The everlasting pompous John Barry theme is not the only thing about the Bond franchisee. The many villains for example, from Dr. No in his Nehru suit and outlandish physique to Blofeld with his bald look and disfiguring scar. Or the many girl friends who were much more than an eye candy in the arms of a ruthless assassin. Bond, the character is a true Man’s man, the one that no other spy has come quite close to replace.
In Moonraker, Bond’s temperament comes to fore like no other novel. In Sir Hugo Drax or the madman Drax, the franchisee has one its most remarkable villains as well. As Bond recovers from his last mission in Live and Let Die at the Mi6 headquarters, he struggles to find something interesting enough for him. A straightforward invite to a card game and a monotonous job given to him by M is his getaway. Bond had to catch Hugo Drax, a celebrated scientist in the act of cheating on cards and he does so effortlessly. While Bond lets Drax away with a warning a simple question bugs him to no avail. Why does the mighty Drax cheat at card?
M puts him onto a chase that takes Bond to the Drax’s workplace. Over the course of next few days Bond along with Gala Brand another undercover worker uncovers the plot that has Britain as it’s target. But, by the time they discover the truth it’s perhaps too late. A little bit of money play in the stock market, a dead investigation officer and a group of annoying men helping Drax round up the setting.
While the movie barely did justice to the book, most critiques consider it to be the best Bond book ever. The famed Fleming Sweep – a hook at the end of every chapter is much less pronounced and the book is written more in detective style. It is also the only Bond book that is solely based out of Britain and it is also the only Book where the character of M has been shown in action outside the work setting. So, if you like the Bond franchisee even a wee bit and ever think of exploring the original works of Ian Fleming, this should definitely be the first one to get off the shelf.
Number of Pages : 325
Word Count : ~65000
Reading Tine : 4 Hours 20 minutes (at 250 words per minute)
Comments