For Your Eyes Only

It's great to read the real thing, and the stories are engagingly written, at least as fun as teh movies.

All of Fleming's Bond novels, and most of his short stories, are such a relief to read in today's relativist, anti-patriotic, multi-cultural, male-bashing or emasculating culture. These novels (and also Mickey Spillane's) are my measure of what a cultural norm should be. They are such an antidote to the weepy, pseudo-introspective rubbish that passes for popular literature today.

of the stories in this novel, the quantum of solice is the most thought provoking. Action-packed, not here. Solice is simply brilliant like a good phyc. movie. The characters in Solice are flawed and life-like. This story hits hard because I know these people I went to school with them, I worked with them. Your eyes is a good book, but I find myself picking it up only to read Solice, which is not about action or spies, but revenge and redemption. Not murderous revenge, but love revenge.

Ian Fleming's James Bond short stories, the five in this book plus "Octopussy" and "The Living Daylights", are a good way to sample Fleming's writing and the world of 007 without the time investment of a novel. It's quite the "in thing" to turn up your nose at James Bond...Ludlum & LaCarre are more realistic, the movies are Saturday morning cartoons in live-action, etc. But Fleming said many times, in person and in print, that he wrote thrillers for a living, and what happens to James Bond does not happen in real life. If you accept the books on those terms, they're a lot of fun to read. "For Your eyes Only" and Fleming's other 007 books have been re-printed for the 50th anniversary of the first book, "Casino Royale". Other reviewers in this space have done an excellent job with these short stories. I'd like to give the reasons why Ian Fleming and James Bond are still legends after 50 years... THE PLOTS -- Although Fleming sometimes veers into outlandishness, the missions and situations that he puts 007 into usually have some grounding in Cold War reality. The reader gets a glimpse into the dangers and paranoia of that era. THE WRITING -- Fleming, a former newspaper reporter, has a vivid and economical writing style that grabs you from the beginning and pulls you right along to the end. He makes good writing look easy. LOCATIONS -- Fleming was known for going to the places where James Bond operated, and taking copious notes. Whether the action takes place on a coral reef, in Paris after World War II, or in Bermuda high society, Fleming has the ability to put you right there. THE BOND WOMEN -- Sure, they're all beautiful, and they all tumble to 007's charm. But Fleming had a good eye for people in general and women in particular. Far from being mere damsels in distress or decorations for 007, the women in Fleming's stories are tough, savvy, and capable. BOND HIMSELF -- Ian Fleming's James Bond gets scared, makes mistakes, gets hurt, doesn't always get the girl, has real moral misgivings about the darker side of his job, and drinks coffee, water, ginger ale, and double bourbons, not just vodka martinis "shaken, not stirred." In other words, a more believable and human character than the movie superhero.

I have always loved writing short stories better than a full length novel, but don't often enjoy reading them as much. Perhaps because I'm so familiar with Fleming's Bond, I really enjoyed some of these stories and didn't need all the filler.Anyone who has enjoyed a Bond novel should like at least a couple of the stories in this collection. I especially like the moral dilemma Bond finds himself in while being a predator near the end of The Hildebrand Rarity.