Dr. No. (1958) was the sixth Bond novel by Fleming, but as it turns out the first Bond movie, released in late 1962 in the UK and early 1963 in the USA. As such, it introduced most of the world to Bond although readers had been familiar with his exploits for many years through quite a number of Bond books. Ursula Andress, whose role apparently was dubbed since her accent was so thick, played Honeychile Ryder in the movie although the name was shortened to Honey Ryder, She was the first of the famous Bond girls, starting with her stepping out of the ocean surf in her ivory bikini with the great conch shells in her hands.

Rather than play spy vs. spy as much of the early intrigue of the Bond novels did, Dr. No has the elements of science fiction that would come to many of the Bond stories, starting with the enemy not being the Soviets or SMERSH, but a mad genius whose distorted body was extra tall and who had hooks for both arms and maintained his own secret kingdom on an island off Jamaica with endless supplies of henchmen to do his bidding. This mad genius cared about nothing but his own success and would pit the nations against each other to obtain what he wanted. Dr. No’s secret kingdom was hidden and from the outside it appeared to be a wasteland of bird droppings, but within the mountain kingdom, he had a palace unequaled across the world.

In the novel, Bond initially does not know what he is investigating, only that an agent, Strangways and his assistant have disappeared and the circumstances are suspicious. He enlists his old buddy Quarrel and together they fight off numerous assassination attempts before stealing across the water in the dead of night to explore the mysterious Dr. No’s kingdom of Guano, finding initially only a beautiful naked woman, Honeychile Ryder, who is innocently collecting shells, and a machine-gun mounted patrol boat. It could have been a day in heaven staring at Honeychile, but Bond and her only manage to become the hunted prey through the mangrove swamps until captured by the mysterious doctor.

The fun then really begins in earnest as Dr. No is proud of his little kingdom and wants to tell Bond his whole story and what he intends, including the experiments in pain and suffering he has planned for Bond and Honey. Bond, separate from her, ends up sort of like Odysseus fighting his way through horrible circumstances and dreaded monsters all the while being observed by Dr. No’s henchmen.

Dr. No, in the end, feels far more like an men’s adventure tale with some psuedo science fiction than an espionage tale.

I've read every Fleming Bond novel. Great escape literature.

Dr. No is the 6th of the James Bond books in published order but the fact that it is the first of the Bond films, leads me to believe that this book is the first Bond novel that many readers will have read. That’s too bad because to my mind, Bond changes as a character as we move through the books. The previous novel in this series, From Russia With Love, ends on a cliff hanger with Bond’s life not only in peril but evidently over. Bond historians will know that Fleming had seriously considered the idea of killing off his character in that book and audiences of the day weren’t sure if he had indeed, done just that.

But this novel begins with references to Bond having gone through a lengthy rehabilitation in hospital recovering from tetrodotoxin poisoning and other physical ailments inflicted by SMERSH agent Rosa Klebb in the previous book. M decides to put Bond onto a “soft” case to get him back into the game so he sends him to Jamaica to look into the details of a missing operative and his missing secretary. Of course the mission is not so soft after all as Bond soon realizes he is on the trail of a self-described maniac in the form of Dr. No, a Chinese operator of a guano mine on the Caribbean island of Crab Key.

Yes, once again I must caution today’s readers to grin and bear the outdated attitudes of Mr. Bond (or Mr. Fleming) when it comes to women, sex, and most especially race. All I can see is that if you insist on judging them by today’s standards, then you will not enjoy this or any of the original Bond novels.

Dr. No, himself is another intriguing Bond villain, perhaps the best since Hugo Drax in Moonraker, and his lengthy discussion with Bond about the nature of power is philosophically interesting. But it is the character of Honeychile “Honey” Rider that steals the show for me. Honey is my favorite character in all six Bond novels I have read to date. She just seems so genuine; innocent and yet vibrant at the same time.

Another nice Bond read. On to the next…

First time reading a James Bond book. Several differences from the movie. Really enjoyed and will have to read some of the other books

With the séance concluded, we’ll let the shellacking commence. His name is Bond. James Bond. He might drive cars with a speed best reserved for the autobahn, and he might refer to women as girls, and he might have trouble keeping his penis in his pants, and the comma in his hair might be best reserved for a male underwear model by the name of Sergei, who hails from the cold war, and fights crime on the government’s dime. But like any good government agent, he sometimes shows a certain amount of ineptness in the face of impeding danger.

He has too many near-death experiences to list, and his list of conquests might be best reserved for the bathroom stall at the local truck stop. Even if we’re the ones that are supposed to have a good time, it sometimes feels like you’re punching a time clock and staring at a dark spot on the concrete wall while you bide your time waiting to make your grand exit from the funhouse.

I’ve found I like myself better when I don’t read too many Bond books in a row, otherwise your Dr. Yes might turn into DR. NO. You might even be prone to screaming and cold bouts of terror and little green men in dark suits and sunglasses might come to take you away, or toss your body out to sea to swim with the fishes.

Dammit Dennis, I started writing the wrong review. I’m supposed to like this book, and I certainly do. But there are certainly a few problems that have caused me to dig in my heels and question the exact limitations of my sanity. First, the women. I feel like I have the script to the next episode of America’s Next Top Model complete with knife-wielding women and machine gun brasseries. The villains sometimes exhibit a bit of cartoonishness in their evilness, and I found myself dancing away from the swarm of centipedes headed in my direction, most of whom probably had poisonous pincers, or at least the appearance of such. The profuse sweating congregated on my chin, and the sight of myself in a mirror nearly caused me to shed my skin.

But Bond wouldn’t be Bond without a certain amount of male charm and chauvinism that saw its best days in the dark ages. His confidence marches onward without question, and the action plays out at more of a silent movie pace with the screams held on the inside.

My love-hate relationship with Bond continues onward and possibly upward, and I shall let a bit more time pass before I constipate myself with the next installment.

As far as where this book falls within the first six installments of said series, I don’t really feel qualified to make such judgments. But I can tell you I liked it better than FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE without thinking too terribly hard about it.

Cross-posted at Robert's Reads

James Bond travels to Jamaica to investigate the disappearance of two colleagues and makes a connection to the mysterious Doctor No, who lives on the nearby island of Crab Key.

The first two thirds of this book are wonderfully atmospheric, with Fleming’s usual moody scene –setting (here, mostly 1950's Jamaica), the creation of clearly defined characters you want to know more about (ie. the gorgeous Honey Rider, the loyal Quarrel – who first appeared in Live And Let Die, plus the good Doctor himself - whose dining scene here, with Bond, is as memorable as it is in the film), and an ever tightening narrative thread that draws you in. Unfortunately, as much as I love reading these books, almost all have one flaw or other, and here, it’s the finale. I won’t say too much! But I don’t care much for fights with giant squid (which belong in another genre), but worse, after the novel’s (and the villain’s) great build-up, the manner of Doctor No's demise belongs in a comedy. What was Fleming thinking?!

Still, it’s an enjoyable read that grips from the very beginning. Fleming was always a master at creating a sense of time and place, and during these COVID-19 days, this perhaps is one of the reasons why I’m enjoying this whole escapist reading so much.

delightful. loved it. I'll read them all.

https://poseidons99.wordpress.com/201...

A piece of movie history I stumbled over yesterday. They were doing the casting for Doctor No, the first Bond movie, and Julie Christie, who was just starting to get seriously famous, was suggested to play Honey Rider. Albert Broccoli looked around for alternatives and noticed that Ursula Andress was also available.

Now, if it had been me, I'm afraid I'd have picked Christie in a flash. She was obviously a far better actress, and her rival also spoke with a thick Swiss-German accent. But Broccoli saw more deeply into the situation: Andress had bigger breasts. The voice wasn't important and could easily be dubbed.

If you're thinking of becoming a movie producer, I hope you were listening attentively.

Or should I say Dr Yes? No. Yes. No.
This is the 6th of the Bond novels. Bond goes to the Caribbean on a "soft" mission (he got the crap kicked out of him in From Russia with Love - and M thinks he's a bit of a wuss) to investigate the disappearance of Our Man in Kingston. Little does he know he will grapple with the dastardly Dr No - he's a medical doctor honestly, but has very cold hands because they are made of METAL. Perhaps this distracting aspect of his bedside manner forced him to quit his original vocation for a life of crime.
This is standard Fleming fare but it nips along. As a novel Dr No is good for the following reasons:
1) Bond fights a giant Octopus! Sadly without the use of breadcrumbs, a deep fryer and tartare sauce.
2) Bond kills one villain by burying him in a mountain of Guano - I am not making this up.
3) Did I say Dr No has METAL HANDS?
4) The popular Hanna/Barbera cartoon Scooby Doo appears to have borrowed a significant part of the plot of Dr No. Dr No never quite says "if it hadn't been for you pesky secret agents it would of worked too", but it's not far off.
5) This is the first Bond novel where the evil genius actually does live on an island in an evil lair with proper henchman; and this is really to be applauded.
6) Bond swears a lot in moments of pressure and violence, which if you think about it is really his day job. Sweary Bond is a pleasure to behold and a splendid divergence from the rather toned down movies that tend to fill our imaginations. Fleming actually wrote things like "BLANK-" in the books, but if you are a creative potty mouth like myself you will chortle away as Bond say thing like "take that you flangewank" before shooting someone. The hours will fly by.
*7) Extra bonus point. If like me you listened to this on an unedited audio book, I highly recommend a reader who cannot do a Jamaican accent (one such recording can be easily found on Youtube) - this will really add to your mirth.

While recovering from the previous novel - this is the first of the novels that implies that it follows on directly from the previous one I think - Bond is given a nice simple job in Jamaica. Of course, this is Bond, so the simple job isn't. Cue a frankly crazy story against the evil Dr. No. While the story doesn't exactly make total sense, it's an enjoyable read...

What I've found surprising about the Bond novels is that they're less racist than I expected and less sexist than the films. And, contrary to what I'd been told, Bond isn't a dour, humourless character. Sure, he's hard and focused (more Connery than Moore) but he does have a bit of humour, as does the writing.

Of course the attitudes seem a bit dated and perhaps a bit racist, but Fleming was writing for his era, not ours, and he even sneers at the acting governor of Jamaica for being old-fashioned (i.e. Edwardian). And when that same acting governor talks about the locals as lazy and like children, one gets the sense that Fleming isn't putting forward his own point of view but exposing a lazy stereotype and setting you up not to like him, as if he trusts his readers not to respect such views. That's not what I expected from Fleming.

More to the point, Dr No is a quick, exciting, well-plotted read. Whatever his reputation in liberal circles (I know, because I'm a liberal myself), Fleming is an excellent story-teller and surely an inspiration for those who recognised genre novels as valid art forms.

[Subeditor's notes: "dowsing" is searching for water by waving sticks around; the word for putting fires out is "dousing". And a ship being loaded with guano would be a bulk carrier, not a tanker.]