"Fear, Mr Bond, takes gold out of circulation and hoards it against the evil day."
- Ian Fleming, Goldfinger



A very enjoyable read except for a couple nagging complaints. I hate Fleming/Bond's attitude towards asians (Koreans in this book, but it was Chinese in Dr. No) and women (lesbians in this book). It doesn't age well. While I wasn't alive in the 50s, and I suspect it was more normal 60 years ago, it still reads a bit too heavy with white, masculine overcompensation.

I would have given this over-the-top spy thriller four stars, except for the sexist/racist complaints above. It produced one of the best Bond movies of all time and also introduced one of the worst-named, but most-interesting characters (Pussy Galore) in the James Bond universe. I loved the way the novel was structured into the three run-ins with Goldfinger (I. Happenstance; II. Coincidence; III. Enemy Action), with each run-in becoming more and more over-the-top. I loved the car chase, the golf game, etc. I think the best summary of this book came from Roy Perrott, writing for the Manchester Guardian, who said the novel was "hard to put down; but some of us wish we had the good taste just to try."

Bond is back again. He is waiting in an airport, contemplating life and his killing of a Mexican involved in the drug trade, when someone who he once knew at a certain casino (the Royale, anyone?) asks him for help. Turns out there's a man who cheats at cards and this Royale alum has lost a significant amount of money. Goldfinger's title character shows up as a sunburned, obese red-head who seems like he's out to cheat unsuspecting tourists. There is more afoot as Bond quickly discovers, and he's off again to save the world from a villain who amounts to a secret spy banker with a sum total of zero scruples.

There are gangs of lesbians in addition to mobsters and a solid white gold car. Oddly enough, the iconic death of the Bond girl by gold paint occurs away from Bond's gaze.

The downside to this dazzling set up is that there is a significantly long golf scene that seems really intense if one is a P.G. Wodehouse character. Also, the leader of the gang of lesbians name is Pussy Galore and we find out in final pages that  she was raped by an uncle at 12 because she lived in the South, so at least it wasn't her brother, she says optimistically. Bond "cures" her. Cue disgust and admiration of all the things wrong at once with that backstory.

A solid addition to the Bond series but not a great spy novel on its own.

Quite enjoyable however slightly inferior than the previous novels. Though Goldfinger is a formitable opponent the plot unfolds slowly. The golf sequence is the most boring part, especially if you are unfamiliar with golf like myself and i didn't like the death of Tilly, i felt that she should be Bond's girl instead of the obvious villain Pussy Galore. Anyway as i said it is enjoyable enough yet not the highest peak in the Bond series.

Ho boy, this one was insane-o. "Goldfinger" has always been my favorite Bond film. (The rest of the top 3? Casino Royale, for awesomeness, and Octopussy, because it's called Octopussy). The movie had a strong villain in Auric Goldfinger. I mean Oddjob, Pussy Galore, "No Mister Bond, I expect you to die", fantastic stuff.

I had always heard the book had less gadgets and that is true. No exploding pens or hats or...like, plants, I guess. I had figured it was SERIOUS spy stuff. Was it? Well yes and no. There were no gadgets. There was unfortunately also very little humor. Goldfinger kind of came across like an idiot. I never understood the stakes. He speak a whole week cheating someone out of what should be pocket change to a millionaire right before he attempts the biggest heist of his career.

Then later, when he should have killed Bond, he keeps him alive to help him pull off the heist. Hey Auric, maybe if you'd have gotten a few more Koreans (we'll get to that in a minute) and planned more thoroughly you wouldn't have had to trust a spy WHO YOU ALREADY KNOW IS OUT TO GET YOU when stealing a mountain of gold.

This book has all of the sexism and racism. ALL OF IT. Fleming didn't leave any sexism and racism for the rest of us. This book is why both of those ism's aren't popular any more. He quite simply used it all up.

But seriously, he seems to believe that Koreans are apes. Not "like" apes. Actual apes.

I was disappointed that Pussy Galore was a very minor character we don't get to see much of. More Galore!

I know it sounds like I didn't enjoy this book, but I did. It was a fun ride and I can see why these books were popular but with a little work, this could have been awesome. This is one of those few times were the movie was better than the book, but since the movie is one of my all time favorites, I suppose that was inevitable.

AUDIOBOOK
Well, I thought Dr No was the ultimate bond Villain but I have been proven wrong. Goldfinger is officially the KING of the criminal underworld and I really loved this book. It’s also the first Aston Martin Sighting which automatically puts it to the top of the list.

My fav of the Bond stories though the book is always going to get wrapped up in my head with the famous movie. And I prefer the Cold War storylines.

Movie: Loved the Aston Martin DB5 with all the accessories. Loved Shirley Bassey’s title track. Loved John Barry’s score. Loved Sean Connery. Loved Bernard Lee as M. Loved Honor Blackman. Loved the plot. And who will ever forget the woman painted gold (Shirley Eaton as Jill Masters)? It actually was filmed at Fort Knox in Tennessee.

Book: I liked Fleming’s writing style here. As usual there is more to the story than they can capture in a screenplay. I did like the plot about making America’s gold stock inaccessible. However I do think I enjoyed the Cold War stories a bit more when Bond was fighting SMERSH and the Russians.

I re-read this book after many years. I had initially read it before I saw the movie, but, after repeated viewings, the movie became more prevalent in my memories than the book, and there are differences in the two. Upon re-reading, I wish I could give this book a better rating, but there are many flaws. First, it starts out with a rehash of the same scenario as the earlier James Bond novel MOONRAKER, where Bond does someone a favor and figures out how a redheaded freak is cheating at cards. Second, there are entire sections of the novel dedicated to describing card and golf games, and it's just plain boring as hell (if you find reading detailed descriptions of cards and golf interesting, then you can add a star to my rating). Third, it continues on into a plot that is utterly implausible (which it does have in common with the movie; I actually am a James Bond fan who does *not* think GOLDFINGER is the best James Bond film like many do).

7/31/2023: Upon rereading, I am struck by how utterly ridiculous this novel is. Of the James Bond novels I’m rereading in order, this is undoubtedly the worst. I am tempted to reduce my rating to two stars.

Can anyone tell me why Goodreads permit the publication of pathetic one star reviews?

Marvellous book in the James Bond series. I really must recommend these to anyone who likes thrilling fiction and especially to people whose only exposure to James Bond has been the primping buffoon so commonly portrayed in talkies.

Fleming's Bond is thoughtful, with all too frequent dark moods and self doubt. A man who hates violence, and especially hates the fact that he is so good at it, and that it is of required of him. This book in fact opens with Bond in an airport lounge returning from a mission in which he had to kill a man who had tried to murder him.. and even this act of self defense has depressed him to the point where he is considering throwing the whole career away. A far cry from the cinematic Death-Penis on Legs (much as I like Connery & Craig's portrayal).

Anyway - in Goldfinger a chance encounter with an old acquaintance leads to a private favour to expose a gambling cheat which then becomes a larger mission to investigate the slow leakage of gold bullion from the UK market... an unpleasant villain, an unstoppable and sinister henchman, organised crime and a couple of dangerous lesbians. Who could ask for more.

Best of them all so far, but I loved the movie too out of all of them! I mean come on!! Oddjob! Goldfinger! So much fun!! I wish he did more like this!

This novel opens on a very Fleming-esque note. Bond has just had an ugly, violent assignment - and he’s feeling depressed and world-weary. World-weariness is one of Fleming’s greatest writing strengths, and he portrays it superbly here. Bond starts this story wanting to be less Daniel Craig, more Roger Moore!

After this opening, the novel gets a tad more mixed. Fleming’s writing and characterisation are always brilliant, and this is a perfectly decent plot (a chronic cheater at cards and golf tries to raid Fort Knox to spark tensions between SMERSH and the West), but it’s crying out for more characters. There’s Bond and Goldfinger (our St George/Dragon binary)…and that’s almost it for the memorable ones. It lacks a decent female lead for Bond to bounce off of. Pussy Galore, rendered iconic in the film adaptation, is barely in the book at all - and is not very well-served! She mainly represents the era’s decidedly outdated views on lesbians (no, they will not turn when they meet the “right man”).

Another point against this novel is that the film is far better! That part isn’t Fleming’s fault at all.

But it still has some great strengths. Possibly the most moving passage is when Bond wakes up after Goldfinger’s interrogation, believes he’s in the afterlife, and just when he’s pondering how he’ll introduce Tilly Masterson to Vesper, the realisation that he’s still in this world reduces him to tears.

2.5 stars

After having read, and enjoyed, Casino Royale I was looking forward to Goldfinger. I am very disappointed that it didn't live up to the promise of CR. I now know way too many things about golf. I found Gf for the most part boring and the ending didn't help me respect either the writer or the character any more. In fact it left a distinctly poor taste in my mouth. It was, to my mind, worse than the typical Bond mentality.

Another blah read for me. I will try Fleming/Bond again though. Better luck next time.