Book Review - Casino Royale

Casino Royale Casino Royale by Ian Fleming


My review


rating: 2 of 5 stars
This was our monthly book club selection. It's an all girl group and none of us had ever read any Bond books so we were intrigued to see what started that phenomenon. There were mixed reactions to this first book in the series with most of us not liking it a lot.



I'm not old enough to remember the era so I had to keep reminding myself that acceptable attitudes and behaviors are much different than one would encounter today (at least I hope so). Bond's sweeping view of women as silly and incompetent was quite dated and made him less of a sympathetic character for me.



His quick descent into love for the requisite Bond girl seemed shallow and only inspired by the fact that she was beautiful and emotionally closed off. Crazy, since he thought she was hysterical and helpless, too. Yeah, that's the type I would go for.



I think for the 60s, this was a good book and I could see the guy appeal. However, I'd rather have Travis McGee than James Bond any day.




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