Search results
Ian Fleming. 3.74. 86,274 ratings6,194 reviews. British Secret Service agent James Bond, a.k.a. 007, is sent to France to play in a high-stakes baccarat game in an effort to take down Le Chiffre, a financier for the villainous SMERSH.
- (86K)
- Mass Market Paperback
Mar 30, 2022 · Ian Fleming’s inaugural James Bond novel (Casino Royale, 1953) introduces us to the fictional French town of Royale-les-Eaux, a coastal enclave perched near the mouth of the Somme where a lavish casino sits.
- Casino Royale: Title
- Casino Royale: Logline
- Casino Royale: Plot Summary
- Casino Royale: Alternative Cover
- Casino Royale: Analysis
- Casino Royale: My Verdict
- Want to Read Or Watch It?
- A Kill in The Morning
- Agree? Disagree?
The title uses a classic title archetype, the Setting, The Royale-les-Eaux casino being where the bulk of the novel takes place. (For more on titles, see How to Choose a Title For Your Novel)
In 1950s France, a British spy tries to bankrupt a corrupt Soviet agent at the card table. When the plan succeeds at a terrible cost, he must decide between love and duty. (For more on loglines, see The Killogator Logline Formula)
Casino Royaleopens with James Bond gambling at the Royale-les-Eaux casino in France. Amongst the gamblers is Le Chiffre, who is a Soviet agent. The story then flashes back to a briefing by M, the head of the British Secret Service. Le Chiffre controls a trade union for the Soviets but has stolen union money and invested it disastrously. Now his fin...
An unusual cover for me, not my usual minimalist style, but the playing card reminded me of Vesper and I liked the way the ‘Y’ in ‘Royale’ looks a bit like a cocktail glass. (For more on designing novel covers, see How to Make a Book Cover)
Plot
Casino Royale has what I can only describe as an unusual plot structure. Technically, it’s a Hybrid plot, starting as a Mission before becoming a Romantic Tragedy (see Spy Novel Plotsfor explanation of the four archetypal spy novel plots). The novel has three immense set pieces. The rest of the plot merely serves to move the characters between the highlights as functionally as possible, as the author later acknowledged: The heart of the book is the first of the major set pieces, Bond and Le C...
Romance
Bond’s affair with Vesper takes up the last quarter of the book. This doomed romance seems like a different novel to the rest of the story. It’s humanising in its own way, although Bond exhibits the chauvinism and patronising attitudes of his time (as with The Riddle of the Sands, The Thirty-Nine Steps, andThe Great Impersonation,the reader must make ‘allowances’ for the attitudes of a bygone time). The final twist, and Bond’s bitter response to it, sets his character up for the rest of the f...
Writing Style
Also, the book just isn’t very well written. Critics often describe Fleming’s writing style as “journalistic”, and the long descriptive passages are certainly that, but the prose is laboured, and some of the dialogue is ridiculous. Casino Royale may have three highly effective set pieces, but the intervening chapters are serviceable at best. Much of it appears in essence to be padding, with Fleming indulging in various digressions such as the farcical and irrelevant botched assassination and...
A curious book. Poorly written, oddly structured, but with some magnificent scenes. It would be a shame for any spy-thriller fan to miss out on it. The electrifying set-piece scenes more than make up for its faults.
Here’s the trailer for the 2006 film: The novel of Casino Royale is available on US Amazon here, and UK Amazon here. The 2006 film is available on US Amazon here, and UK Amazon here.
If you like James Bond then you’ll love my novel A Kill in the Morning, which SFF Worlddescribed as “an action-packed romp that Ian Fleming would be proud of.” You can read the opening here: The first two chapters of A Kill in the Morning. If you’d like to buy A Kill in the Morningthen: 1. In the UK: A Kill in the Morning on Amazon UK,although the ...
If you’d like to discuss anything in my Casino Royale review, please email me.Otherwise, please feel free to share it using the buttons below.
Mar 13, 2023 · Ian Fleming’s first novel Casino Royale is the book that started the James Bond adventures that have become legendary. Bond has become an icon throughout the decades and the legend is still growing with more movies. Find out why you should read this James Bond novel!
Jan 9, 2017 · The book is just the same. The plot revolves around a high stakes game of Baccarat at a glamourous casino (Texas Hold ‘Em Poker in the film, I am reliably informed). Bond, being the best card player in the service, is sent by MI6 to defeat a known enemy at the baccarat table and thus bankrupt him.
Sep 23, 2011 · CASINO ROYALE. by Ian Fleming ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 23, 1954. An expensive game of counterespionage is played out in a French gambling casino when Bond, a Secret Service man, is assigned to defeat Le Chiffre Communist agent at the tables.
Jan 27, 2016 · Although it was the 21st movie in the series of Bond films, Casino Royale was the very first Bond novel written by Ian Fleming. Appropriately enough, its film adaptation was essentially a reboot of the Bond series with Daniel…
