From Russia With Love - Ian Fleming

I wasn't sure where to begin with Diamonds Are Forever. The exact opposite is the case with From Russia With Love - page 95 of my Penguin edition of the book (not the one, right; my edition has Sean Connery holding his Beretta (?) upwards in a classic Bond pose) because this is when Bond makes his first appearance in the novel. The previous 94 pages are given over to the establishment of the principal villains of the piece - man machine Donon Grant and the wonderfully creepy Rosa Klebb - and why they wish to kill Bond.

It is as follows. SMERSH needs to make up for past mistakes and decides to assassinate a major figure within the security services of the West. James Bond is the chosen target. Matters are complicated by the fact that SMERSH doesn't just want to kill Bond, but destroy his reputation, too. To that end, a clerk named Tatiana Romanova is detailed to seduce Bond, thus creating a sex scandal that will prolong, as it were, his death. This execution of this aspect of From Russia With Love makes Bond look silly to the point of embarrassing. Granted he is very much a lady's man, but Fleming allows him - and M too - to fall for Tatiana and her implausible story far too easily.

More pleasingly, From Russia With Love features Kerim Bey and his many sons. If only he had survived! The Bey clan would have made for a great spin off novel. As it is, we must be content with seeing Kerim Bey in action in his native Istanbul. And what a sight that is. Bey has the place wrapped up. He knows everyone, they know him; he knows the secret places and the secret people too - the scene with the gypsy tribe is splendidly written. They are not Bond's enemies, but are portrayed by Fleming as absolute outsiders, completely beyond the rules of society. Modesty forbids that I say anything about the fight between the two naked gypsy women, suffice to say I am glad they are not real and that, if they were, I was never on their wrong side.

From Russia With Love weakens a little when Bond leaves Istanbul on the Orient Express - another move that makes Bond look amateurish (as is his failure to realise that 'Red' Grant is not the British secret agent he is pretending to be). Perhaps it reaches its nadir with the explanation of how Bond survives being shot at point blank range by Grant. The answer is just not likely.

In case it is thought I am being very critical of the book, I should emphasise that it is on the whole a very good read. The first part of the book, which focuses completely on SMERSH are a testament to Fleming's ability to paint a scene and portraits. Of especial note is his realisation of Rosa Klebb, the creepy SMERSH lesbian spymistress. When she appears in her night dress before Tatiana, causing the latter to run screaming from Klebb's room, I did not know whether to laugh or give thanks that I was never confronted by such a hideous sight.

The ending of From Russia With Love is excellent - it is a cliffhanger. When I finished the book, I did not yet have a copy of Dr. No, so you can imagine my frustration at wanting to know what happened next! Of course, Bond survives, but how?

Having got to the end of the book, let's go back to the beginning. Or even, to before the beginning. In an Author's Note, Fleming states that SMERSH is a real organisation and that its head, General Grubozaboyschikov, is a real person. Furthermore, he asserts that he has accurately described the SMERSH meeting room where the death sentence on Bond is pronounced. Perhaps Fleming was playing a game with his readers, but if not, I cannot imagine how he knew some of these details.