Bibliothek BHAK & BHAS Bludenz

Ian Fleming

For your eyes only

Buchbesprechung von Martin Heinisch

Simplified version

About the author

Writer and journalist, born in London in 1908. He studied languages at Munich and Geneva universities, worked with Reuters in Moscow (1929-33), then became a banker and stockbroker (1933-9). He served with British Naval Intelligence during World War II, and was foreign manager of the Sunday Times (1945-59). He achieved worldwide fame and fortune as the creator of a series of spy novels, starting with Casino Royale (1953), built round the exploits of his amoral hero James Bond, and providing the basis for a series of highly successful films. His last novel was Octopussy. Ian Fleming died in 1964.

The plot

Cuba is a state with many gangsters and criminals. One of them has stolen a lot of money and wants to bring the money out of Cuba. So he buys much property. He also does so in Jamaica. In Jamaica there is a very large estate: "Content". Its owners are the Havelocks. One day a killer called Gonzales visits the Havelocks and wants to buy the estate. But the Havelocks don’t want to sell the land and so Gonzales kills them, because they have a daughter and he thinks that she might sell "Content". But he has made a big mistake: The Havelocks are friends of "M", the chief of the Secret Service. When he hears about the murder he asks 007 to help him. Bond agrees.

After some paperwork Bond finds out that the boss of Gonzales is Hammerstein and that he lives in Canada at the moment. Bond goes to Ottawa, where he meets a policeman who gives him information about Hammerstein’s big villa. He also gives him the tip to go there pretending to be a hunter. Bond does so, and after a long walk through the forest he finds the villa. Carefully he looks for a good hiding place. But when he wants to kill him, a young woman stops him. It is Judy, the daughter of the Havelocks. She wants to avenge her parents with bow and arrow. Bond explains the situation and in the end they kill Hammerstein together. After that Bond goes back to London and Judy to Jamaica.

My opinion

When I got this book, I thought that it would be very easy to read because I had seen the film already. But I was not lucky. The book and the film are not the same. So I had to read the book to the end. But it is not very hard to read the book. The stories are very interesting. Sure they are not always typical for James Bond, but not bad to read. I only needed one week to read the book and to understand it. It was funny, because it was as easy as reading a German book.

Further information

In the book there are these other stories:
James Bond in the Forest, The Air Hostess, A Risky Business, The Rare Fish. I won’t write about these stories, because then you would not have a reason to read the book.

Links

Ian Fleming 1

Ian Fleming 2

James Bond 1

James Bond 2

How to write a thriller (by Ian Fleming)