Thunderball (James Bond Novels)
by Ian Fleming
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ian FlemingEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2003-05-27
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Book Reviews of Thunderball (James Bond Novels)
Book Review: Enter Blofeld
Summary: 4 Stars
"Thunderball" was Ian Fleming's ninth published James Bond book, his first Bond novel published in the 1960s (1961), and the first to feature a threat residing not in Soviet Russia, but from a shadowy international conspiracy, known as SPECTRE and run by Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
"...he was one of those men - one meets perhaps only two or three in a lifetime - who seem almost to suck the eyes out of your head," Fleming writes of the enigmatic criminal mastermind, who goes here also by the alias "Number Two".
"Number One", for the moment, is Emilio Largo, one of Blofeld's underlings. Largo is Blofeld's selected leader for a plot which involves stealing two atomic bombs from a hijacked bomber and holding the world at ransom for 100 million British pounds in gold. Bond is sent to the Bahamas on a hunch by his superior M. There, 007 discovers Largo's operation and grows suspicious.
"Thunderball" makes good use of one of the best plots in the series, one Fleming worked on in script form with Jack Whittingham and Kevin McClory. The novel itself bears the unmistakable stamp of Fleming, weaving his usual descriptive magic with sunny tourist-trap landscapes and wondrous, deadly undersea scuba expeditions at night.
You also got to love the left-field opening. Bond is sent by M to get himself purged of what M considers a too-deadly lifestyle. Not the kill-or-be-killed missions M sends him on, but Bond's smoking, drinking, and consumption of rich foods. Off Bond goes to a health farm, Shrublands, where he ironically comes up against SPECTRE for the first time in the form of a wolfish minor player named Count Lippe. For a while, Bond even accepts the regimen, counseling his housekeeper May on the pitfalls of denatured or "dead" foods. Thankfully, Bond snaps out of his granola ecstasy after a final run-in with the Count.
"It just occurred to me that life's too short," he tells May. "Plenty of time to watch the calories when one goes to heaven."
The book Bond was always a different character from the more rogue-ish Bond of the movies. Prone to the blues, self-questioning (especially about whether Largo is worth his suspicions), and emotionally connected here with at least one of his lovers, Domino Vitali, Largo's kept woman who earns Bond's respect initially with her no-apologies lifestyle. Domino is one woman who takes her sex as opportunistically as any man, even Bond, but Bond senses she has a real heart worth protecting.
The story moves along quickly, much of it underwater. Bond wards off barracudas and sharks, dodges venom-tipped spears and grenades, and chews on Domino's foot when she steps on some sea-egg spines. The seduction is one of the best in the canon, especially when it's not clear who's doing the seducing.
"This is the first time I've eaten a woman," Bond says. "They're rather good."
The novel does sag in the last act, like "gobirds2" notes in another review here. Fleming seemed to have trouble ending his Bond novels. To this point, only "Casino Royale" and "From Russia With Love" had endings that lived up to their build-up. "Thunderball", unlike them, plays it rather straight, yet winds up rushed and convoluted anyway.
SPOILERS - Three problems with the story worth relating to those who have already read the book. One, why does Largo enlist the brother of his mistress to execute his deadly plan, risking the possibility someone might look for her as a result? Two, why does Bond trust her anyway after making this connection, which would seem to tie her in with Largo's plan? Three, why can't Bond have Largo's craft intercepted by the sizable Navy assets at his disposal, once Largo's plot is found to be underway, rather than attempt a more dangerous attack underwater? - END SPOILERS
I know, I know. It's Bond. If you ask too many questions, you're missing the point. Fortunately, "Thunderball" is the kind of novel that keeps those questions from being asked until after you are done reading it.
Summary of Thunderball (James Bond Novels)
James Bond is in disgrace. His medical report is critical of the high living that is ruining his health, and M packs him off to a health farm to be tuned up to his former pitch of exceptional fitness.Bond expects a trying two weeks. The last thing he expects is an adversary more deadly, more ruthless even than SMERSH.
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