Casino Royale : the name is BOND, brooding BOND !

Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

** The name is BOND, brooding BOND **

Brooding and human, o boy! this is the James Bond that I did not know of.Bond is mostly seen as an uber-cool male fantasy icon, a super-macho-spy and one man army who could destroy entire worlds with a wink in an eye and a girl on the side.

But long before becoming all that, he was apparently, a flesh and blood character who could feel pain, love, betrayal and the whole gamut of human emotions, while still retaining bits of the rakish charm intact. And the story itself used to be many shades darker than the usual 'guns, gadgets and gals' capers that we are accustomed to seeing in his movies.

So, how refreshing it is to see, Bond pondering over the uselessness of demarcating the world in terms of good and evil states. To see him confused and questioning the notions of patriotism and the whole killing-business in the name of it.

It is a revelation to feel see him feeling insecure and tortured upon falling in love with a recluse figure. To see him taking precautions to keep his cover and being wary of the enemy while amusing one and all with the detailed description of Vodka-Martini.

Being a bit more complex and 'real', this Bond is so much more interesting than the flat caricatures of the movies.

Ian Fleming the creator of this iconic figure, had declared that he modelled James Bond on himself and the numerous senior officers that he encountered during his stint with the secret service and it shows, mostly in the meticulous descriptions of Bond's activities and his attention to details. In fact, many of the incidents of the novel had been inspired by real life incidents, most notable being the bombing attempt on Bond and the game of Baccarat itself that is the central premise of the story. The difference being that in real life, Fleming himself had lost the game with a hostile while in the story he shows Bond winning it, thereby fulfilling his own fantasy. Even the description of the villain of the story, Le Chiffre, was based on the persona of an occultist Aleister Crowley.

All these touches add up really nicely to build an intriguing story. And add to it, the enigmatic, elusive character of Vesper Lynd, probably the only female figure whom our super spy gave his heart to and you have a memorable novel at your hand.

Just wonder why Mr. Fleming completely changed Bond in his later novels. This was the original Bond and a far better one.

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The curious case of "SAFAL APRADHI"

Ruminations on a rare novel.

This is NOT a typical 'Suniliyan' novel, in fact far from it. This novel belongs to the period when Sunil didnot have much of a 'character' baggage to carry, when Ramakant was yet to develop a Punjabi twang and the novels were oh-so-crispy. Those were the days when you could take out a 10 p coin and call somebody via a booth ( as per the story ), when Sunil could behave merely as a smart yet bumbling reporter and not the know-it-all, super detective at work, when even he had to depend on a certain Mr. Chatterjee to deliver legal counsel to those in distress.

Unfolding in just about a 100 pages, the pace of the story is break-neck, with many a twist and turn, that are bound to keep one on the edge of his seat. There is hardly any irrelevant piece or prop in the whole story. Even the mention of the most trivial-seeming situations and the most innocuous of props like a tumbler, end up playing an important role eventually.

During the course of the whole novel, Sunil is himself equally mystified as the reader, about the proceedings. Curiously, there is a total absence of the overconfident demeanour, which in later novels, became a trait of his, while contemplating over the case with Prabhudayal. Nor is there any in-your-face sort of bravery or smartness. Yes, the smart-talk is there, but in its rudimentary form, which barely gets noticed (thankfully !). In short, in this particular outing, Sunil is more of a character than a serial-hero.

But the most curious and undoubtedly the most interesting part of the story is its novel ending : where you are gearing to accept the identity of the criminal, as revealed by the author and are waiting for a summary of the repercussions of this revelation on other characters. But instead, what you get are doubts and more niggling questions cropping up and you start wondering again. By the end, the perpetrator of the crime is eventually identified but not unambiguously, not without leaving you with lingering questions that are never resolved completely. Hence you are never fully confident if justice was actually delivered.

This whole twist adds a certain amount of believability to the story and leaves a lasting impression on the reader.You end the novel with a tinge of sadness regarding the limitations of the whole legal and crime-detection system.

It surely deserves firstly, a read, for the thrill and the fantastic ending and also a little more fame than what it has actually received over the years.

pic : Surender Mohan Pathak, Author

Pulp Art # 1

Courtesy : Cover image of Do Gaz kafan ( SMP ) by Shelle

What Poirot and Hastings think of Japp.

An excerpt from Christie's "the affair at the victory ball - Poirot's early cases"

" Poirot had a good opinion of Japp's abilities, though deploring his lamentable lack of  method, but I, for my part, considered that the detective's highest talent lay in the gentle art of seeking favours under the guise of conferring them ! "  

       ----  musings of Captain Hastings in 'the affair at the victory ball' 

                 

Well that sums it up nicely, doesn't it ? With the neat little revelation that it is Captain Hastings actually who detests Japp more than Poirot, apparently.

And by the way, 'Poirot's early cases' was a reasonably satisfying read. It is collection of short, mostly crisp stories that have an old-world charm.Though I have had better experience with Christie and Poirot in past.

*Goodreads link : Poirot's early cases