This is a bit of a guilty pleasure - like most of the Bond books. Yes, it's misogynistic. Yes, it's racist. But, it's fun. I've been reading the Bond books in order of publication (this is the sixth - though the first that I've written a review of on goodreads).

It's certainly not the most exciting of the stories but, when you read it, you can understand the appeal of the story to filmmakers - Doctor No was the first of the Bond films.

Basically, the plot goes as follows - British secret service man on Jamaica goes missing, Bond is sent out to investigate. Bond soon realises that the guy has disappeared because he was investigating mysterious goings on on a little island off the Jamaican coast and goes to investigate. Turns out a maniac by the name of Doctor No runs on the island, and has predictable world-domination plans. Bond encounters a sexy lady called Honey Rider. They defeat the loony.

Now, if you remember anything about the film Doctor No, it's going to be Ursula Andress coming out of the sea. If anything, the scene where Bond meets Honeychile Rider is sexier in the book. He wakes up having canoed out to Doctor No's island to see her naked back, which Fleming takes care to describe in sensual detail.

OK, so Fleming's no great wordsmith - but there's something quite pleasing about the way his narrative flows, and some of his turns of phrase are quite pleasing. Bond is considerably less likeable a character than either Moore or Connery portrayed him - he's not the quipping womaniser of the early films. In fact, Bond really doesn't get his end away in the books anything like as often as in the films. Honey is practically gagging for it for most of the second half of the book - even when the pair find themselves in mortal peril - but still Bond doesn't succumb to her charms. In case you're wondering, I am keeping score - in six books, he's slept with four women.

It has to be said though, the thing that really appealed to me was the invention here. Doctor No is so much the supervillain that he's a walking cliche... the remote island base... the desire for world domination... the mechanical hands... exposing his enemies to a series of escapable situations, rather than just killing them outright. But, the thing to bear in mind is that these things weren't cliches in 1958, when the book was published.

And the racist, misogynistic views of Fleming were commonplace at the time. That's not to excuse them, just to say that that's not in-and-of-itself a reason to dismiss the book.

I guess I just enjoyed it. It's a fun romp. So there.

Excellent Bond book that reads a little different than the first 5 books. To me, this book had more erotic aspects than the other books, and the tension between Bond and Honey Ryder was palpable. The ending of this book was also my favorite so far with a nice blend of the poetic, erotic, and sentimental.

An observation I've made so far is that at least 2 out of the first 6 books have had female characters who had a history of sexual assault / rape, and I've been impressed by Fleming's handling of that material. There's no doubt Fleming was a man of his times and many parts of the first 6 books are not politically correct when read through a modern context. There's subtle sexism and racism in almost every book so far. But I do find that Fleming's handling of certain topics have aged well.

The books in this series keep getting better. This one was jam-packed with action that really draws you into the suffering of James Bond. Yes, I said "suffering!" Sure, the Bond of the books is just as suave as the character on screen, but he doesn't get out of scrapes with a scratch. Indeed, in this book (as with the last one), he really took a beating. But that adds to the excitement and the vicarious gut wrenching that this story puts the reader through.

Can't wait to see what's next . . .

Seriously tempted to give this a 5, despite its flaws, as it features many of Fleming's finest moments (the squid battle in particular is nothing short of phenomenal), some strong character work and a deliciously pulpy plot that is delivered tastefully and in just the right manner. This is the quintessential document of the Bond phenomenon in all its forms - this is where the high-octane, fantastic vibe of the movies suddenly becomes recognisable in the books, but this is tempered by Fleming's gritty atmosphere and no-nonsense storytelling. As dated as the Bond books can be, he truly was one of the greatest thriller writers of all time, and Dr. No is one of his best.

First published in 1958 and the basis for the first movie.

Good detailed writing. At book #6, Fleming's Bond has really separated from Broccoli's film Bond. I prefer the one on the written page.

قرأت الترجمة المختصرة لنبيل فاروق وكنت أتمنى قراءة الترجمة الأصلية.. ربما يجب أن نضع في الاعتبرا زمن كتابة الرواية الأصلية لأن الكتابة للجاسوسية تطورت كثيرا

Thoroughly enjoyable, well written, escapism.

I'm not a huge fan of James Bond. I've watched a couple of the Daniel Craig films, which I've enjoyed but not seen any of the older ones.

This was my first Bond book, it's made me want to read the rest as it was rather good! I loved Bond, Quarrel & Honey. The plot was interesting, although did seem to move fast at times. Dr No seemed like a worthy villian but I don't feel like we saw much of him before there wasn't much to see of him!

I think I need to watch this, as I found some parts hard to visualize. When Bond is in Dr No's maze, I couldn't picture the spider part or how they were held in the cage.

I would recommend this if you've never picked up a Bond book before.

Going to use this same review for all the James Bond books I read several years ago. Why did I keep reading them if I hated them so much? Because I kept hoping for ONE good book with ONE woman valued for more than just her body. And anyone out there can tell me it was a reflection of the times, but I throw that argument out. I've heard it used a lot for slavery, for example, but that fails too because there were always abolitionists, just like there have always been feminists, even if that word didn't necessarily exist back then.

Amazon was practically giving away these Ian Fleming books, so I'd bought them all. And ultimately, I hated myself for it. They are such sexist filth. Sure, I like the "good guys" winning as much as the next, but in every one of them, it felt like it was at the expense of some woman (the "Bond girl's") identity where she's reduced to nothing but an objectified and glorified sexual being whose sole purpose is to make James Bond look good. Ew. I would've known better (I hope) had the cover been one of the more semi-pornographic ones that seem to be more common, but the Kindle series I'd bought had very unrevealing cover art. UGH. And remarkably, I hadn't watched any of the older Bond movies - only started with Daniel Craig versions which I thought was just dumb sexist typical Hollywood. In retrospect, I should've known better!

Given that the film adaptation always felt somewhat vanilla to me, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the book. The first half was the most gripping of Fleming’s work yet, aside from the train sequence in the previous story, From Russia With Love. From the opening chapter to Bond and M’s conversation, it was excellent. I also enjoyed Bond and Honey’s dynamic, potentially surpassing the film’s version too. Speaking of, the titular Doctor No was astronomically better in the book. One of the most interesting antagonists yet, I was even okay with Fleming letting him monologue exposition about his life story for basically an entire chapter! While I felt that Doctor No’s trials towards the story’s climax were the least interesting (and a little absurd by Fleming’s standards), the first 2/3 were extraordinary.

n  **1.75 stars**n

Having finished The Big Sleep around 3-4 days, a thought suddenly came to my mind, like, which was the point when I started losing my thing for popular thriller fiction? Of course, I never have stopped reading books from the genre, but stories that will stick with me are getting harder and harder to find (though my recent discovery of Raymond Chandler has made me quite optimistic, will be trying some Le Carré soon).

And I remembered this story and kind of remember the time when I started losing interest. This book was really hard to access at the time when I read it, literally had to sneak it from the school library (I was 12) while a friend gave me a proxy title for some Hardy Boys adventure to save me (sadly, that was my beginning and end with Hardy Boys). And when I read it, it felt quite worthless, to be honest.

But maybe I was too young. But that doesn’t convince me to pick it up again.

Well, I hadn’t seen Sean Connery’s movie, then, though. My mother loves the guy, and I could see why, but that doesn’t change the fact that Ian Fleming’s story practically left me with no impact. If anything, as I said, I was a bit frustrated as to why had I even bothered reading it.

Of course, it had its moments, and the writing was not indecent. If I ever pick up any other James Bond story, it will probably be Casino Royale but I’m quite doubtful about that one as well. As popular as the franchise might be, it’s only recently that the stories ceased to be sexist and misogynist and toxic masculine and whatnot. Now, if you’ve got to use that, at least use it right. Many stories demand those elements. This story doesn’t. It feels like a Mills & Boons novel with less erotic quotient and more espionage quotient.

That did it. Farewell to Ian Fleming and James Hadley Chase also, whose one story (I don’t even remember the name) I started to read one but dnf’ed.

MEH.

I always enjoy reading Bond stories, not only because i am a longtime fan of the cinematic Bond but also because Bond novels have a pulp vibe that i crave for. Not quite trash yet definitely not elaborated literature: literaly Bond is a little bit more human: has fellings, doubts, fears. Always unsure of himself but somehow manages to draw stength in order to complete the mission. And i always felt that the ideal Bond, as a picture, would be Timothy Dalton. Anyways, "Dr No" is quite similar with the movie (the fact is that the first movies followed the novel structure yet not the novel timeline) and the doctor himself proves to be a formitable opponent. The novel is quite enjoyable: fast paced and action packed, though i'd rather read another end for the doc, a more fitting one. However it is essential to every Bond fan.