Live and Let Die on the James Bond Book Club is also available in video format on YouTube.
It is 1954 and we review the latest Ian Fleming James Bond 007 novel, Live and Let Die. With David Craggs, Ian Douglas and Spybrary Host Shane Whaley.
Ian Douglas is the Chief of Staff over at The Hildebrand James Bond Facebook Group which we highly recommend for all things 007.
More about Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming
James Bond is not a superstitious man, but it’s hard not to feel unnerved in the presence of Mr. Big. A ruthless Harlem gangster who uses voodoo to control his criminal empire, he’s also one of SMERSH’s top American operatives. Mr. Big has been smuggling British pirate treasure to New York from a remote Jamaican island—and funneling the proceeds to Moscow. With help from Solitaire, Mr. Big’s beautiful and enigmatic Creole fortune-teller, and his old friend Felix Leiter, 007 must locate the crime lord’s hideout, sabotage his operation, and reclaim the pirate hoard for England.
From the jazz joints of Harlem to the shark-infested waters of the Florida Everglades, Live and Let Die sends Bond headlong into the exotic.
On the James Bond Book Club, we will dissect each 007 novel in order and by :
1) Discussing the timing of each book. The year in which it was written. The zeitgeist of that time. Key historic and cultural events.
2) Background to the plot and any links to Fleming’s personal experiences.
3) The U.K. first edition cover art.
4) The plot.
5) Locations
6) Bond’s character development.
7) The Villain.
8) La femme fatale.
9) The supporting cast.
10) The branding.
11) Key set pieces and the best chapters.
12) Critical reception
We will not be referring to or discussing the 007 movies.
We will only be referencing previous books rather than those published in the future – as if we are experiencing the work of Fleming for the first time.
