Book Review - Moonraker

My brother gave me three James Bond novels for my Kindle for Christmas. I'm not a James Bond novel fan, but I'm fast becoming one. Although I was sorely unimpressed by the gifting and exchange policy that Amazon has - as I tried to return these books - having just finished Moonraker I wonder if this difficulty was serendipitous. Moonraker was really good.

Having now read Octopussy, Dr. No and Moonraker I'm surprised by just how good the books are and how horrible are the movies. Even Octopussy, nothing more than a series of vignettes and short stories, is better than the movie. When I think of the movie Moonraker what comes to mind is Bond navigating a boat down the Amazon looking for orchids, his falling off a waterfall and whipping out a hang glider, and of course I remember Jaws, Jaw's girlfriend and the space station climax. The only thing that the novel shares with the movie is the main character and the title. The book is far, far better. I'm still trying to figure out why they didn't just use the story from the book for the movie.

Perhaps my favorite part of the book was Flemings description of the club Blades in London and Bond's game of bridge with Hugo Drax who is described with the wonderful dental vocabulary words below. Having never been a bridge player I'm always enthralled by the lexicon of the Bridge player. Laydown Grandslam, trumps, finessing, etc. all fun. One of the best lines was this one:

And suddenly Basildon understood. It was a laydown Grand Slam for Bond against any defense. Whatever Meyer led, Bond must get in with a trump in his own hand or on the table. Then, in between clearing trumps, finessing of course against Drax, he would play two rounds of diamonds, trumping them in dummy and catching Drax's ace and king in the process. After five plays he would be left with the remaining trumps and six winning diamonds. Drax's aces and kings would be totally valueless. It was sheer murder.

It's that last line that makes the rest of it so much fun to read. Actually, had the book ended after this scene at Blades I would have felt content.

My notes and marks:

I liked this description of the woman's smile,

The careful warmth of her smile of welcome dropped about ten degrees.

This conversation occurs right before a bomb blast that catches Bond and the girl, Gala. I like the way Fleming describes it.

She lauged. "I was teased about it all through school," she said. . . . "I'm always having to change my name now that I'm in the Special Branch."

"In the Special Branch," "In the Special Branch." "In the . . ."

When the bomb falls. When the pilot miscalculates and the plane hits short of the runway. When the blood leaves the heart and consciousness goes, there are thoughts in the mind, or words, or perhaps a phrase of music, which ring on for a few seconds before death like the dying clang of a bell.

Bond wasn't killed, but the words were still in his mind, several seconds later, after it all happened.

At one point Gala realizes that the Moonraker is going to destroy London, her reaction:

So one's heart really does go into one's throat. How extraordinary. Such a commonplace and yet there it is and it really does almost stop one breathing.

And some vocabulary:

Chemin de fer - French term for railway or Baccarat Chemin de Fer, a variation of the card game, Baccarat.

Prognathous - having a projecting lower jaw

Diastema - a dental term referring to a space or gap between two teeth

Chicane - an artificial feature creating extra turns in a roadway, used in motor racing and on city streets to slow cars

Baize - soft, usually green, woolen or cotton fabric resembling felt, used chiefly for the tops of billiard tables.

Easily the best Bond I've read yet. Thanks Dave.