The James Bond Bedside Companion (34 page)

The Spang brothers, as villains, are hardly worth mentioning. They are not present through most of the novel, and they are in no way complete characters. Suffice it to say that the Spangs are American gangsters with a flair for organization, but come nowhere near the caliber or flamboyance of Hugo Drax.

Other mentionable characters are Ernest Cureo, the Las Vegas cab driver who sells his services to Bond; "Shady" Tree, the wise-guy hunchback working for the Mob in New York; and Wint and Kidd, the extremely dangerous homosexual hit men for the Mob. These characters, though minor, are interesting and help advance the plot.

HIGHLIGHTS AND OTHER INGREDIENTS

A
s mentioned above, the true highlights of the novel are Bond's relationships with Tiffany and Leiter. The action sequences are dull. The scene in the Acme Mud and Sulphur Bath, in which Wint and Kidd execute a traitorous jockey, though tense, is not really necessary to advance the plot. The railroad chase from Spectre
vile is exciting, but
Bond
and
Tiffany
escape from the
situation with such ease that it's hardly worth it.

For these reasons, though fast-moving and interesting in terms of character, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER does not carry the weight of the previous three Bonds.

T
he fifth James Bond novel is perhaps the most successful of the series: Fleming has managed to blend excellent characterizations with a highly suspenseful and clever story; the Fleming Sweep operates at a confident pace; the detail in the prose is rich and colorful; and the novel contains purely romantic elements that are missing from most of the other books. In addition, the structure of FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE is different from its predecessors—Fleming attempted something new by not bringing in his central character until Chapter 11, almost a third into the book. The novel concludes with a surprise-shocker ending, another offbeat change from the previous books. Fleming himself admitted that he was "attempting to elevate the Bond books to a higher literary level." If not for the cliffhanger ending, FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE could stand as the definitive James Bond novel.

The story concerns SMERSH's plot for revenge against the British Secret Service, and in particular, against James Bond. Kronsteen, SMERSH's master planner, creates an elaborate scheme to trap Bond and eliminate him in an embarrassing fashion. Rosa Klebb, Head of Operations and Executions, handpicks an assassin, Red Grant, as well as a beautiful, innocent Russian girl, Tatiana Romanova, (also known as Tania) to act as pawns in SMERSH's ploy. The Secret Service learns from their man in Istanbul, Darko Kerim, that the girl, Romanova, is willing to defect to the West and hand over a much coveted Spektor Coding Machine (owned by the Russians) if James Bond will come to Istanbul and rescue her. She claims that she fell in love with the agent after seeing his photograph in the KGB file. Although M and Bond both suspect a trap, the bait of a Spektor Coding Machine is too tempting to pass up. Once Bond is in Istanbul, Tania finally makes contact with the agent by surprising him in his hotel suite. She insists on escaping via the Orient Express, and the next day they join Kerim aboard the famous train. But three KGB men are also aboard. Using his well-respected authority, Kerim manages to have two of the men removed for ticket violations; but the third man and Kerim end up killing each other in a struggle. Shortly after, Red Grant boards the train. After drugging the girl, Grant reveals his true identity and explains the entire scheme to Bond. After a furious battle, Bond kills Grant and manages to escape from the train with the girl and the Spektor. Later in Paris, Bond locates Rosa Klebb in a hotel room. The woman attempts to stab Bond with poison-tipped knitting needles, but Renè Mathis of the Deuxième arrives in time to take the woman away. Before she is arrested, however, she kicks Bond in the shin with a poison-tipped blade concealed in her shoe.

STYLE AND THEMES

T
he most obvious change in structure from the previous Bonds is that the first ten chapters deal exclusively with the villains. James Bond does not appear until Chapter 11. In these first ten chapters (subtitled "Part One: The Plan"), Fleming creates a base from which the plot grows. He reveals the inner workings of SMERSH, the Soviet murder organization which Bond has battled in previous adventures. The detail with which Fleming describes the villains' plotting is fascinating. The first three chapters deal with the background of Red Grant, the chief executioner of SMERSH. Then the narrative jumps back in time to a meeting of the Praesidium, which consists of the heads of each department in SMERSH. There, a General G. and his colleagues designate James Bond as a target for a "major Soviet Intelligence victory." The task of creating the
korispiratsia
is given to Kronsteen, a master chess player. His plan is then turned over to Rosa Klebb, Head of Operations, who is responsible for its execution. After Klebb picks a beautiful, innocent Russian girl, Tatiana Romanova, as a lure to bring Bond within SMERSH's grasp, the narrative returns to Red Grant as he is assigned to kill the Englishman.

All of these details could have easily been related in two or three chapters, but Fleming stretches out the conspiracy to a complete story. By doing so, he fully develops each character and each phase of SMERSH's plan. By the end of Part One, a complete exposition has been laid for what seems like a foolproof plan to eliminate the hero. Suspense gradually builds throughout the ten chapters until it reaches a plateau—and then James Bond is smoothly introduced into the action.

The Fleming Sweep steadily propels the plot. Once Bond enters, the story advances with breathtaking excitement. And Fleming teases the reader along the way: for example, Bond does not meet Tania until Chapter 20. The anticipation of this meeting is prominent throughout the preceding chapters. Even the gypsy camp sequences, which may at first seem extraneous to the plot, take on a new meaning once it is learned that the Russians are attempting to eliminate Darko Kerim so that Bond will be alone to fall more easily into their trap. FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE is Fleming's longest novel thus far, but the Sweep makes it seem half as long.

Another major difference in the structure is the end. For the first time, Fleming creates a shocking surprise ending: the villains win! Throughout the story, Bond manages to escape each little trap the Russians have set for him; but in the last few paragraphs, Rosa Klebb manages to kick Bond with a poisoned steel-tipped shoe. In the final sentences, Bond begins to feel dizzy and has trouble breathing. The last sentence of the novel reads: "Bond pivoted slowly on his heel and crashed headlong to the wine-red floor." Wham! No explanation. No promise of a resurrection. James Bond is dead. Or is he?

As a plot twist, the surprise ending is effective. In a way, the novel might not have worked as well without it. Because Fleming first elaborately details SMERSH's plot to kill Bond, the feeling of imminent danger is always present Bond is unaware of the assassination plot as he is taken through the action like a pawn, and the suspense builds to a shattering climax aboard the Orient Express. Once Bond escapes this danger, the tension is momentarily relieved until he meets Rosa Klebb in Paris. The excitement is boosted once again, but Bond's friend Mathis and the authorities arrive in time to take Klebb away. But with that unexpected kick in the shin, all the danger and imminent disaster that have hung over Bond throughout the novel finally hit home. The execution of the plan is complete, even though the original plot was circumvented.

FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE is one of Fleming's most romantic novels, in which romantic fantasy serves as
the story's major theme. In fact, the
idea
of the story
is romantic—a handsome spy travels to a foreign land to rendezvous with a beautiful enemy spy who claims she's in love with him. It is a quintessential thriller-fantasy plot which plays on whatever romantic dreams a reader may have. This notion is summed up as Tania watches Bond sleep aboard the Orient Express:

How extraordinary, this passionate tenderness that had filled
her ever since she had seen him last night standing naked at the window, his arms up to hold the curtains back, his profile, under the tousled black hair, intent and pale in the moonlight And then the extraordinary fusing of their eyes and their bodies. The flame that had suddenly lit between them—between the two secret agents, thrown together from enemy camps a whole world apart, each involved in his own plot against the country of the other, antagonists by profession, yet turned, and by the orders of their governments, into lovers.

(FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE, Chapter 21)

FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE
is also Fleming's sexiest novel thus far, with intensely passionate love scenes.

The "life is a gamble" theme continues in this novel as well. M and Bond are not fools; not even they can pass up the opportunity to seize the Spektor Coding Machine which Tania has promised to bring—no matter what the odds. Whether or not the girl's story of being in love with Bond is true, M wants to take the risk of sending Bond to Istanbul. The whole idea
smells
like a trap, but M's enthusiasm convinces Bond he should risk it:

Bond was sold. At once he accepted all M.'s faith in the girl's story, however crazy it might be. For a Russian to bring them this gift, and take the appalling risk of bringing it, could only mean an act of desperation—of desperate infatuation if you liked. Whether the girl's story was true or not, the stakes were too high to turn down the gamble.

(FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE, Chapter 12)

Bond comes to terms with his mission while on the plane to Istanbul, as he reflects, sourly, that he is "pimping for England":

For that, however else one might like to describe it, was what he was on his way to do—to seduce, and seduce very quickly a girl whom he had never seen before, whose name he had heard yesterday for the first time. And all the while, however attractive she was—and Head of T had described her as "very beautiful"—Bond's whole mind would have to be not on what she was, but on what she had—the dowry she was bringing with her. It would be like trying to marry a rich woman for her money. Would he be able to act the part? Perhaps he could make the right faces and say the right things, but would his body dissociate itself from his secret thoughts and effectively make the love he would declare? How did men behave credibly in bed when their whole minds were focused on a woman's bank balance? Perhaps there was an erotic stimulus in the notion that one was ravaging a sack of gold. But a cipher machine?

(FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE, Chapter 13)

From these thoughts come the doubts and worries that the whole thing may be a trap. Bond is gambling on M's faith in the mission, and his hunch that the girl isn't bluffing, and most importantly, on his own sexual prowess to succeed. Even M puts this weight on Bond's shoulders when the agent asks M what happens if he doesn't come up to Tatiana's expectations:

"That's where the work comes in," said M. grimly. "That's why I asked those questions about Miss Case. It's up to you to see that you
do
come up to her expectations."

(FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE, Chapter 12)

CHARACTERS

J
ames Bond's character is further developed in FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE
.
In a scene at Bond's flat off of King's Road, some of his personal habits are revealed (such as his penchant for doing twenty slow push-ups immediately after waking). May, Bond's "Scottish treasure" of a housekeeper, is also introduced. But more importantly, Bond feels bored with his life and feels that he is in danger of "becoming soft." Self-doubt begins to plague Bond more and more.

Bond even has a rare moment of authentic fright—not of a villainous torture, but of air travel. When the flight to Istanbul runs into a storm, Bond's thoughts reveal his manner of protecting himself from the outside world:

In the centre of Bond was a hurricane-room, the kind of citadel found in old-fashioned houses in the tropics. These rooms are small, strongly built cells in the heart of the house, in the middle of the ground floor and sometimes dug down into its foundations. To this cell the owner and his family retire if the storm threatens to destroy the house, and they stay there until the danger is past. Bond went to his hurricane-room only when the situation was beyond his control and no other possible action could be taken. Now he retired to this citadel, closed his mind to the hell of noise and violent movement, and focused on a single stitch in the back of the seat in front of him, waiting with slackened nerves for whatever fate had decided for B.E.A. Flight No. 130.

(FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE, Chapter 13)

In this sequence, Bond is almost sorry he didn't heed Loelia Ponsonby's advice. She had been worried that Bond was flying on Friday the thirteenth. But he prefers to fly on this day because it's "less crowded."