Rating: 
Summary: Where It All Began
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Meet 007 for the first time
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Introducing Mr. Bond - James Bond
Review: "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
Rating: 
Summary: Casino Royale introduces the world to agent 007.
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: An apprentice novel, and one of the weakest in the series.
Review: "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.
Rating:
Summary: Meet 007 for the first time
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: What Every Man Wants To Be...
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars for its genre
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A super agent, but not a super man.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Top notch right out of the gate.
Review: 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.
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