Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

Neuf á la banque.  

It is one of those odd coincidences: the first James Bond movie (Dr No) and the first Beatles single (Love Me Do) were released on the same date.  Both Bond and the Beatles were to dominate the popular culture landscape of the Sixties, but who would have ever suspected that on 5 October 1962?

The Beatles have come and gone, as has Ian Fleming, but James Bond is still going strong, with the latest installment in the Bond movies, Skyfall, being released 50 years after Dr No.  Having seen all the Bond films but never having read an Ian Fleming novel, I thought I would kick off with the first in the series, Casino Royale (1953).

The plot is quite a simple one: Bond's assignment is to bankrupt Le Chiffre, a union organiser and suspected Soviet agent, by playing cards against him at the casino in the French resort town of Royale; Bond's cover is blown even before he arrives; attempts are made on his life; he meets a beautiful woman and falls in love; and he survives.

He does survive, but he does so mostly through sheer dumb luck rather than by any skill on his part.  It is surprising, in the light of what we know of Bond from the movies, how bereft of skill he is.  He really is an ordinary, flawed human being, subject to the passions and fears that inflict us all; however, the ending of the book leads us to believe all that is about to change.

Fleming's portrayal of Bond is quite nebulous.  We find out a few things about Bond: he likes the finer things in life, he knows how to play the card game baccarat, and he has killed other men.  Other than that, we don't really learn much more about him.  Perhaps it is this lack of characterisation that allows the reader to identify to some degree with an ordinary man in an extraordinary position.  

Still, Casino Royale is a suspense novel, not high literature, so we shouldn't expect too much of it; and as far as suspense novels go, it is a competent but not masterly effort.  Short (it can be read in an afternoon) and oddly compelling, it does make you want to find out what happens next.  Accept the book for what it is and reading it becomes an enjoyable and entertaining experience.

Ian Fleming, bless him, takes a chapter to tell the reader how the game of baccarat is played, and another chapter to show it being played.  So if you have ever wondered why the croupier in the Bond films keeps saying 'neuf á la banque', all is made clear. 

And if you want to find out the significance of the nine of hearts, you will have to read the book.