Throwback Thursday (16): The Spy Who Loved Me

 

Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by The Housework Can Wait and Never Too Fond of Books.

It’s the nature of book blogging to focus mainly on new releases, but there are thousands of great books out there that haven’t seen the “New Releases” shelf in years. We hope to be able to bring attention to some older titles that may not be at the top of the current bestseller list, but still deserve a spot in your To-Be-Read pile.

You don’t have to be a book blogger to participate! You can put up a Throwback Thursday post on your non-bookish blog; or if you don’t have a blog at all, just use the comments to tell us about a book you remember fondly.

My Throwback Thursday:

The Spy Who Loved Me (James Bond #9)
By Ian Fleming
Originally published in 1962

Synopsis:

“He was about six feet tall, slim and fit. The eyes in the lean, slightly tanned face were a very clear grey-blue and as they observed the men they were cold and watchful. His good looks had a dangerous, almost cruel quality that had frightened me. But now, I knew he could smile, I thought his face exciting, in a way no face had ever excited me before…”

Vivienne Michel is in trouble. Trying to escape her tangled past, she has run away to the American backwoods, winding up at the Dream Pines Motor Court. A far cry from the privileged world she was born to, the motel is also the destination of two hardened killers – the perverse Sol Horror and the deadly Sluggsy Morant. When a coolly charismatic Englishman turns up, Viv, in terrible danger, is not just hopeful, but fascinated. Because he is James Bond, 007: the man she hopes will save her, the spy she hopes will love her…

Why do I love this book?

This is my favorite of all the Ian Fleming’s books even though it was not well received by critics or loyal Bond fans. The entire book is from the woman’s perspective which is completely different than any other Bond book. Ian Fleming’s intent was “to write a cautionary tale about Bond, to put the record straight in the minds particularly of younger readers…the experiment has obviously gone very much awry.” However, not everyone hated this book. Esther Howard, from The Spectator, said that “Surprisingly Ian Fleming’s new book is a romantic one and ,except for some early sex in England (rather well done, this) only just as nasty as is needed to show how absolutely thrilling it is for… the narrator to be rescued from both death and worse – than by a he-man like James Bond. Myself, I like the Daphne du Maurier touch and prefer it this way but I doubt his real fans will.”

The book is completely different from the movie.  In fact, they have completely different storylines and characters. I didn’t like the movie at all. Roger Moore, in my opinion, is a horrible Bond.