Casino Royale (novel)

Casino Royale (novel)

Casino Royale is the first novel by the British author Ian Fleming. It was published in 1953 and paved the way for a further eleven novels and two short story collections by Fleming. Fleming used his wartime experiences as a member of the Naval Intelligence Division to provide plot elements. The book was given broadly positive reviews by critics at the time and sold out in less than a month after its UK release on 13 April 1953.

About Casino Royale (novel) in brief

Summary Casino Royale (novel)Casino Royale is the first novel by the British author Ian Fleming. It was published in 1953 and paved the way for a further eleven novels and two short story collections by Fleming, followed by numerous continuation Bond novels by other authors. The story concerns the British secret agent James Bond, gambling at the casino in Royale-les-Eaux to bankrupt Le Chiffre, the treasurer of a French communist union and a secret member of Soviet state intelligence. Fleming used his wartime experiences as a member of the Naval Intelligence Division, and the people he met during his work, to provide plot elements. The book was given broadly positive reviews by critics at the time and sold out in less than a month after its UK release on 13 April 1953. Since publication Casino Royale has appeared as a comic strip in The Daily Express, and been adapted for the screen three times: a 1954 episode of the CBS television series Climax! with Barry Nelson as an American Bond, a 1967 film version with David Niven playing \”Sir James Bond\”, and a 2006 film in the Eon Productions film series starring Daniel Craig as James Bond. The novel was initially unsure whether the work was suitable for publication, but was assured by his friend, the novelist William Plomer, that the novel had promise. Bond poses as a rich Jamaican playboy, is given a companion, Vesper Lynd, personal assistant to the Head of Section S. Bond accepts Vesper’s assignment even though he personally considers women unfit for field service.

The CIA and the French Deuxième Bureau also send agents as observers. The game soon turns into an intense confrontation between Bond and his target, and Bond wins the first round, cleaning Bond out of his funds. As Bond contemplates the prospect of reporting his failure to M, the CIA agent, Felix Leiter, gives him an envelope of money containing thirty-two million francs. The agent does not kill Bond, saying that he has no orders to do so, but cuts a Cyrillic ‘Ш’ for шпион into Bond’s hand so that future SMERSH agents will be able to identify him as such. When he is released from the hospital, they spend time at a quiet guest house together and eventually become a quiet couple. The following morning, he learns that she committed suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills, explaining that she had been working as an unwilling double agent for the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs. He also frees Lynd, and leaves them to be rescued by French Bureau agents. Bond then contemplates resigning from the Service and asking her to return to the field to marry him as the mental trauma of being tortured has made him reluctant to return. Bond eventually decides to leave the service. He leaves her behind to help gather information on her lover, a Polish Air Force pilot, who had revealed that Soviet agents had threatened his life for years to gather information about her lover. Bond also leaves her a note explaining that he had threatened her life to help her.