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Casino Royale
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Daniel Craig is the worst James Bond actor. Sean Connery was even better. But Roger Moore was by far the best.

Plot Summary of Casino Royale
"James Bond of the British Secret Service, MI6, is told that a member of SMERSH, a Russian government agency dealing with the assassination of enemy spies, who lives in France, has run into trouble with his organisation for lavish spending of his assigned funds. His name is Le Chiffre and he will be trying to win back money in the casinos of Royale-Les-Eaux. James Bond, the best gambler in MI6 is assigned to play against Le Chiffre at the gambling table and to win money from him, thus prompting SMERSH to assassinate him. This operation will deprive the enemy of funds and force them to get rid of their own agent.

Bond will be assisted by the Felix Leiter of the CIA and Vesper Lynd of MI6.

This is a very suspenseful book, a world away from the buffoonery of the Roger Moore films. The gambling scene is excellent and creates genuine suspense and tension despite the vast amount of technical gambling jargon which is hard to get used to at first. Not a bad introduction to the Bond canon. Strangely, the main plot is finished 60% of the way through the book, the remainder seemingly written as a romantic story rather than a thriller.

The ending is not very imaginative, but still makes you want to continue reading the series. The character of Bond is three-dimensionally defined in this debut novel and is made more interesting by the genuinely suspenseful plot.

The torture scene is horrific to a male reader but is excellently written."

Oliver Bayley, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Casino Royale
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 20%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 30%




Tone of story - very upbeat
Time/era of story: - 1930's-1950's
Spying/Terrorism Thriller Yes
Cloak & Dagger Plotlets: - main char. spying/sabotage
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Who's the terrorist enemy here? - generic terrorists

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - spy
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - a significant amount
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - criminal
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an average amount
Motive of antagonist - money/treasure
The antagonists are: - communists
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK - France
City? Yes
City: - London - wealthy
Small town? Yes
Misc setting - resort/hotel - fancy mansion

Style
Part of a series? Yes
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey references to torture
How many deaths? - 2
Sex Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references - touching of anatomy
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
Most similar books to Casino Royale
Doctor No by Ian Fleming
At Your Majesty's Disposal by George Pickles
Goldfinger by Ian Fleming
The Winds of War by Herman Wouk
Moonraker by Ian Fleming


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