DDC/MDS
| 823.914 |
Publication
New York : New American library, 1966.
Original publication date
1962 (The Living Daylights)
1965 (Octopussy)
1966-06-23
Description
Fiction. Suspense. HTML: The last book written by Ian Fleming, but by no means the least. In "Octopussy," a talented but wayward British major pays a high price when his wartime past catches up with him, while in "The Property of a Lady," a Faberg� egg leads Bond to a KGB spy. In "The Living Daylights," Bond has a perilous rendezvous in sniper's alley between East and West Berlin, and "007 in New York" (read by Lucy Fleming) sees him sent to America to warn an ex-MI6 operative about a dangerous liaison. All part of the job for 007. This audiobook includes an exclusive bonus interview with Tom Hiddleston..
Status
Available
Call number
Collection
User reviews
LibraryThing member cinesnail88
This little collection of short stories about James Bond turns out to be the last of Fleming's Bond series. I started reading them this summer, and I honestly can't believe I'm saying goodbye to good old James. It's been fun, and I will definitely reread quite a few of them, but I'm afraid for now
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James and I must part ways. Show Less
LibraryThing member JBreedlove
The last of Flemings Bond books. Once again Bond is shown as a fuller, more flawed, and interesting character than in the movies. These 4 shorts stories leave me w a Bond that I want to read more about. But alas. . . . I hope the new movies continue telling the stories of this fallible and
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remarkable character. Show Less
LibraryThing member AshRyan
In these shorter works, Fleming's mastery at creating suspense even without a complex plot or much action is on display.
"Octopussy" is the story of a British major who stole some Nazi gold during the war, committing murder in the process. Bond is sent to investigate, and basically shows up in the
In "The Living Daylights", Bond is sent to snipe a sniper...an assignment about which neither he nor M is thrilled. It's not quite murder, he knows, but almost...close enough from his perspective as the man who has to do it, at any rate. Lots of interesting characterization of Bond himself in this story.
"The Property of a Lady" is about a triple agent---a Soviet spy turned double, but actually still working for Moscow---being used by British intelligence to unwittingly pass on false information to her Russian spymasters. This part of the story is hardly fictionalized, and was much more interesting to read after learning about similar real-life espionage activities (see, for example, Agent Zigzag by Ben Macintyre). But when an unusual payoff reveals her true allegiance, Bond sees an opportunity to uncover her boss, the head of Soviet espionage activities in Britain. Again, for a story with basically no action (in the form of physical peril to Bond), this is surprisingly suspenseful.
"Octopussy" is the story of a British major who stole some Nazi gold during the war, committing murder in the process. Bond is sent to investigate, and basically shows up in the
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story just to inform the major that the jig is up. The story is basically a morality tale about how crime doesn't pay, truth will out, and all those sorts of clichés...but Fleming does an excellent job of showing why they are actually true---and more profoundly, how good ends cannot be achieved by evil means, and an action such as this results not in happiness but misery, even while one may (temporarily) "get away with it". A really interesting character study, and quite philosophically and psychologically astute.In "The Living Daylights", Bond is sent to snipe a sniper...an assignment about which neither he nor M is thrilled. It's not quite murder, he knows, but almost...close enough from his perspective as the man who has to do it, at any rate. Lots of interesting characterization of Bond himself in this story.
"The Property of a Lady" is about a triple agent---a Soviet spy turned double, but actually still working for Moscow---being used by British intelligence to unwittingly pass on false information to her Russian spymasters. This part of the story is hardly fictionalized, and was much more interesting to read after learning about similar real-life espionage activities (see, for example, Agent Zigzag by Ben Macintyre). But when an unusual payoff reveals her true allegiance, Bond sees an opportunity to uncover her boss, the head of Soviet espionage activities in Britain. Again, for a story with basically no action (in the form of physical peril to Bond), this is surprisingly suspenseful.
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LibraryThing member iansales
The last of Fleming’s 007 books, and that means I’ve now read the lot. I can now cross them off the list. Yay. Although, to be honest, I’m not entirely sure why I decided I had to read them all – because it turned out they were all pretty terrible. Octopussy & The Living Daylights is, as
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the title might suggest, a collection – and both story titles have been used for Bond movies, although the films bear zero resemblance to the source material (as usual). In ‘Octopussy’, an ex-SOE man who was a bit naughty with some gold in Italy just after the war finished is visited at his home in Jamaica by Bond. Certain hints are dropped, but the man accidentally gets stung by a stonefish while feeding it to an octopus he has sort of adopted. In ‘The Living Daylights’, Bond has been charged with killing a sniper who they’ve learnt will make an attempt on a defector who’s making a run for it from East to West Berlin. Bond has always been brutal, but this one is more brutal than most. ‘The Property of a Lady’ sees Bond trying to flush out a Soviet spy during an auction for a Fabergé globe. The last story is a squib in which Bond flies to New York, daydreams about the day ahead… only to cock up the reason he’s been sent there. Meh. Show Less
LibraryThing member Stahl-Ricco
It's funny to read this, as the title story has almost NOTHING to do with the movie of the same name, except that it is the background story of the title character and is recounted by her! But, it's a good short story, with very little of Bond in it. He pays a visit to a Major Dexter Smythe in
The other story in this collection is "The Living Daylights", another title that was turned into a movie with the relation to the story only being that it is part of the beginning of the film. Bond acts as a counter-sniper to protect a Soviet defector along the West/East Berlin border. It is Bond vs. Trigger for the life of Agent 272, and again the ending has a nice twist, just like "Octopussy".
2 good, short stories about my favorite spy, 007!
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Jamaica to go over a case from the war. And that visit changes things. Smythe is also on the search for a scorpionfish, and wanting it for an experiment with an octopus. The plot is almost all about Smythe, though it has a personal place in Bond's life, one that is hit upon in the movie "Spectre". I liked the way things turned out at the end.The other story in this collection is "The Living Daylights", another title that was turned into a movie with the relation to the story only being that it is part of the beginning of the film. Bond acts as a counter-sniper to protect a Soviet defector along the West/East Berlin border. It is Bond vs. Trigger for the life of Agent 272, and again the ending has a nice twist, just like "Octopussy".
2 good, short stories about my favorite spy, 007!
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LibraryThing member Helenliz
Contains:
Octopussy
The Property of a Lady
The Living Daylights
James Bond in New York.
I'm always intrigued at how much more subtle the books are than the films. There's something very understated about these stories, with only the vaguest show of flash - Bond's Bentley, for example. They are a
They are very much set in the early 60s, when the world was a bit more drab and Bond provided an element of escapism. The world is no less dangerous, but Bond of the books has certainly been locked in a past time. It is an enjoyable way to while away a few hours, but I wouldn't want to be in his shoes.
Octopussy
The Property of a Lady
The Living Daylights
James Bond in New York.
I'm always intrigued at how much more subtle the books are than the films. There's something very understated about these stories, with only the vaguest show of flash - Bond's Bentley, for example. They are a
Show More
mixture, with Octopussy being the remebrances of a Major who went off the rails on one occasion in the war and has been living off the proceeds ever since. He is given time to "consider his position" and so the book ends in not the manner one might expect. Bond acts merely as the catalyst for the tale to unfold. IN Portrait of a Lady, a valuable piece of Faberge art is sent to a double agent, and so begins a tense auction room scene where Bond has to uncover the russian bidder jacking up the price. The Living Daylights sees Bond on a shoot to kill mission which doesn't go entirely according to plan. He's torn in this one, between being good at his job and not wanting to be the one doing his job. You can see it tearing him in two, if this level of tension were to continue. Finally he spends a mere 24 hours in New York, in an attempt to warn a former colleague about a situation she finds herself in, only to discover that the rendezvous does not exist. The tone turns from self congratulatory to very very cross in a moment and manages to be quite farcical!. They are very much set in the early 60s, when the world was a bit more drab and Bond provided an element of escapism. The world is no less dangerous, but Bond of the books has certainly been locked in a past time. It is an enjoyable way to while away a few hours, but I wouldn't want to be in his shoes.
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LibraryThing member Stevil2001
This slim volume collects four James Bond short stories, and first came out in 1966.* In his introduction to the 2006 Penguin edition, Robert Ryan suggests Fleming was a short fiction man at heart, and based on reading the Bond books, I agree; many of the novels feel padded even when they're slim.
The other standout here was "The Living Daylights," where Bond has to work as a sniper in order to help an agent make it over the Berlin Wall. It's one of those stories that really gets you into Bond's psychology: he is good at killing but finds little joy in it. Or, to be honest, much else. The twist is pretty obvious, but I still enjoyed it because it's a fun one.
Of the other two, one is all right and one is for completists only. "The Property of a Lady" has some interesting ideas and backstories, but the actual story isn't really up to much. "007 in New York" isn't even a story; it's just Bond thinking about New York City while he visits it on a mission. "007 in New York" was published in the American edition of Fleming's travel book Thrilling Cities as an apology for how much Fleming hated New York City; Fleming said that Bond's take on New York was "more cheerful" than his own. But in this story's mere seven pages, Bond complains about Customs and Immigration, about how all the good hotels have closed, about how the eggs look wrong, about the shops having nothing you can't get in Europe, about how many used car lots there are, about how the restaurants have got too expensive, about the blandness of the food, about how Americans are too obsessed with hygiene, and about how there is no Reptile House at the Central Park Zoo. If that's a cheerful take on New York City, one wonders how awful Fleming must have been about it!
There's also a scrambled egg recipe in a footnote. I will try it someday.
* Kind of; the 1966 edition collected just two short stories, and over the years more were added until all four were together in 2002.
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Thus Octopussy & The Living Daylights contains some of Fleming's strongest Bond work in my opinion. Bond isn't much of a factor in "Octopussy," but I enjoyed it anyway, a very thorough story of a man who plans a horrible crime and very nearly gets away with it. I was surprised to realize that the idea that Bond's ski instructor cared for him paternally after Bond's parents died wasn't an invention of the film Spectre but actually originated here. I'll be curious to see if any other elements of "Octopussy" make it into the film, or if it will be one of those Bond adaptations best characterized as "loose."The other standout here was "The Living Daylights," where Bond has to work as a sniper in order to help an agent make it over the Berlin Wall. It's one of those stories that really gets you into Bond's psychology: he is good at killing but finds little joy in it. Or, to be honest, much else. The twist is pretty obvious, but I still enjoyed it because it's a fun one.
Of the other two, one is all right and one is for completists only. "The Property of a Lady" has some interesting ideas and backstories, but the actual story isn't really up to much. "007 in New York" isn't even a story; it's just Bond thinking about New York City while he visits it on a mission. "007 in New York" was published in the American edition of Fleming's travel book Thrilling Cities as an apology for how much Fleming hated New York City; Fleming said that Bond's take on New York was "more cheerful" than his own. But in this story's mere seven pages, Bond complains about Customs and Immigration, about how all the good hotels have closed, about how the eggs look wrong, about the shops having nothing you can't get in Europe, about how many used car lots there are, about how the restaurants have got too expensive, about the blandness of the food, about how Americans are too obsessed with hygiene, and about how there is no Reptile House at the Central Park Zoo. If that's a cheerful take on New York City, one wonders how awful Fleming must have been about it!
There's also a scrambled egg recipe in a footnote. I will try it someday.
* Kind of; the 1966 edition collected just two short stories, and over the years more were added until all four were together in 2002.
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LibraryThing member jklugman
I liked Octopussy, the least Bond-centric of the stories. It is a character study of a retired British soldier whose past catches up to haunt him. The other two stories, "Living Daylights" and "Property of a Lady" are fairly quotidian Bond stories without much drama or character. In Living
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Daylights Bond has to kill a sniper to save an informant crossing from East to West Berlin, and he makes much of the fact that the sniper was a beautiful lady he saw in an orchestra. In Property of a Lady Bond has to subvert an auction of a Faberge egg, the proceeds of which will go to pay a double agent with the ridiculous name of "Freudenstein" in MI6 (which everyone knew about, so she was just fed bad intel which she passed on to the KGB). These latter two stories are not memorable and kind of just end. Show Less
Physical description
129 p.; 21 inches