous and the action more bombastic; here, Bond has a simple mission and he goes about it realistically and professionally, with only two "double-0" kills to his credit before the story begins. He's young, ambitious, hard, and believable.

Read this before seeing the movie, slated for a 2006 release. If you're like me, you'll devour all the others, but this introduction to the character remains among the best of the series, which loses a bit of bite with each outing....

I read several of Fleming's books when I was a JB-obsessed 10 year old although I don't remember much about them. I'm currently going through a Bond renaissance after watching Goldfinger for the first time in years and so I thought I'd go back to the source of it all, namely the novels themselves. Casino Royale was not one that I had read before and as it is the legendary FIRST ONE this seemed to be the logical place to start.

The first thing that I noticed is how readable it is. One can read it in one sitting without ever getting bored. Fleming's prose is fast-paced and articulate with some cracking one-liners. He does have a tendency to fetishise though. There are often passages where he simply lists articles that suggest Bond's "sophistication" - the brand of his car, lighter, cigarrettes etc. Fleming obviously knew a lot about such things and what ownership of these items said about a man (at least in 1952) and despite it seeming somewhat clumsy, one can feel that this is an important part of developing the character in his own mind. Some of the reviews here have criticised the fact that resolution seems to have been reached two-thirds of the way in and there is a sense that there are actually two books here - one involving the battle of wits against Le Chiffre and one dealing with the romance with Vesper and its consequences. I personally felt that the second part of the story took over from the first quite smoothly despite lacking the focus that, say, tying the two together in at the end might have had.

Bond himself is an interesting dude. He's not cool at all. The Bond of the Casino Royale novel is neither Connery nor Lazenby and certainly not Moore. He strikes me as being a conflicted man, someone who feels uncomfortable with his acts of murder that gained him the double-0 designation, someone who has a love/hate outlook towards women (certainly not the cool seducer of the movies), a man who broods and often doubts himself. A terrific thing about this book (or any book for that matter that was subsequently adapted to film) is that you gain access to the protagonists' thoughts. You get to understand his motivations and see WHY he does what he does and how his actions impact on his psyche. For a character as iconic as James Bond, this insight has immeasuable value.

Casino Royale is a fast read, full of tension laced with some harrowing and VERY dark scenes. I'm slightly ambivalent about the ending though. Was Bond really as cold as he seemed or was that just his way of mentally dealing with what had just happened? Perhaps the ambiguity of his final reaction is the point of the book

This book, the first of the Bond series is superior pulp at it's unapologetic best. Fleming hits the ground running because he fixes on subjects he knows extremely well - his discourses on gambling, food and sex are expert and intriguing - he doesn't dumb it down. For all of that, you feel like you're reading something fresh - even 50 years on. From the next novel - 'Live and Let Die', they're good reads but they're not as deep into the mind of Bond as 'Casino Royale' and they are never written with the spare, cool style of this tale. This is the Bond romance to end all Bond romances - there is no going back from the gutting fashion that Bond is picked up by love here and thrown onto a bed of nails. Every relationship he has from here on now makes sense, and surely this novel has the most powerful final sentence of any hard boiled adventure read. This, for fans, is THE essential novel because it shows Bond at the height of his powers, vulnerable and able to withstand real punishment, to the body, mind and heart. You'll find more action and thrilling psychology here concerning MI5's 'blunt instrument' than in any other installment in the series.

NOTE: As EON Productions had not managed to secure the rights to this Bond book (and Thunderball), Casino Royale was brought to the screen by rival producers in 1967. Judging it unfilmable, they instead reshaped it into a farce with a string of attached comedian/actors - among them Peter Sellers, David Niven and Woody Allen. Don't be deceived, the resulting film has NOTHING to do with this novel. One of the most exciting developments in the Bond film series in years has been EON's decision to film the original novel which is due for release in 2006!

It is perhaps unfortunate that today most people know James Bond only through the movies. Casino Royale is an example of a novel that would not translate well to the silver screen. Although there is plenty of drama, the most dramatic moments are those of a card game, a torture scene, and an unfolding romantic relationship with a dark twist. In short, the novel has intellectual and psychological elements that do not work well in film. I am working my way through the Ian Fleming series and am now on "Moonraker" which is completely different than the film. If you have enjoyed the movies, do yourself a favor and read the novels. It is there that you will find the real James Bond.

I would consider this one of the better Bond books in the series. It has a little more violence than some of the others, and is at points not as compelling, but all is made up for by a terrific card scene and an interesting end of the novel. After knowing the character Ian Fleming created and knowing the character(s) Terence Young, Albert Broccoli, and Harry Saltzman created, I think that the character in the novels is another actor playing the role in another story just like the Sean Connery-Bond or the Roger Moore-Bond play different characters or different interpretations of the role in other stories. If the films are cool to you, the books will be too.

The man known as 007 is sent to defeat a villain known as Le Chiffre (the number) in a game of Baccarat in order to ruin the credibility of the Ruskies. The setting is the luxurious Casino in the grand, old French town of Royale. Bond, being an expert gambler and player thinks he'll have no trouble taking down Le Chiffre, but doesn't bargain on forces working against him from his own side.

I'm not sure if Ian Fleming originally planned this to be the first of a series but he does a good job of introducing us to all of the familiar characters. His writing style is short and terse and to the point. I often find myself reading books that waffle on and on with nothing in particular to say but Casino Royale wastes no time in getting to the important stuff. It's urgent, but still never feels underwritten. It's a perfectly balanced style and I hope that the rest of the books feel the same.

Despite being set in the 50's there isn't really THAT much in the book that dates it terribly. I saw the cast from the 2006 movie in my head, but don't expect the movie to be similar. The first hour of that film was pretty much new story and everything afterwards (save the sinking houses in Venice) is true to Ian Flemings book.

A good read and very fast paced.

In the world of spy fiction, no name is greater than James Bond. This is primarily due to the long-running series of movies, but before the films, there were Ian Fleming's books. The first novel to feature Bond was 1953's Casino Royale (which also happens to be the most recent movie).

In this debut novel, Bond is a new "Double-O" agent assigned to ruin a Russian agent named Le Chiffre. Le Chiffre has been living beyond his means while maintaining his cover; if his bosses find out, they will send SMERSH after him, a special unit dedicated to assassination of both foreign spies and Russian ones who've defected or fouled up. To recover his money, Le Chiffre has gone gambling, particularly playing baccarat. Bond, who is the British Secret Service's best gambler, is assigned to win Le Chiffre's money.

Although baccarat is not a well-known game compared to poker or blackjack, Fleming carefully describes the rules so the reader can follow the action. Le Chiffre's role is that of the banker; in exchange for risking a large amount of money, he gets the house's small advantage. Le Chiffre also doesn't play quite fair, and is perfectly willing to use violence to achieve his ends.

While some Bond movies are utterly dissimilar to the books that share their titles, the Daniel Craig version follows the novel rather well. There are definite differences (the movie, for example, uses poker instead of baccarat, and there isn't quite as much action), but the plot is mostly the same. (There have actually been two previous versions of this story (one movie and one TV show), but I am not familiar enough with either one to compare it to the book.)

At the center of it, of course is Bond, who, at least in this early novel, is more human than superhuman and with his distinct flaws, particularly his cavalier attitude towards women. This is not great literature, but that isn't Fleming's intent: instead, it is an entertaining suspense novel, particularly geared towards adult men. And in this, Fleming succeeds well. Compared to more recent suspense fiction, this is pretty lightweight (and barely 200 pages), but it is well-worth reading if you're a fan of the genre or the Bond movies.

'Casino Royale' was the first James Bond novel published- and I am a little surprised that Bondmania ever took off, since this is not a great book.

The plot is that a soviet agent 'Le Chiffre' has lost some union money, and is gambling to try and win it back before anyone finds out. It is too late though. British Intellegence has discovered this and in an attempt to cause a scandal has sent James Bond to defeat 'Le Chiffre' at Baccarat at the French resort of Casino Royale.

Unfortunately the Baccarat scenes are not at all exciting, and Bond himself is not a very inspiring hero. He is mean, arrogant and ultimately incompetent. He arrogantly goes out with Vesper to a club after beating 'Le Chiffre' instead of heading back to London. He then naively gets captured and tortured by 'Le Chiffre' and only escapes when 'Le Chiffre' is assasinated by an agent from SMERSH. And through it all he gets played by Vesper.
After Bond escapes 'Le Chiffre' the book meanders on for another few chapters, detailing Bond's relationship with Vesper- not very thrilling stuff. Fortunately better things were to come in later books.

I have long been a fan of Ian Fleming's James Bond books, but it has been a few years since I had last read them. So I am now on a campaign to reread them all in the order in which they were written beginning with Casino Royale. I also am partial this time around to the trade paperback versions with the slightly lurid covers always featuring a spectacular Bond girl. These covers seem particularly appropriate for the literary Bond as originally written.

Casino Royale gets the Bond saga off to an excellent start. Most people have probably seen the recent movie version which I thought was outstanding, so you know the plot. Bond is introduced to us as he is first licensed to kill. As it says on the back of the book, he is charming, sophisticated, handsome, and chillingly ruthless. Fleming does not smooth out Bond's rough edges. He smokes heavily, can drink with the best of them, and basically only wants one thing from the women who are attracted to him. In Casino Royale, Bond is charged with the responsibility of neutralizing a high-rolling Russian operative called Le Chiffre. He succeeds in doing this in an extremely high stakes game of Baccarat, though not without a few problems in the end. Bond's efforts are helped by Vesper Lynd, another British agent. Bond and Vesper, as you would expect, become romantically involved, but true love does not win out this time.

The Bond books are simply great fun to read, and Casino Royale is a particularly good one. Read the book, see the film, and then move on to Live and Let Die, the second book in the series.

This first Bond novel by Ian Fleming is arguably the very best.
A novel with darker themes about trust and betrayal, we receive some
interesting insights into Bond's character which we have largely taken
for granted. After Bond is horribly tortured, he begins to
question his vocation and duty as a spy. Bond in his thinking about who the good guys are and who the bad guys are in his cloak and dagger world becomes a meditation on the rightness of the Cold War. We come to understand better Bond's essential mistrust of women in this novel but I won't spoil any more of the story for you. Ian Fleming at his nuanced best!

Casino Royale was written by Ian Fleming as the first ever James Bond book in 1953. Ian was a commander who worked with naval intelligence in the war - he really did lead a life of high stake gambling in exotic locations. He wrote this book from his homestead "Goldeneye" in Jamaica.

If your view of James Bond is the suave, always certain Bond of Roger Moore, you're in for quite a shock here. The entire book is very anti-female. In the movies, women are sultry, interesting creatures to be played with and enjoyed. You kiss them goodbye in the morning and wave as you leave. In the book, women are animals you use for sex only. James is told he has to work with one and calls her a "bitch". When he later decides he might actually stay with a woman long term, he says that he likes her because making love to her "each time [would] have the sweet tang of rape." Lovely.

Even the loyal Miss Moneypenny is described as "would have been desirable but for eyes which were cool and direct and quizzical." Right, wouldn't want a direct woman.

In the movies fans claim that Bond only kills who he has to, never in cold blood. In the book, James says "A Double O number in our Service means you've had to kill a chap in cold blood in the course of some job." Also, he fails numerous times in his efforts, only to be saved by others. Many of his choices are spur of the moment and work poorly.

My boyfriend and I have both watched the entire series of movies several times, to write up the wine / Champagne scenes for my wine site. We have read many other spy / detective series from start to end. Even so, both of us were rather surprised at the anti-female tone of this book. It is rather harsh, even for a book in the 50s. Other books from this vintage (and before) that we've read are far less nasty. Also, the first half of the book is about a single gambling session. Then there is a torture session, and that's about it. It is more a long gambler's fantasy than a spy novel.

For those interested in the martini aspect, Bond's instructions for his drink, a "Vesper" (as he names it), is:

'Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?'

Gordon's is a gin. For vodka, he recommends grain, not potato based vodka. Kina Lillet is NOT A VERMOUTH! It is a wine based aperitif with orange flavoring. Vermouth is a fortified wine plus herb mixture. If you want a real Bond martini, make sure you get your hands on the Lillet!

I've seen a few of the Bond movies and wasn't too impressed with them. However, I do love spy stories so I gave this one a try after purchasing it on a whim while browsing at the bookstore.

It wasn't as great as I'd expected, but it wasn't bad either. I definitely enjoyed it more than the movies I'd seen. For one thing, the story was written in the 1950s so the atmosphere of the book was much more "vintage". There was also a well-appreciated absence of impossible, high-tech gadgets that Movie Bond always seems to be carrying around--the Bond of the book has to rely on his wits and experience to get himself out of trouble.

When I first started reading, I was enthralled. I simply couldn't put the book down. In the second-half, however, the story starts to turn into a bit of sappy romance and I found myself reading quickly just to be finished. The ending was definitely a surprise.

Considering that this is the first of the Bond novels, it seems as if it was just written to build the foundation of what was to come in the future books. Besides the spy stuff, we learn quite a bit about the emotional and mental aspect of Bond's character. Bond's motivations for doing his job, questioned in one part of the story, are firmly cemented by the surprise at the end so that we know there will be plenty of more Bond stories to come.

I would recommend this if you plan on reading the entire 007 series all the way through, as I'm doing. But if you just want a book for the sake of the story, I'd skip this one.

I am writing this having just returned from the new motion picture release. I read the book probably 35 years ago and as a young man, was quite impressed by the style and yes, the unmitigated violence. I enjoyed it thouroughly... I was surprised that the motion picture actually included the excruciating torture scene involving Bond and Le Chifre. The main characters are well drawn and intriguing. Casino scenes are tense and hold your attention. Overall, this first book in the bond series holds your interest and makes you want more. And history shows this is exactly what happened with the series.

One of the qualities of a James Bond novel by Ian Fleming is: you can't stop reading it. Most are not long stories, average 180 pages. The plot moves one to want to find out what happens next. And ironically, at the end of this story, Bond wants to hang it all up! There is a lengthy discussion of the political world view of the post WW 2 Europe that is quite fascinating. The "torture" scene is particularly graphic, and chilling to read. Fleming's Bond gets quite beat up, sometimes nearly killed!
Fleming goes through the trouble of explaining things, which may not have seemed important in this book, but which explain certain things that happen in subsequent books.
In this book one learns the game of baccarat, tips on good dining, the recipe of a Bond martini, and not much background about Bond himself. We only have a brief, flashback meeting of Bond and M, and we are introduced to Felix Leiter,( the American who assists Bond in just about all of the Fleming novels, and even one of the Gardner books featured a reunion of Bond and Leiter, as well as Leiter's daughter!) More of Bond's personal life outside of spying comes out in Moonraker. But I am sure that when these first came out, men were anxiously awaiting for the next Bond novel to come out.
There is a film version of this being made, for a Christmas season release this year. It was also adapted into an episode of the 1950's series Climax!, with Barry Nelson as an American James Bond, a British Clarence Leiter, but best of all, Le Chifre is played by Peter Lorre! The first three Bond movies were fairly literal adaptations, but after that, practically only the title remained as the only thing in common with the original book. And of course if Bond was a real person, he'd be in his 80's. Because of this, readers who are only aware of the film Bond might find these books boring, but if you can put the Film James Bond out of your mind whilst reading the Fleming novels, they are much more intriguing, and enjoyable. They'll make you want to go out and buy a 1930 4.5 litre Bentley with a supercharger!

First of all, I just want to say that this is a great book, here's why:

It starts off kind of slow, like much of Fleming's novels do, and like all the other reviews say, it's very dark. ... The game of baccarat, which the whole novel is centered around is very exhilerating. Fleming does a great job of describing the scene at the casino, and my heart was throbbing, wanting to know what was going to happen next(a real page-turner). There is a great torture scene, which is very, VERY descriptive(if you know what I mean). Finally, there was a surprise ending, that was...uh...very surprising. It's not like the 6th Sense or anything else where you can smell a surprise ending throughout the whole thing, it was very...how should I put it?...I don't know, it was very surprising and I wasn't expecting it at all. Just do your self a favor and read this book. But, don't do what I did, don't read the last paragraph of the book untill you get to the end of the book. I made that mistake, and the surprise ending was kind of spoiled.. but I still liked it, so if you don't do what I did, then you will like it even more. I say this because, that last paragraph gives you a really good picture of James Bond's personality and it makes you want to run out and get the next Bond Book, Live And Let Die, which is also very good(read my review!)

Casino Royale was Ian Fleming's first stab at writing about James Bond and as a result, the book doesn't carry quite the same flair as some of the later books. In fact, those who know Bond only from the movies will probably be severely disappointed by Fleming's rather subdued novel. Still, this is a book with much to recommend it, beyond just nostalgia value. The character of James Bond is actually very intriguing in this book. Rather than the smirking superhuman that most younger readers like myself have grown up with, we are instead given a rather vulnerable romantic -- cold hearted enough to kill but also capable of falling tragically in love with the enigmatic Vesper Lynd. As well, this is a Bond who finds himself seriously doubting his commitment to the life of a secret agent and perhaps the book's strongest passages are simply philosophical debates between Bond and a colleague concerning the nature of evil in the post-World War II role.

In the end, this book surprised me by turning out to be less as thriller and more of a tragic love story. The mechanics of Bond's mission and the book's rather forgettable villians take a very definite back seat to Bond's intense infactuation with Vesper and its tragic consequences. As well, though Fleming's prose is at times awkward, he ends the book with one of the strongest final lines I've ever come across.

Casino Royale is an excellent thriller and Fleming, through his vivid prose, is able to convey every scene with great clarity and realism. For example, the reader is right alongside Bond as he struggles to maintain his cool on the loosing end of a high stakes game of Baccarat or careens with him down a French road in a desperate late night pursuit, which leaves him in a precarious situation (to say the least). Morover, although politically incorrect, some of the dialoge is pricless. e.g. "Bond saw luck as a woman, to be softly wooed or brutally ravaged, never pandered to or pursued. But Bond was honest enought to admit that he had never been made to suffer by cards or by women." In addition, there is an interesting love interest, with a surprise twist ending, which cements Bond's contempt and disdain for the opposition seen in later novels. A great book! Couldn't put it down.

Do you want a long review? Well too bad, you're not going to get one here. The first Bond book is great for fans of sensationalist literature. It is not always quick-paced but it sets the tone for suspense and unexpected and much wanted action. Tense moments are the card game with Le chiffre, the bomb assasination attempt, the car chase, and the torture scene. The romantic beach getaway between Bond and Vesper may bore you, but Bond's last words in the novel make up for it. Thank God, for books like this because it was a breeze to read. Back when this book was published they had paperback fiction, where the average paperback book was around 55,000 words. What do you get when you see the average paperback book released nowadays and Barnes and Noble? You see huge Bible-sized books. No thank you. I bought the old paperback edition that can fit inside my pocket. It was great reading it on the light rail to and from work each day for a whole week. I like this book and I hope you will too.

Casino Royale gave birth to an iconic 21st century `hero', or to be precise, a murky morally ambiguous assassin and spy - James Bond. In fact, I will be controversial and say that Bond, in Ian Fleming's first outing, is nothing short of a classic psychopath, though a pyschopath with a fine taste in food, drink and classic cars (a guzzling 4 litre Bentley, not the famous Aston Martin). Not that he being like this is bad, in any other context Bond would be villivied and hated, but as a defender of British and western interests and safety, the context becomes justified, we don't want our spys or assassins soft hearted. We need them cold and steeley, ready to stick the knife in (quite literally) when others won't.

But psychopath or not, he works for Her Majesty's Secret Service - MI6 is not mentioned in the book, because, I think, MI6, in real-life, only became a popular name for Britain's foreign/international secret service later on (MI5 is the domestic/national secret service). But I am digressing (already).

Prior to reading any of Fleming's Bond books I had seen the all the films, and after watching the new Casino Royale decided to give the book ago. I was reluctant at first; I always find that after watching a movie, I find the book that inspired it a dull chore. However, the exception are the Fleming books, and in particular Casino Royale. Because of the time difference, a different enemy (SMERSH, the Soviets), and a slight difference in the plot, the book is worth reading if you are a fan of that particular movie or the Bond movies in general.

The plot is fairly simple, and avoids the gigantic climax of an underground base and megalomaniac villain. Instead we have the service's best card player, Bond, trying to bankrupt Le Chiffre, a man who `invests' the murky SMERSH's money - the idea being that once Le Chiffre is bankrupted at the Casino Royale, who will turn to the British secret service for protection, after losing SMERSH's money. However, the plot isn't that simple as Le Chiffre isn't a man who likes losing, and will go to any lengths to win.

Instead of the Texas Hold `Em Up poker played in the 2006 film, the game is Baccarat. The game is fairly explained in detail, but it is a fairly complex game. I will not go and reveal what other differences there are between the original book and the film, as it will ruin the surprises and the quirks of the post-war era setting. However, Bond's two killings - in which he gains his double-O status, seems a lot more exciting and brutal, even than in the movie. One is a sniper killing of a Japanese cipher in New York that involves ingenuity and skill, and the other is a Norwegian double-agent that doesn't go very well, and very unglamorous, involves a knife rather than the safety of the distance of a smoking gun.

Judging by the book, it is surprising that anyone has to wait around to kill Bond, as he himself seems determined to kick the heavenly bucket - he smokes seventy cigarettes a day, never stops eating and enjoys boozing from dinner time.

The love scenes are very tame now, but considering that the book was published in the early 1950's they are quite racy for the time, and definitely not what you would see in any of the silver screen versions of James Bond. In fact, the book is dripping in sexual motifs and metaphors.

I always knew that Bond was born from a murky muddled era of the cold-war, where heroes were not always white and the villains not always black; however, I was surprised on how cold and detached Bond is in his first outing. The very last sentence of the entire book is a shocking case of his coldness at work. But it is Bond himself who questions this moral dilemma of what makes somebody a hero and somebody a villain.

I am looking forward to collecting all the books, in particular these Penguin versions, as they have new front covers with stylish, almost hard-boiled typed artwork.

If Ian Fleming can be said to have written a masterpiece, then Casino Royale is probably the best candidate for that title. After all, the novel does epitomize Fleming's spare, raw style. His language is blunt and cold, yet strangely evocative (and at times even poetic), full of arresting details and smokey nuances. With a marvelous economy of language (the whole book weighs in at under two hundred pages), he weaves an atmospheric tale, full of action and decadence and tension. And there is real tension here- unlike his ultra stylized, effortlessly cool movie incarnations, the literary James Bond is endearingly fallible, subject to bouts of anger, uncertainty, and self-reproach. At times, the reader can almost feel the sweat on Bond's palms and the racing of his pulse.

This style makes for some truly fantastic moments, ranging from a hypnotic description of a card game to a horrific confrontation between Bond and his adversary. The story's final act is dreamy and oddly melancholic, and the book's opening chapter is a masterful depiction of nervy alertness and buried paranoia. In general, the story is engrossing, taut, and quietly exciting.

If the novel can be said to have a major flaw, it's that Bond (as compelling a character as he is) simply doesn't do very much. He often survives hairy situations through sheer luck, or with the unexpected assistance of some third party. He wanders haphazardly into traps, picks up on clues after their usefulness has expired, and gives up hope at the earliest sign of defeat. He's a fascinating human being, to be sure, but a so-so secret agent. In addition, there are a few week points to the plot. Several scenes feel like meaningless digressions, filler intended to qualify Casino Royale as a full novel.

Nonetheless, its a fantastic work in its own right, and a great read for any fan of classic espionage or hardboiled fiction.

It certainly says something that more than 50 years after his introduction, the name James Bond is probably the most famous name on earth. Far be it for me to argue with success like that. And it all began over a not so friendly game of baccarat against a slime bag known only as Le Chiffre in CASINO ROYALE.

The main plot line, as people are probably now aware due to the recent movie adaptation, is to bankrupt Le Chiffre, who foolishly wasted money entrusted to him by some rather dark characters. If Le Chiffre does not win the money back, well, no need for Bond to exercise his license to kill, as the cats Le Chiffre runs with will do that job quite nicely instead. Along with the simple plot line we get the first Bond cutie of Vesper Lynd, Bond's CIA counterpart Felix Leiter, torture scenes, love and betrayal.

We also get a James Bond quite different than many would expect based upon their familiarity with the movies. The Bond of CASINO ROYALE is emotionally vulnerable and not as sure of himself as we might think. Bond himself does not seem enthusiatic when relaying the details of his first two kills that earned him his double-O designation. Yet even this Bond can be ice cold, as the reader discovers at the end of the book. His reaction to Vesper Lynd's betrayal is that of a ruthless killer with a job that had to be done.

CASINO ROYALE may seem a little dated by now, but so what? The same can be said of Sherlock Holmes books or the writings of Dashiell Hammett. Yet those are excellent. Time does a good job of separating wheat from chaff and we can now enjoy those books that time has demonstrated are worth our attention. It may not be a classic of fine literature, but CASINO ROYALE, and James Bond, are classics of their genre, and for good reason indeed.

I've read all the Bonds, but not in their original order, so this time I started with the first, Casino Royale (incidentally the title of the next Bond movie). Those who know the character only from the movies will be surprised to find that rather than the wisecracking gadget freak sex machine featured in the films the books present an introspective, fallible professional with a misogynist streak. In Casino Royale, Bond screws up his mission. There's a fairly long discourse on the nature of good and evil, and beyond a couple of scenes, there's not a lot of action (there is one very sadistic torture scene). Fleming also has an uncanny ability to make pages-long descriptions of gambling exciting.

Titan is also collecting the lesser known James Bond strip. These are faithful adaptations of Ian Fleming's novels and, as such, have one up on the movies which seem to only borrow the titles and the occasional set-piece from Fleming's work. My only complaint is that the format of the daily comic strip requires a sort of cliffhanger in each episode, and reading a batch of them at a time can get tiresome (not so with the Modesty Blaise series, perhaps because she was a comic strip creation). Still, like the Modesty Blaise volumes, these are beautifully designed, well-annotated and worth the money.

After watching the amazing film adaptation this past year I decided to give the Ian Fleming novel a chance. I'm sure glad that I did, for even though it shows its age through and through it's still a great introductory novel into the world of James Bond. While some have already noted that the action itself is subdued I feel it bares repeating since this novel is all about establishing character, and with that in mind it does a fantastic job.

In `Casino Royale' we meet British Secret Service agent James Bond, newly crowned 007, as he embarks on a mission full of deceit, murder, torture and high stakes gambling. Sent to the Casino Royale to turn the tables on the Russian spy Le Chiffre it appears that Bond has one of those `sitting-pretty' type assignments, but things aren't as easy as they initially appear. First he has to contend with his partner, the beautiful Vesper Lynd. Bond, while a surefire ladies man, prefers to keep their company strictly bedside and struggles with the idea of entertaining and ultimately trusting her. Le Chiffre himself also poses a problem in that he is not only smarter than Bond imagined but also much more determined to end up on top then Bond would have given him credit for.

`Casino Royale' may spend most of it's time in the close quarters of the casino floor but it serves up some very interesting background information on everyone's favorite secret agent. It establishes Bond as a person, not just a pretty face with muscles and brains, but a man stripped to the core with real human emotions and feelings. `Casino Royale' is the book that sets the foundation for the remaining Bond novels. His relationship with Vesper plays a huge part in the man Bond becomes and this novel helps the reader come to better understand this iconic character.

While I personally preferred the 2006 Blockbuster to the novel, mainly because the style of writing is dated and moves a little slow, I will say that it's well worth the read. I myself am now determined to read through the entire Bond series to get a full picture of the man we all love to watch film after film. This is where Bond began and is a must read for any fan of the films that this immortal character inspired.

After being a fan of Bond for years; and especially watching the awesome movie Casino Royale, I asked myself "why haven't I read the novels yet?" Well, I have just finished Casino Royale, and it is amazing (though different in a lot of ways to the movie). Ian Fleming has an interesting way of writing that makes the entire story really exciting and never gets dull. So, if you have never read a Bond novel, no better place to start than with the first book-this one. It is just a great introduction into the Bond novel universe. I ordered the next book, and after reading this, I can't wait to get all of them. This is great

I'm a big time James Bond fan. I've seen all the movies, read all the Benson and Gardner books and love the new Casino Royale movie starring Daniel Craig. Casino Royale is the story that started it all, and the book chosen to be the starting point for rebooting the entire movie franchise. One can't help having the movie in your mind when you begin to read this short novel. When you read Bond, you'll see Daniel Craig, when you read Vesper, you'll see Eva Green. When you read the book, you'll see the movie, because the plots are so similar. If you haven't seen the movie, then beware, because the plots are similar.

It doesn't make any since to judge Casino Royale by the same standards of novels written today. This book is over fifty years old, very short and breaks many of the modern rules of writing. But, this is a James Bond novel and a must read for any Bond fan, especially for those who have already seen the movie.

This book is all about Bond. Bond joins forces with Mathis, Vesper Lynd, and Felix Leiter on a mission to destroy Le Chiffre financially. Le Chiffre is an agent of SMERSH and has lost their money. Le Chiffre hopes to win it back. This book defines Bond. When Lynd gets too close, he cuts her off with a crude remark. He savors his food because he often eats alone and has to do something to make it interesting. He as a sexist view of women, which should be expected of secret agents in the 1950s and should also be present in Bond of then and now. Yet over time, Bond finds himself getting close to Vesper, and this can be a dangerous thing for a secret agent. The book is gritty and void of any giant action scenes. It really isn't suspensful either, especially in the last third of the book.

I recommend this easy to read book to all Bond fans. However, it might seem tedious to those who are not totally immersed in the Bond franchise.

I read this book in about three days. There is no dull parts in it. The text is well written, I mean well written. The discriptions are excellent. Character developement was very detailed. The plot is fresh. I would recommend if you start reading Ian Flemming Novels start with Casino Royale to see why Bond acts the way he does. Once you read this one you will want to continue with the rest of his 12/13 Novels.

I was intrigued to read the book after seeing the movie, which i really enjoyed, and wWas excited to see that some of the film's strains (there were things that seemed incongrous) were efforts to stay loyal to this book. In surprising measure, the film does.

"Casino Royale" gives the impression of a much more human Bond than the film character, and the new film captured that as well. Fleming's 007 is not the unflappable quip-ready playboy made popular in cinema, instead favoring the grittier portrayal carried off in the new film.

It's not all grit, there is an element of sentimentality that seeps through in the novel, and many of Bond's interior monologues in the novel are reminiscient of Bronte.

All in all, I found the novel a quick reading and enjoyable spy story. As someone in my 20s, it was interesting to get a taste of espionage fiction from before the digital age, and Fleming's narrative is happily not overburdened by the gadgetry of even the early Bond films.

This is not only Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel but one of his best. It is richly textured, well written, clearly defines the Bond character and has survived not only as good literature but as a great period piece of the 50s. It also gives us a glimpse of the often unseen smoke filled cocktailed night life found in Europe's plush casinos of that era. Clearly, James Bond is a worldly character that lives and breaths in this unseen world described by Ian Fleming in this novel. James Bond can easily adapt to any locale or situation, size it up and endure. He is both innovative and resourceful and he must rely on his talents and instincts to survive. This is a very good Bond novel full of eclectic information and detail as only Ian Fleming can put into the written word. This Penguin Modern Classics has a very evocative cover of elegant and worldly high stakes gambling establishments that breathes life into James Bond and heightens his senses.

This is not only Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel but one of his best. It is richly textured, well written, clearly defines the Bond character and has survived not only as good literature but as a great period piece of the 50s. It also gives us a glimpse of the often unseen smoke filled cocktailed night life found Europe's plush casinos of that era. Clearly, James Bond is worldly character that lives and breaths in this unseen world described by Ian Fleming in this novel. James Bond can easily adapt to any locale or situation, size it up and endure. He is both innovative and resourceful and he must rely on his talents and instincts to survive. This novel gives us some insight into Fleming's hero concerning his motivations as a blunt civil servant of his country and as a living and breathing man perhaps more here than in subsequent novels. This is a very good Bond novel. The cover depicts the new James Bond seen in the film which pays homage perhaps better than any other Bond film to Fleming's complex character.

Casino Royale is the first James Bond novel. The character differs significantly than the James Bond of recent movies. While Bond is still cool and sophisticated, he is also more introspective and emotional than the cartoon like superhero of recent Bond movies. I found the novel to be really engaging, despite there being very little action, no shoot-outs on ski-sloops, or motor-boat races through downtown London, instead most of the action takes place at a French casino. The lack of "action" in no way took away from the quality of the work.

The book reads quickly and is not very long. There is some interesting background on how James Bond came to be. I look forward to the Casino Royale movie coming out this fall with the "new" Bond. I hope they retain the spirit of the book

This, the first novel of Ian Fleming's James Bond series, is not what many may expect. Most are familiar with the screen versions of the character, the dashing, take-charge ladies' man with a license to kill and a love of adventure. But in "Casino Royale," Fleming's main character has only just begun his career as a spy. He's skilled and intelligent, as professional an agent as can be, but he takes his "00" status with chagrin. Moreover, he's particularly chauvinistic, professing his disdain for working with female agents. (Hardly the sexually-charged, libido-led Bond of the silver screen.) And it's his skills as a gambler, not as a marksman, that are highlighted in this story. In essece, Bond is given the mission of bankrupting a Soviet agent by beating him at a game of high-stakes baccarat, and Fleming's tense account of the scenes in the casino are truly suspenseful. Of course, there are attempts made on Bond's life, a beautiful love interest, and a twist at the end, all keeping in the tradition of the 007 mythos. But this is a more serious Bond. No wise cracks. No silly puns. Just a good plot, tight writing, and a highly entertaining introduction to a famous icon.

I believe I've read at least 90% of the Bond stories by Fleming (might have missed a few of the short stories). I think Casino Royale might be the best.
Forgive me for stating what is obvious, and what has been noted by many other reviewers -- but the Bond of the books is quite different from that of the movies. And much superior, I think. No double entendres, no silly puns; and above all, no superhuman exploits. Bond is a highly trained and skilled agent, but not an invincible super hero as portrayed in the films.
Now that there is yet another actor about to portray Bond, it might be good to note the physical description of Bond in this book. A character notes that Bond looks something like the American songwriter Hoagy Carmichael. I googled that name, and found this picture of Carmichael: http://www.hoagy.com/images/pics/early_headshot_sm.jpg
It seems to me to be the perfect picture of a well-dressed, impeccably groomed, suave and yet deadly serious 007. The young Sean Connery probably came the closest to this image, with Roger Moore falling far short. Daniel Craig? No.

Bond?
James Bond?
Well kind-of...sort-of.
This may be the "original" Bond, but (in my opinion) not the better one. While the big screen (and later literary) Bond smugly exudes self-confidence in even the most harrowing state of affairs, In "Casino Royale" Ian Fleming (his creator) introduces us to a Bond that is resolutely unsure of his abilities in even the most mundane of circumstances.
He doubts everything: from his ability to complete the mission successfully, to his flair for wooing the girl, to even the justification for his own existence.
No...this does not make him seem human! It is conflicting. It hardly seems likely that a person of this personality type would be a "00" agent, much less one that is called on occasionally to save the free world.
I guess it could be argued that this story is actually less about the "mission", (which is over long before the last page) than it is about James loosing his heart to a female assistant that has been sent to assist him on the case. Ironically, I really don't remember her having anything to do in regard to the actual mission. In fact her character is hardly developed at all until after it's over. That makes it all the more implausible when Bond is suddenly considering her his reason for living and even pondering marriage after one night of passion.
What was that name again...?

This is obviously the first in the series. Bond is not a fleshed out character and Mr. Fleming seems almost to be feeling out what he wants to make him. Regardless, it is a very good spy novel. Having read later Bond novels, a few old friends appear, giving it that homey feel.

There is what will become the mandatory formula: a beautiful woman, the coolness under fire, chase scene, entrapment and escape that make these novels all work so well. Fleming's writing is superior to most in this genre.

There is a great sequence of events surrounding and involving a big-time game of baccarat. Having read prior reviews, I went to my Hoyle's before starting so I would knoe the rules. That is not necessary. The game is simple and Bond conveniently explains it to his beautiful cohort. The game is probably the highlight to the book.

A very good stepping off to a great series. An excellent light read.

This was a great book to start the series off with. Then comes LIVE AND LET DIE what another great one. If you think the bond books is great you should read "The Chronicles of GIS" another great spy book series-i can't wait for the next sequal!!!!!!!!

First off, the literary character of James Bond as first imagined by Fleming is vastly different from the movie superspy with which most audiences are familiar. In "Casino Royale" Bond is all too human and even (gasp!) falls in love with his leading lady. Naturally, this is a doomed romance, but for the sake of those who have not read the story, there will be no further elaboration.
The story itself is fairly strait-forward. Bond goes to the infamous Casino Royale in an attempt to bankrupt a SMERSH agent. The book is more realistic than many of the films, in that some of the things Bond does (planting a hair in a drawer to make sure it has not been tampered with) are things a real spy might do.
My only problem with the story is that it seemed to drag on long after the main plotline has been resolved. I got the feeling that the final nine chapters of the book could have been resolved in two and an epiloge.
Still, it was an enjoyable book, and I plan to read most if not all of the other novels in the series, as I have been waiting a long time for these to become available again.

This is where it all began, a very simple, unadorned tale of a British spy sent to destroy a Communist agent at the baccarat table. The first 007 story presents a nasty, misogynist, misanthropic Bond-a government assassin who is highly ambivalent about the role he plays in the Cold War. There's even one remarkable scene in which Bond asks what makes his government right, and what makes it moral for him to kill Britain's enemies. Unfortunately, his cynical self-examination is brushed under the table by his new CIA pal, Felix Leiter, and that's the last we hear of that! We learn that in the war, Bond killed a Japanese spy in New York (although the circumstances described strain credulity and common sense), and knifed a Dutch double-agent, earning him the 00 "Licensed to Kill" designation. Here, he's asked to break the bank of a French Soviet agent who has been gambling with his Moscow-provided bankroll.

Bond is sent to the fashionable French casino of the title to pose as a playboy gambler, and with the aid of beautiful British assistant Vesper Lynn, a French agent, and the CIA's Felix Leiter, ruin Le Chiffre at baccarat. Once you get over the sort of obvious question (if Le Chiffre is that dangerous an agent, why not just kill him yourself instead of going through this dangerous gambit of trying to bankrupt him, thereby forcing SMERSH to kill him?), the buildup and eventual battle on the green baize is quite gripping. Fortunately, the rules and strategy of baccarat are explained (it's a very very simple game), so that the reader can follow along, blow by blow. There's loads of atmosphere and tension, but the structure is a bit awkward and there are some rather bad flaws. One of these is that there's absolutely no reason for Vesper to be in the book other than to serve as a plot device and sex interest. All she does is get in Bond's way and distract him, and it's hard to imagine why she would ever really be given the assignment to back up Bond. It's also rather strange to find the Le Chiffre affair concluding 3/4 of the way through the book, with the last quarter devoted to the Bond/Vesper romance. And I won't even get into the lame "saved by the bell" device that occurs at the climax. All in all, the book exhibits the excellent eye for detail and atmosphere that characterize most of the Bond books, but Fleming is clearly just learning pacing and structure at this stage.

A final point of clarification, the Frenchman "Le Chiffre" is not an agent of SMERSH, as many reviewers seem to think. The fictional SMERSH, with its motto "death to spies", is an internal Soviet agency dedicated to counterespionage and making sure Soviet agents don't stray. As is explained early, Le Chiffre is forced to gamble because he's afraid that SMERSH will kill him if they discover he's blown his party funds on a bad business deal.

I have always been a fan of James Bond films but i feel that in the movies we viewers have been jipped. Who would have thought that the novels the movies were based on could be so amazingly good? Casino Royale introduces James Bond as an incredibly smart spy on a new mission. The book is very well written and without all the campy cheesiness of the film adaptions. Every detail of how a spy would really work is described. The sadest thing about the book is that there has never been a film adaption that wasn't a spoof. The story is amazing. I can't even explain how good it is. All I can say is if you are a bond fan you have been missing out. The movies are a dumbed down marketable PG-13 version of the real Bond who (needless to say) is [great].

I had some change in my pocket and I was passing a bookstore and decided to go in for a look. I had every intention of buying a book and when I saw a number of James Bond books in a row, I decided to buy Casino Royale as the reviews on the back were rather convincing. I read 2 chapters... I find it difficult to ...enjoy such a boring, pointless in some parts, story.

This is the first book in the James Bond series, and Ian Fleming's first novel. Fleming has a pace which takes te reader, wraps him/her in its embrace, and starts running through the streets of France with no looking back. It's a great storytelling technique, and I hope he uses it as effectively in his other novels. This is the only Fleming Bond I've read so far, a fact which I intend to change very quickly. The story is fraught with suspense, and the only thing keeping me from giving this story a higher rating is that its climax occurs two-thirds of the way through the bok, the last third a romantic subplot of sorts which does have its purpose, but which I feel could've been done somewhere in the iddle of the book, or interspersed throughout the book, and still retaining the ending. If you're expecting the movie Bond, you're in for a disapointment. This Bond is cold, ruthless, and gets hurt. Physically and emotionally. One thing I really enjoyed about this book was Fleming's attention to detail. I don't know whether all the details are authentic, but I don't care. Fleming made me believe they were while I was reading hte book, and that's what is most important to me. That's almost a contributing factor in Fleming's technique I mentioned earlier; it's not just pacing, he really immerses you in his locations. If you're a Bond fan at all, you need to read this book--if for no other reason than to find out what started the whole phenomenon.

This is the only James Bond book I've read so far and it will not be the last. The best James Bond movie and a fantastic James Bond book. Very classy and exciting. The only flaw for me was I didn't entirely understand the concept of Baccarat and since that was a huge chunk of the book, I was a tad confused at some crucial parts of the story. Other than that it's definatly worth a read.

if you've ever enjoying a bond movie, it's worth going back to the original source. our hero has more complexity in print, female characters are more than eye candy and fleming's rich detail (on technical matters, exotic settings and even the menu) pull the reader into the story. we're alongside 007, not simply looking up at him.

Unabridged is the way to go and this is it. The story is great (books are always better than the movie and this is just one example of it) and well worth the money. I got it for 6 bucks at a random gas station and listened to it on trips. I highly recommend it if you're into James Bond.

A lot of people have talked about how this book is dated by the sexist attitudes of the protagonist. I don't agree. Sexism hasn't gone away, although it is perhaps not written about as blatantly now, nor included as a character trait of our heroes.

This character flaw added to the gritty, down and dirty world Bond inhabits.

The book is great. The reader is good. I just ordered 'Live and Let Die' with the same reader.

Entrenched in the Cold War and highly sexist (which I cannot fault Fleming for), this is a just-fine book that establishes Bond as one of the most potent characters in all of fiction. Fleming's writing would improve and his plots would...not, but this is where it all started, and his characterization of Bond is by far the best part of this book. That itself is well worth the purchase price.

This being the first of the Bond series (that I had never read), I was interested in checking it out-especially after seeing the recent film. This was a different Bond from the one I had been accustomed to-a little raw and undeveloped and a little too cocky for his own good. Newly promoted to 00 status, the killing part was still fresh to him. He still had not learned how to let his guard down a little when needed and then pick it back up. His relationship with Vesper marks an important development in his psyche that will affect his later dealings with women "on the job". Although different from the movie, the major points of the story are the same. The book was short but it was chock full of all the elements of a Bond novel. I enjoyed it.

This novel, the first of James Bond by Ian Fleming, captures the essence of Bond. The book is a quick read filled with exotic locations and manly adventure, along with a glimmer of the future of the series. The book was very entertaining and comes highly recommended.

Casino Royale is an excellent portrayal of the 1960's era in its attention to British, USA, & Russian spying and the cold war. Enjoy!

Casino Royale is the first book of the adventures of James Bond. In some ways, the James Bond from the pages of Ian Fleming's novels is very different.
Colder, more ruthless, more direct. No high-tech weapons, no lasers in the watch, no flame throwers in the car, just a few guns, a cool head and a distrustful nature.
The story is rough, the word usage not as smooth as some authors and the view point of the novel seems to shift from first person to third person every once and awhile. Ian Flaming also liked to paint a dark picture of human nature. The first paragraph is a dead give away.
The saving grace is the fact that Mr. Fleming KNEW what he was writing about. Codes, foreign spies and military intelligence were in his blood. In some ways the book version of James Bond will always be more realistic, more dangerous, more cruel than any actor playing him on the big screen.

it's a very good book , i read it before the movie comes out
what a pleasant surprise , it was .
the story is great
language and style of the author is charming and cool at the same time
gosh , book is so much better then the movies
you also learn french , english ( UK style ) and how to play different casino games
all in all , wonderful book , nice cover and design
the only small negative is that it is a short story
but otherwise , its good , good and good
:)

This 1953 novel was the beginning of the "James Bond" series. Ian Fleming's work became popular in 1961 America when JFK said he read these books. Fleming created these adventure stories from what he learned from his work in Naval Intelligence during WW 2. The "James Bond" character was based on his idea of the secret agent that he wanted to be. Fleming's knowledge of Jamaica and France, etc. are used for the background in this story. Does the agent on the newspaper remind you of Fleming's career?

Chapter 1 begins at a gambling casino in France. James Bond is on a mission. Le Chiffre, like other naive investors, spent millions in a low-technology business just before its value crashed to earth. The mob he worked for wants their money back, and Le Chiffre is gambling on a new business venture. [Could this sting have been the real attack on Le Chiffre?] The British Secret Service will try to out-gamble Le Chiffre to cause his downfall, and bankrupt his trade union (Chapter 2). [Is this an echo of the Zinoviev Letter?] The deadly sin of gambling is to mistake bad play for bad luck. Bond believed the more effort put into gambling, the better the results. [Is this a common delusion of gamblers?]

The card game of baccarat follows, and explains Bond's thoughts and plays. At first Bond wins, then he loses most of his stake. Reinforcements arrive, and a threat is neutralized. Bond's luck at cards leaves Le Chiffre bankrupt. Mission accomplished. [But this story is only half over.] Next comes a pursuit, a car crash and capture by desperate men. [Could Bond's allies have been out of the picture when there was unfinished business?] It looks like curtains for Bond, but a deus ex machina pops up and gives Le Chiffre an early retirement, saving Bond by default. Mathis and his men find Bond and bring him to a hospital. Bond's recovery finds him philosophizing about good and evil; such discussions were eliminated in later stories.

As Bond recovers, he talks to Vesper Lynd. [I found the false note in her story of being kidnapped.] Chapter 22 shows Bond's recovery, and a pleasant vacation. But is he being followed? Is there a surprise waiting to happen? Is the story in Chapters 23 and 24 creating a false trail? A strange man stops for lunch, and Vesper notices him. For some reason, Bond sits with his back to the door! In Chapter 27 we get the shocking surprise ending, one that recalls some hard-boiled detective stories. This is a good story, but not a great one because of the dependent assumptions that seem doubtful. Could have Bond failed to "trust no one"? The ending reminded me of "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd". After De Gaulle became President of France they revalued the currency making the figures for francs obsolete.

A great beginning for the Bond series (which totals about 13 books from just Ian Fleming). He's a little different than movie James Bond and a little more realistic to boot. Plenty of action, though, I think Bond's escape from Le Chiffre was just a bit too easy. Also, I think the romance with Vesper was a bit too drawn out and he spent too much of the book talking about Bond's "recovery" with Vesper. Other than those two complaints, this is an excellent book, surely it can be called a classic.

A far cry from the lunatic John Huston film by the same name, Casino Royale is a terrific start for Mr. Bond, originally more of an antihero than his celluloid counterpart. Casino Royale delivers with the hard-hitting slam of a blackjack and doesn't stop until the very last page!

this was the best bond book in the series. it would always leave some suspence. If you think the bond books are good you should read another spy book called "The GIS chronicles". It had five story's and was action packed. I can't wait for the next GIS book!!!

I enjoyed this book BECAUSE of some things that others seem to have had trouble with. Bond's falling in love characterizes him as a more complete person than the womanizer of later books and films. Le Chifre's relatively early demise worked okay for me because of the romance. It had a mystery element all its own. And,of course there were plenty of the usual James Bond antics: car chases, elegant evenings, martini drinks, and the inevitable scene where James is tied up and abused by the bad guys. Bravo for this first novel. And good to know that, despite Mr. Fleming's passing, the genre lives on. I am impressed that newcomer Thomas Hopp, with his debut book The Jihad Virus, may be picking up the mantle of Fleming complete with car chases, love, bullets, and a hero tied up and tormented. The two stories are very similar in effect, if not in plot.

As the first James Bond novel, it is fun to read this realizing that probably no one in 1952 foresaw the beginning of an entertainment franchise. Casino Royale is a quick fun read. I read this book 20 years ago and again this year. There is one very violent scene that a reader will remember for more than 20 years. Ultimately most readers should enjoy this as an atmospheric cold war tale loaded with bad guys, beautiful women, cool cars and exotic locations.

The plot of Casino Royale concerns James Bond and Le Chiffre, a Soviet spy. Bond must defeat Le Chiffre at the baccarat tables to foil a plot. Thankfully Fleming explains the rules of baccarat for the uninitiated. The main problem with the novel is its predictability. Casino Royale is the only Bond book never made into a Bond movie, I can understand why. You can't make a movie interesting if the only tension is a roll of dice. It's not hard to guess that James will win at baccarat. After James wins, however, the novel does not end. It meanders for around 90 pages. In Casino Royale, James Bond says love is parabolic, small at the start, fiery in the middle, and small at the end. The same would be true of Casino Royale. The novel is well-written with tight prose, but Fleming's plot couldn't sustain my interest. I still enjoyed and will continue with the series.

Introducing, Bond, James Bond. This is where it all starts ladies and gentlemen. The international man of mystery, the man with the golden gun, and the woman magnet.
This mission was like any other. He had to stop the "le Chiffre" from getting any money. Simple enough, except this time he had a partner. A girl partner. The sexy Vesper. It starts with Bond and "le Chiffre" in a grueling game of Baccarat. I can't even tell you what happens after that, or I'd give away the plot and excitement. It involves a lot of Booms and Bangs.
Bond and Vesper plunge into this action/ mystery novel by Ian Fleming from the beginning. There is always action. The book is full of twists and turns, and even curves when Vesper's around. Fleming's writing is astounding; crammed with details and descriptions. The characters are stuck in your mind for weeks, even after reading it.
A must read!!!

I really don't have any more to say than what has already been put down by my fellow readers. Of course the book is great. But I do pose a question to you the potential reader.

Have you seen the movie "Casino Royal" that is probably being featured at the left of your screen as you scroll through this and other reviews of the book? If you haven't don't waste your time if you are in the mood for the real James Bond.

The movie as you may know is a farce and not even worthy of claiming to be a James Bond film. Pick up the book and see were agent 007 got his literary begining.

After seeing the movie (which has almost nothing to do with this novel), I was curious to see how Fleming originally portrayed James Bond. Casino Royale is still a great action-adventure book.

Hint for anyone who's read a spy novel before: skip chapters 21 - 26 and pick up again at chapter 27. Not only will you be glad you did, but you'll also be ready to go out and have your own adventure that much sooner!

The first Bond book may also be the best (I believe this is a common phenomenon; I think Tom Clancy's and Michael Crichton's first efforts were also their best). Fleming created a fascinating personality -- one very different, as other reviewers have pointed out below, from that portrayed by the various screen actors.

(A minor note: the girl, Vesper, comments that Bond's appearance reminds her of the famous songwriter Hoagy Carmichael. Roger Moore always seemed to me to be totally wrong for Bond, from a physical standpoint at least. Take a look at http://www.redhotjazz.com/hoagy.html to see how far away Moore was from an approximation of Fleming's Bond).

Casino Royale was the first of the bond books. It was strange compared to modern day Bond. It was strangely oddly old fashioned and really never had much action in it. It involved Bond going on an assignment which involved card games. He was trying to bankrupt a Russian Smersh agent. Smersh is a Russian spy killing agency if you didn't know. When Bond was succesful at winning it, one of his assistants, Vesper was captured. I'll let you find the ending for yourself. I would r ate this book as one star. it may be Bond, but it is to boring. It managed to make me get to sleep every night. It could bore anyone to death if they want to read the thrills of Bond. Help! I hate just thinking about it. I do NOT want to see the movie.

This first Bond is a bit unusual for the series. The first part of the book gives us a typical Bond adventure-gambling, women, and sinister villains. The last part is an atmospheric espionage tale in the LeCarre style. This is not a bad thing. This is a Bond novel that will appeal to people who are not Bond fans. However, it will be a disappointment to those who only know 007 from the movies. One can only hope that this book will get made as a serious adventure sometime in the future.

An excellent introduction to the World of of James Bond. I find it very hard to forget the very vivid description of le Chiffre's brutal torture of 007

Casino Royale was the first James Bond novel and it is an amazing work of literature, but it never really seems to capture the mind of the reader. In Fleming's other tales, there is action and excitement, and above all, a solid storyline. However, Casino Royale, while introducing us to Bond and letting us understand him, lacks a sturdy foundation and never really seems to reach quite the climax readers are used to. All in all, however, this story set the groundwork for the other great tales that followed and launched the James Bond empire, something we all should be thankful for.

Casino Royale was the first James Bond novel and it is an amazing work of literature, but it never really seems to capture the mind of the reader. In Fleming's other tales, there is action and excitement, and above all, a solid storyline. However, Casino Royale, while introducing us to Bond and letting us understand him, lacks a sturdy foundation and never really seems to reach quite the climax readers are used to. All in all, however, this story set the groundwork for the other great tales that followed and launched the James Bond empire, something we all should be thatnkful for.

I wasn't sure what to expect when reading this book, this having been the first Bond book that I have read. I have seen all of the movies (official and unofficial), though, so I thought that I'd probably have a feel for the book. Wrong! This Bond is not Sean Connery or Pierce Brosnan. But he's good. He takes chances, and things don't always work out like he has planned, but he makes up for that with a bit of brutal justice. This Bond is a bit more vulnerable, too, as the ending reaveals. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Bond movies, which typically only share Fleming's book title, and possibly a few character names, do not represent the quality of these thrillers. In particular, Casino Royale is one of the best thrillers of this generation. It offers tough characters, atmosphere, and tension from page 1. For crime lovers, this is a blend of the tough guy, Raymond Chandler type characters with the more modern action-oriented plot. Unlike the movies, you feel you know the characters by the end of the book.

The most striking aspect of Ian Fleming's Casino Royale was it's differences from the James Bond films. This book was much darker and less flamboyant than it's cenematic counterpart. James Bond is a more calloused and grimmer protagonist who doesn't rely on an assortment of fantastic gadgets. The book is very entertaining. Fleming understands the intricacies of baccarat and develops a suspenseful story around it. Realism pervades and the story's climax impacts with unanticipated drama, something alien to the sensational films.

Very disappointed. It's a pathetic attempt at genre fiction/ pulp fiction.

Well I started with the very first book and the only one of Fleming I can claim to have read. So maybe it gets better as the James Bond series of novels of his progresses.

I read online that this first novel was rejected by publishers. The only reason it ever got published was through influence of Fleming's brother who was an established figure. I am not surprised.

This book would never get published otherwise.

I mean I have read cheap 30 pence paperback novels which were more thrilling to read than this one.

I would say Fleming's penpal Raymond Chandler is million times better at genre fiction. But then I have to read the later novels of Fleming to see if this series is really the legend that it is claimed to be.

This JAMES BOND is nothing compared to the tough Philip Marlowe or even the predecessor Sam Spade detective fiction.

In espionage, this pales in comparision to the Bourne series of Robert Ludlum which is a masterpiece when compared to CASINO ROYALE.

Any novel by Alistair MacLean would be highly recommended over Casino Royale.

But I will persist and go through the James Bond series of novels to see if it improves and gets better.

I am saddened deeply that the brilliant MATT HELM series by Donald Hamilton is out of print. Matt Helm is incredibly better espionage fiction than Casino Royale.


So is the James Bond legend only because of the Movie franchise? I would say yes even with just one novel of Fleming read so far by me. It has to be the movies and Sir Sean and the writers, stuntmen, technicians, music, that made James Bond into a cult icon and cultural legend.

REVIEW:
The names of the chapters in Casino Royale are unimaginative and tedious. Fleming overuses the word "directly" as well. The dialogue is nowhere close to the witty one-liners we recognise from the movie versions. Bond is very ordinary here. The chapters don't make you curious enough to go on to the next chapter. The action seems realistic but not thrilling enough to call it a Bond adventure.

Comparision with the movie: Daniel Craig certainly made a great version of this story, his thrilling debut as Bond. Many differences with the novel. Unlike in the movie, in the novel the unknown source of the drink at the Casino table is not poison and Bond drinks and plays on. Also Vesper Lynd is not that angel as portrayed in the movie. She doesn't deserve the love as per the novel. Also there is a long list of chapters after the win at the casino and after the torture of Bond - and all of it deals with his emotions for Vesper. Damn! This could have been published by MILLS AND BOONS if it had a happy ending. Also, the car chase and accident of Bond is different in the novel.

Anyways, not to give the plot away, but I don't regret having read the novel. It does give its insights.

Ian Fleming was indeed a spy and active during World War II. But I guess experience doesn't ensure literary merit.

I would say Graham Greene novels on espionage are way better than any of the ones by professional spies. A writer needs to know how to make the story entertaining and intriguing and a page-turner - and it seems professional spies, though giving us some good insights into their lives and actions - fail to make it into a classy genre fiction adventure.

But let's see how it changes or improves!

I remember reading in my childhood an adventure of Nick Carter Killmaster from AXE organisation which my mind feebly recalls as certainly better than Casino Royale, LOLz

RECOMMENDATIONS for reading something other than BOND Novels of Ian Fleming:

Raymond Chandler
Donald Hamilton
Alistair MacLean
Robert Ludlum
Nick Carter-Kill master

"Bond - James Bond", one of the most well-known quotes in the Western world spoken by one of the most well-known characters to ever grace the pages and screens. Casino Royale is Sir Ian Fleming's introduction to the character of Bond, and sets the stage for the many successful and popular sequels to follow.

James Bond - Agent 007 - must play a high-stakes game of Baccarat against a Russian named Le Chiffre, and must prevent him from winning roughly 50 million francs. Bond's sole objective is to prevent Le Chiffre from obtaining that money, which would result in a fate worse for Le Chiffre than merely death.

It seems difficult to make a game of Baccarat interesting, yet Fleming did just that and more, adding a great deal of suspense and action, as well as a woman typical of the Bond franchise. The books offer a different glimpse into the life of Bond than the movies, in that the reader is able to understand the thought process of Bond, rather than just witness his actions. This provides a compelling tale of the most famous secret agent in the world, and Casino Royale provides a glimpse into what turns him into the womanizing man he is famous for - especially the chilling last line of the novel.

Bond as he is portrayed in the movies is a bit of static character. He's motivated by his assignments, hooks up with a lot with women, drives fast cars, drinks and participates in the activities of the social elite. He's fun to watch, but over all he's not a character that I really care about. I know he's going to survive, so why bother getting attached? Casino Royal changed that for me. In this book, Bond actually has a story to tell. He has things that he cares about. He's emotionally confused. He experiences fear and, unlike the movie Bond, doesn't seem completely indestructible. It was interesting to see some of his inner dialog as he works his way through his assignment and to see some of the driving forces behind what he does.

The premise is a little cheesy, but well thought out and fun to think about afterward. The only real complaint that I can raise about this book is the poor development of the secondary characters. It feels like anyone aside from Bond in this book is nothing more than a plot device contrived to push the story along. Granted, Bond was the only person I was really interested in going into this book, but some character development would have helped pull me into the story a little more.

Over all, it's a fun read if you're interested in finding out a little more about who Bond is. The climax is much more moving than the climax in the movie adaption and really helps you understand why Bond is who he is. It's not a book I would write home about, but I would suggest it if you have a few hours to kill in the airport.

I've always loved Bond films but never read any of the books. I read this one in a very short time, which is a change for me. The character really comes through the book well. You can picture your favorite Bond (to each his own) noticing every detail and processing thoughts while you read the story. Great book. Definitely recommended.

I started reading Casino Royale with fairly low expectations. The Bond formula has been executed so many times in film that there are rarely any new surprises. It was Charles Stross' mention of Fleming's writing in The Jennifer Morgue that pushed me towards reading this book, and I have not been disappointed.

The opening sentence about soul-erosion seems to foreshadow Gibson's extended discussion in Pattern Recognition about soul tethers. Fleming then goes on to delve deeply into the history of the Casino, richly detail the various players, and ultimately move on to the plot.

Maybe Fleming's later books become formulaic and derivative, but Casino Royale is surprisingly fresh for a book that is more than half a century old.

If you're a die-hard Bond fan I'm sure you'll enjoy Casino Royal. I don't like giving away "spoilers" but I will just say this book doesn't have as much action as some of the other Bond books. The gambling scenes are interesting, I didn't know how to play baccarat, and fleming explains some of the intracacies of the game before Bond engages in a great game against his antagonist Le Chiffre. If you have seen the movie, the book is not that similar, there are a few things that are the same, but there are also some neat little surprises in here. Be aware however, even though it's the first Bond novel, Casino Royal doesn't reveal anything about Bond's earlier career that you must know before reading the other novels. I wouldn't particularly recommend this novel, the other Bond novels I've read are better.

Many people are familiar with the films about James Bond, the British spy with the `license to kill' running around in a world of glamour and high tech toys but in reading the books you enter a whole new world. The books bring to life the times and culture of the 50's and 60's that has since faded and also have the virtue of giving the reader insight into the mind of Bond, The doubts, fears and self recriminations that film can never capture.

In the first James Bond book ever written, he is sent to France to play cards; the KGB paymaster in France has embezzled funds for private investment and lost it. He is trying to gamble to build his capital back up before the next audit reveals he's all but bankrupted the communist organization in France. Bond cannot just shoot the man. The KGB would quietly replace the funds and make him a martyr for the cause. But if Bond can clean him out at the tables then walk away without his cover being blown, then the communists will kill their own man to punish him sowing discord between French and Soviet communists.

The outstanding film with Daniel Craig broadly follows this with Bond there being responsible for the financial losses too. That film has more action and violence. The book is so well written that the real tension comes from around the card table and while the film shows a luxury high end casino, Fleming's writing sets in detail the feel and smell of the casino's of the northern French coast. It is a world in which the roads, the towns and beaches spring to life and make you wish you could just for a little while visit.

Some have said that Fleming was all glam and Le Carre was the real spy work, but Fleming truly knew the espionage business and his books, written during the cold war, reflect this. In WW2 Fleming worked for the British Secret Service as an organizer and a planner. He was so good at that, that when the US joined the war, he was sent out to help them organize their spy network. He wrote their charter, the raison d'être for the American spy service during the war. That charter was later moved, almost verbatim into the new spy network after the war that exists to this day. So think on that. In effect Ian Fleming, the writer who created the fictional spy James Bond, in real life, wrote the operational charter for the Central Intelligence Agency and with this being his entrance into the fiction genre one can fairly wonder how close to the truth it really was.

I was curious about how Bond was originally conceived in Flemings writings. It satisfied that curiousity. A quick read and in depth. Bond lovers are sure to enjoy.

The first of Ian Fleming's Bond books shows us the agent in his early work. We find Fleming's Bond to be a practical and capable individual, who is more confident in his own abilities and perceptions than what perhaps is warrented. The agent that emerges by novel's end is grim, resourceful and driven. The young James Bond is a far cry from the suave, imperturbable Sean Connery that we all came to admire. His vulnerability makes him more human, and his cold determination makes him less so. I enjoyed the novel and look forward to reading the next in the series.

The book was delivered promptly and it was exactly what I was looking for. It was a gift and the recipient was very pleased. Great service.

It's always interesting reading the first book dealing with a popular character, whether it be Conan, Tarzan or Sherlock Holmes.

The same is true with James Bond.

Two things strike me as really fascinating about this book.
First of all, the first half of the book deals with the card game of baccarat, which hardly sounds like an action-packed setting. Yet Ian Fleming did a good job of explaining the game so that even those like me who have never played baccarat will understand Bond's reactions when he holds 2 Queens in his hand or sees a 9 on the table.
The second is that, despite his profession, Bond does not fire a single shot throughout this novel. At that rate, no shots are fired at him, either.

With such little action, how could this first Bond novel have possibly become a series-starting hit? The answer lies not in the action, but in the rest of the book. For one, we get to see where Bond's attitude towards women comes from, why he orders such complicated drinks and meals, his meticulous methods of ensuring his room has not been disturbed and of his first two assignments that gave him his "00" status in the first place. All these make Bond a very mysterious, almost eccentric, character.

I enjoyed the latest Casino Royale movie with Daniel Craig, and although I felt the movie did some scenes better (the chase scene and torture scenes, especially), the original book is just as good and definitely worth a spot on your bookshelf.

Fleming's first Bond book, and my last. They are not awful, just too slight and inconsequential to be worth reading, and I suspect bear little relation to the movies made from them.

Ian Fleming did a great job with his first James Bond book and I highly recommend it! If you're expecting the Daniel Craig movie (which was very good, mind you), this is not the same story (it's similar, but very, very different).

I don't know if it's where I have already seen the Daniel Craig Casino Royale film or not. When I usually see the film before the book, I love the book so much more because it has way more details. This book I felt didn't. I wanted more explanation about the events and the characters' thoughts and feelings. I didn't get that. I realize that the movie took a lot of liberties especially with the ending but I just thought the book would be so much more. In the book, I never understood why James Bond would fall for Vesper. Their sexual tension was downplayed and she didn't verbally spar with him. I'm not sure why he was interested. I understand after the kidnapping incident why he would fall for her since they had 3 weeks together. I liked the book ending better than that movie ending because it was more realistic and more painful to Bond. However, I didn't get totally why Bond's comrades left him alone. I just thought this book was so so. It wasn't great. I definitely wanted it to be great. I was left very disappointed.

James Bond is a secret agent who is happily able to blend in and get by in the high stakes gambling world. This is his job here, to take down a baccarat operation that is moving funds to SMERSH.

Along the way he has to deal with a beautiful double agent, and a spot of nasty torture.

After his experiences, he thinks about giving the game away, but eventually decides to come back, after his recovery.

This will be the only James Bond book that I read. I grew up on the movies. The book is a short, easy read. But it just does not measure up to the action packed movie.

They say the book is always better than the movie. I usually agree, but in this case I'd say they're equal, but different. No high tech gadgets or fancy special effects here, but you get to see Bond as the author originally created, which makes this well worth the read.

Well I have had Casino Royale sitting in my room for probably 3 or 4 years. I still remember picking it up at B&N, because it looked like something that would be cool, since it was James Bond. Forgotten on the book shelf I didn't even think about it until I saw Casino Royale in theaters back in November, and started hearing all these comparisons to how the movie screwed the book up so badly. So I figured I'd find out for myself. And boy were they right, granted the first novel of the famous James Bond series was not quite as exciting as the movies, or as I hear the other novels are. The book however is still an amazing read. You can really see how Bond's character is shaping to be what we all know and love.

Now this novel is definately a little on the slow side as far as action goes, but it does have its high points with attempted assassinations, torture, and killings. You know, what you would expect from a "00" agent. I really can't wait to read more of Ian Fleming's work, and I really do think that any Bond fan should really read these fantastic novels. For me, it was like a new experience for Bond, because I was expecting the same thing that I see in the movies. However, the character is much more developed and compelling when he is written.

So if you are a fan of the Bond movies and love to read; than this is the novel for you.

After watching Daniel Craig's Bond debut, the most compelling action movie I've seen in years, I felt the urge to go back and reread Ian Fleming's "Casino Royale." I did so with some trepidation that this book, which wowed me as a teenager, would fall flat under my middle-age sensibilities.

To my relief, I enjoyed the book nearly as much as the movie, but for quite different reasons. Fleming's writing style, a mixture of Raymond Chandler's hard boiled cynicism and Hemingway's heroic machismo, forms the image of the real Bond that filmmakers have been struggling for decades to capture. Fleming's bond is a handsome man (love interest Vesper Lynd compares his looks to the 1950s-era musician Hoagy Carmichael) whose handsomeness is tempered by his cold, calculating demeanor, not to mention a nasty scar on the side of his face. He's also a complex, philosophical man with sophisticated tastes in food and drink, interesting theories on gambling and luck, and a fierce loyalty to the British Secret Service (which he comes to question in a lively philosophical exchange with Mathis at the end of the book.)

The film adaptation takes considerable liberties with the plot, updating this cold war spy novel to suit the threats of today's world: Le Chiffre becomes indebted to a terrorist organization rather than a Soviet intelligence agency; wireless electronic gadgets take the place of blunt weapons; and Texas Hold `Em displaces Baccarat at the casino's high-stakes table. The movie also adds a number of action sequences that play much better on the screen than would the many introspective passages of the novel.

Daniel Craig, though more muscular looking and acting than I picture Fleming's Bond, channels the cold, calculating manner of this English assassin much better than Brosnan or even Connery. I'm looking forward to the next installment in this revitalized film franchise and may even continue rereading Fleming's series.

Nothing against Ian Fleming. Maybe it's just me, but I couldn't get into this book. The Bond movies are more exciting than the books.

Bought the book after seeing the movie, book from the 50's movie in the 2006 time frame.

This novel has class. The head of the Soviet espionage network in northern France has been embezzling funds, and hopes to make up the difference by gambling and winning in the French Casino Royale. The British SIS wants to thwart him by dispatching its own best secret agent/gambler, James Bond, to ensure that the Soviet agent is outplayed and broken. This makes for an elegant and engaging story that is one of the very best James Bond novels.

In this novel we met Felix Leitner of the CIA for the first time. We learn a fair amount about James Bond early in his career. More would be telling, but this is a superb, well-written, and fast-paced story that kept me up until 3 in the morning because I could not put it down. James Bond is far more than a cartoon character or action figure. In this novel he is a fallible but competent human being engaged in rich living and, if he is not careful, hard dying. Don't miss this one.

Highly recommended.

This is not only Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel but one of his best. It is richly textured, well written, clearly defines the Bond character and has survived not only as good literature but as a great period piece of the 50s. It also gives us a glimpse of the often unseen smoke filled cocktailed night life found in Europe's plush casinos of that era. Clearly, James Bond is a worldly character that lives and breaths in this unseen world described by Ian Fleming in this novel. James Bond can easily adapt to any locale or situation, size it up and endure. He is both innovative and resourceful and he must rely on his talents and instincts to survive. This is a very good Bond novel. The blatantly mod movie edition with a cover designed from the movie poster of the 1967 version of CASINO ROYALE is a bit deceiving to say the least from Ian Fleming's brilliant prose contained between the covers.

Despite the poor cover design of this edition one must remeber that this is not only Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel but one of his best. It is richly textured, well written, clearly defines the Bond character and has survived not only as good literature but as a great period piece of the 50s. It also gives us a glimpse of the often unseen smoke filled cocktailed night life found in Europe's plush casinos of that era. Clearly, James Bond is a worldly character that lives and breaths in this unseen world described by Ian Fleming in this novel. James Bond can easily adapt to any locale or situation, size it up and endure. He is both innovative and resourceful and he must rely on his talents and instincts to survive. This is a very good Bond novel.

Casino Royale has always been one of my favorites of Ian Flemings series. The books are much "quieter" and in some ways more interesting than the flashy movies. Casino Royale's casino atmosphere in the showdown at cards between Bond and Le Chiffre is great as a no-blood, no-violence but nevertheless exciting shoot-out.

Casino Royale is the 1st in the original Bond Series by Ian Fleming. This book introduces us to Bond and develops a character rich in emotion and personal insight. We find out Bond has recently been "awarded" a 00 status by the British Secret Service for some unsavory acts that he committed against terrorists. Bond does not describe the award as something he is particualry proud of but rather as something that had to be done for the good of his country.

The plot revolves around SMASH, a soviet organization bent on killing all foreign spies. One of their top dogs named La Chieffre, finds himself in a pickle after losing a lot of their money. In an attempt to regain it, he resorts a last ditch effort, high stakes gambling at Casino Royale. Bond is sent to stop him from recovering the funds. The story at that point is classic Bond and progresses with amazing clarity and execution.

The second half of the novel revolves around a relationship Bond develops with a young woman named Vespa. They fall in love and Bond is set to marry her, except that she is acting mysteriously. The ending is quite a shocker, especially the last line.

On a side note, a new Bond film is set to be released based on this novel and named the same. Read the book first and then see the movie is my suggestion. The book is great and you will see why Bond is unforgettable.

This was very interesting to read. It's the first James Bond novel, and also the only one that was not made into a film as part of the James Bond franchise. (At least not yet. I understand the upcoming James Bond film is Casino Royale.) I'm not sure I like the character of James Bond very much in this, but he does have a lot more depth than in the movies. He's also more fallible. I love the cover art on this book, and love even more that the picture of the girl on the front matches the description of the girl in the book, instead of being unrelated glamorous-looking girl.

this book gives you the base and roots for who the greatest action hero of all time is. it tells of his initiation mission that made him a 00 agent. well written, excellent story/plot. an intense high stakes bacarat game (and i don't even care for cards in real life), an attempted murder turned accidental suicide that makes you feel like you're standing on the street watching, a teeth grinding nail biting torture scene, and a beautiful dame. wow!

i'm shocked that this book was originally looked over as a choice to make into a movie. it is excellent. i have no interest in gambeling and yet i was on the edge of my seat when bond was in the hole some ten million francs at the baccarat table. the whole story was gripping, including an ending that will sadden for a moment and then swiftly twist and satisfy.

Being someone who has seen a lot of James Bond movies, I picked up this book to see where it all started. And I have to say, I was dissapointed. The climax of the book took place right in the middle, and there was endless detail after detail after detail. And I know it was written back in 1953 and it was a different world back then, but I was shocked as to how politically incorrect it was. Spy fiction was not my thing in the first place, but I can honestly say that I'll be sticking to the movies for the forseeable future.

Just as Sean Connery is the only real Bond, Ian Fleming remains the only real Bond author. For various reasons, I have not been as enthusiastic with all of the Fleming Bond novels, but I was very pleased to have just read this initial Bond book. The differences between the movies and the books are as different as the actors who have played the British secret agent. The book version of 007 gives us a much more human character. His confidence some times shakes, and he is left with much self doubt. Instead of a witticism at the sight of an antagonist's violent death, he becomes ill. He is harmed, and he cries. This is a "man's" book that I did not hesitate to offer to my wife to read.
This book did not become a traditional movie. Instead the owner of the book rights (not the author) turned the story into a spy farce. There are important aspects of the book, however, that will be noticed in the true Bond movies. The story is different from Fleming's other stories, but the reader will not be disappointed. If nothing else, you will learn how to play the game of Baccarat, and how to make the famous Bond martini.

This was a good book but it felt like the story finished very quickly like on page 130 and the death of the guy was quick. It is hard to explain about how short feeling it was. But the end was touching and sad. You can obviously tell Fleming hasn't got his rythem yet but in later books like Moonraker, the best, he got better and you were at the edge of your seat. But this was a great book and definatly recommended!

I have now had the pleasure of reading all of the Fleming Bond novels, and there isn't bad one among them. Most are excellent. Fleming was the Tom Clancy of his day, and his books are meticulous in their accuracy, and the writing never loses the reader. James Bond comes across as very human in the novels, and easy to identify with (with the possible exception of his spy skills). One of the great things about Casino Royale is its explanation of Baccara (sp?). For the novice, one gets a quick and understandable introduction to the game, an indespensible tool for sitting with 007 as he tries to financially ruin a kingpin in the French Communist Party. For those with an historical interest, the writing inside the setting of 1950's Europe and America is priceless.

I'm reading the whole James Bond Series including the Gardner and Benson books. I'm on Goldfinger now and this is one of the best I've read so far. When the two men in straw hats come in I couldn't put down the book! Fleming's description is great and the baccarat game with Le Chiffre, the torture scene and the surprise ending are the highlights in this one! Overall, Highly Recommended!

This was my first "Bond" book and I loved it. It is a little slow moving, but the baccarat game in the casino, the torture scene, and the surprise ending were all great. It is 10 times better than the movie and I am now reading Fleming's second book, "Live and Let Die," which is also great; when I finish it I will review that as well. All in all, I love this book and I plan to read all the books in the James Bond Series. I highly recommend reading this book!

A absolutely great story. Entertaining, fun, and it has a great ending! I just began reading the Bond series a little while ago I'm goin to read Gardner's and Benson's too but out of the ones I've read so far(Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, and Diamonds Are Forever)this is just as good as the others. Live and Let Die and From Russia With Love are the best so far! But overall a good read and the great torture scene in the middle with Le Chiffre, the relationship with him and Vesper! It's a grade A book and I loved it!

It's good to read the book that introduced the world to James Bond. In this novel we see Bond be as ruthless as he can to get Le Chiffe, an agent of Sovirt murder organization SMERSH, has a tragic ending and doesn't show Bond riding off into the sunset with the girl though.

It was good ,but had more detail than action,I also think it had a stupid last 30 pages. I suggest that you try and get it from a library ,but it's out of print. Not worth what I paid.

THIS IS THE FIRST 007 NOVEL, BOND IS UNLIKE HIMSELF, A VERY DIFFERENT CHARACTER FROM OTHERS. BUT THIS BOOK IS VERY ORIGINAL, AND IS THE MOST VIOLENT, DEFINITLY THE MOST CLIMAX OF AN ENDING THAN THAT OF THE OTHERS. I RECOMEND READING THIS ONE FIRST.

This book does an excellant job of introducing 007. In my opinion the best part was the shooting of Le Cheriffe

The most original and moving of the Bond novels. Read it

Fleming's world of sex violence and gambling are what make the James Bond series such a diverse and interesting collection. Because of Fleming's first book, he makes Bond the ideal man. This is the best novel in the world.

Casino Royale is the first, and therefore the most coarse, of the 007 novels. Unfortunately, Woody Allen and company made a farce version before a serious version could be made. Try to forget that movie when you are reading this novel.

Perhaps they will make it as the 20th or 25th Bond film.

i think its true what they say the first story in any series is the best and ian fleming's casino royal makes that statement true.i loved the book because its not the same bond you see in the movies he's like bond before the movies got a hold on him.it's awesome.thats probably why quentin tarantino wants to make the movie...

007's debut is a classic and deceptively simple adventure tale. A great story due to the concrete style of Fleming's writing and his very precise creation of the ambiance of the casino, the ruthless menace projected by the first of the Bond villians, Le Chiffre, and the haunting, seductive quality of Vesper Lynd. A riveting adventure story that stuck with me, partly because it did NOT have the classic ending we grew so accustomed to in the films. This one hooked me on Bond for all time.

This truly is a novel in a sub-genre of its own. Fleming revolutionizes here the suspense/action thrillers presenting to us a modern-day hero (still modern 35 years later). The style of this book is fresh, hard, sensuous and nerve-wrecking, but with high class and humor (specially in the René Mathis character). But is also realistic and written in a straightforward, clear, simple style that makes the story more strong. From his second Bond novel on, Fleming showed a distinctive sweeping, fluid and rich style that emphazised scenery and detail. But in "Casino Royale", for once, Bond is the British spy modern equivalent of US private eye Philip Marlowe, only more idealistic and sensible (007 really falls in love in his frist 00 assignment). The plot is original and modest, specially when it comes to the villain's plan. Leiter is introduced here, and one hopes to read much more of Mathis (he did only a brief appearence in "From Russia, With Love" four years later). Regarding the films, though, the story would be (for better or worst) too intimate, human and modest to follow the screen treatments other 007 books had.

Casino Royale is basically about a Soviet agent working in Southern France (as far as I can gather) misusing state funds to pay for his prositution and other rings, but France has passed some laws, meaning that he has to re-coup his money, Bond is sent in to brake his bank and funds by outplaying him at Baracatt (spelling).

The book shows Bond as a dark and moody character, there was never any real character description of what Bond looks like but you get the feeling of who is he is and how he ticks (works). James Bond is written to be a hard gambler, and not the super suarve spy we all know today.

The plot, is somewhat misunderstandable, firstly, if Le Chiffe (the bad guy) is misusing State funds, and has bascially lost it all due to prositution laws, this means that SMERSH (the part of the KGB which kills off traitorous agents, etc) would already be tracking him down, so why was there the need for James Bond in the novel, all he really did was to speed it up.

Then there was the girl, a very good description of an equally brilliant girl, who has a sting right at the end of the tail.

Of course the book was enjoyable at times, the haunting beating scene and the gambling scenes are brilliantly written, and a good atmopshere is created, but I still don't understand why Bond was used

Fleming kicks off his series with a bang. Here he establishes his classic mix of exotic locales, beautiful women, and breathtaking action. The reader can really feel the tension in the casino during Bond's showdown with LeChiffre. In addition, the titles in the James Bond Classic Library series are inexpensive but very nice-looking hardcover volumes

This is the book that started it all. It contains a young James Bond with only two kills under his belt. His mission? To break SMERSH's bank account by beating Le Chiffre in...BACCARAT. This book has him meet Felix for the first time, gives the exact formula for his Vodka Martini. The is a must for any true bond fan. It also has a surprize ending