From Russia with Love

A well paced adventure that doesn't rely on too many gadgets. A classic for the Bond fan.

I grew up being taken to the Bond flicks by my parents. I guess that made me think that the books they were based upon were mere vehicles for screenplays. I do not remember much of this movie (except the final scene) but I can not imagine it was nearly as good as the book. I was amazed at the quality of writing. Fleming can portray bad guys as well as anyone, if not better. He built suspense from the first page and never let it diminish. Amazingly, we do not see James Bond until the book is about a third of the way through. Once we do, he is classic Bond. Fleming throws a bit of tongue-in-cheek to add to the charm of the hero. The gambit as devised by the Russians is terrific and nuanced. Bond's floundering then overcoming then....well can't give the end is classic, yet still "delicious". My one disappointment is that Bond never ordered a martini. A fun and terrific read. Fleming does spies as well as anyone, including LeCarre, but he does it with excitement and a bit of humor. Highly, highly recommended.

Considered by many to the be the best James Bond 007 book of all time, From Russia With Love delivers the perfect formula for a James Bond novel. Originally, Ian Fleming's tales of 007 were not going so good, so he intended with this book to kill off James Bond once and for all. The end of this novel is quite a surprise to a first time reader. The book begins by telling of the commanding rule of SMERSH. The leader of this organization is General Grubozaboyschikov. Also working is Colonel Rosa Klebb and director of planning Kronsteen, who treats real people as if they were chess pieces. The muscle of the group is a homicidal madman, who follows orders, and is in practically perfect physical shape, Donovan "Red" Grant. These evil minds have planned the perfect way to destroy the life and reputation of James Bond. Their plan is to lure 007 with the beatiful Tatiana Romanova and a Spektor cipher decoding machine as bait. Then Grant will meet up with them eventually and kill them both. However, SMERSH will take it a step further to lie to the public that Bond and Tatiana were in an affair, and that Bond commits suicide. It's a perfect plan.Bond indeed does travel to Istanbul, believing that this girl wants to defect, and will give him the Spektor machine only if he personally helps her. 007 meets Darko Kerim, and a wonderful gypsy fight adds to the fun of the story. Bond and Tatiana travel on a train back to Europe, where he meets Red Grant and is told of the plan to kill him. An extremely bvrutal gun and fist fight breakes out between the men with 007 shooting Grant. 007 goes to Paris with Tatiana to catch Rosa Klebb in a meeting. However, Klebb releases a poison knife from her shoe and kicks 007 in the leg, before being taken away by the police. The story ends with 007 lying on the floor of the hotel room...Perhaps the finest story of Ian Fleming, filled with the excitement and adventure to give this book it's reputation as on of the best 007 novels ever!

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE is generally considered to be the very best James Bond book. In this case, conventional wisdom is right. I recently re-read the book, originally published in 1957, and it was even better than I remember it being.First, the flaws: Like most Flemming novels, much of the plot is implausible. The story revolves around a scheme by the Soviets to embarrass the British Secret Service by killing James Bond in a compromising position. Perhaps it is because we live in a post-Monica Lewinski world, but this doesn't seem to be that much of a big deal. The movie version of FRWL seems to acknowledge the weakness of the reasoning behind the sequence of events that make up the story. The movie makes Bond's planned embarrassing death a secondary consequence of the villains' (this time SPECTER, not the Soviets) plot to steal the Russian decoder, which in the book is merely used as bait. Another common problem with Flemming's Bond, which is again on display, is that he is rather gullible and pretty much goes along for the ride without using his wits to solve mysteries or get out of jams. In FRWL he misses obvious clues, believes a thinly disguised enemy agent enough to hand over his gun without much of a thought, and fails to ever put "two and two together." Despite all the flaws, FRWL is a great book. If the plot has holes, the collection of words are beautiful in themselves, from Flemming's detailed description of food and drink, to the combat scenes that really come to life in this book. The character of Bond is more interesting here than in previous books - he demonstrates a sense of humor and playfulness, shows emotion and even has moments of reflection. The series of villains, while cartoonish, are fun. The lurking presence of Red Grant is menacing. Bond's interactions with the villains forms the basis for the series of events that make the story flow. Once the silly premise is accepted, the rest of the sequence of events makes a certain amount of sense. This internal coherence (which was missing to some degree in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER) added with a fast pace makes the book hold together and never seem slow or dull.What separates FRWL from the other books, however, is that it contains some genuine surprises, including its truly unexpected ending. The ending is even more unexpected because it is explained away in DR. NO. But the ending should be read for what it is in the context of the book itself, not in the larger context of the series. Finally, one of the things I enjoy about Flemming's Bond books is that because they were written in the 1950's, they have a feel for a different world, with different values, assumptions, and cultural icons. This differentness is on full display in FRWL. While I have no illusions of the world depicted in Bond books having any resemblance to actual history, the transportation into another world is achieved more purely than could be by a contemporary author writing a period piece.

This is one of my favorites! Bond vs. SMERSH. The book is wonderful I had trouble putting it down.Kerim Bey is a great character and the plot for Bond and Tatania to meet up so SMERSH can kill Bond is great. The Orient Express is where most of the action is but the highlights in this is the fight at the gypsy camp, when Kerim kills Krilencu, the fight with Bond and Grant on the Orient Express and when Bond and Klebb fight in the hotel room. Great book and one of the best in the series! Highly Recommended!!!

SMERSH, Russia's "murder department", are out toget 007 killed. A lure is laid in the form of avivacious lady, who later switches sides to become the Bond Girl. A murderous, herculean maniac and a dedicated head of execution are hell bent on Bond's blood. Plotted in a turmoiled Turkey, it is many a difficulty Bond has to face to save himself, or rather save what he can of himself!