On the other hand, what are you? You are a common thug, a blunt instrument wielded by dolts in high places ... you satisfy your brutish instincts with alcohol, nicotine and sex.
P.246

Bond is een maniak, oké, maar dit verhaal is toch op alle fronten way too much. Vergelijkbaar met Live and Let Die.

I seem to remember reading all or part of Ian Fleming's You Only Live Twice many years ago when it was abridged and serialized in Playboy magazine. I do not remember many of the long scenes with Tiger Tanaka, which either were not in the issue(s) I had, or which were mercifully left on the cutting room floor.

In this, the third of Fleming's SPECTRE novels, James Bond catches up with Ernst Stavro Blofeld and his infamous consort Irma Blunt at a Japanese castle and blows them to kingdom come. (As Blofeld exists in some of the post-Fleming Bond movies, it is possible that he returns later. (We shall see!)

The love interest in You Only Live Twice is the delectable Kissy Suzuki, who makes her living diving nude for abalone. She was played by the equally delectable Mie Hama, the ingenue star of Toho Pictures, in the film version.

Oh, and Kissy, if you want to keep a man like the amnesiac James Bond around, be sure not to say "Vladivostok" to him. It brings back certain memories.

YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, the last James Bond novel Ian Fleming lived to see published, is great page-turner, with interesting insights (some unfortunately colored by prejudices of the time) into Japanese culture as well as the post-WWII decline of Britain as a global power. Bond, a wreck of a man after the death of his wife in the previous novel, is sent on a diplomatic mission to Japan, and then in an unexpected plot twist finds himself in one final battle against mad genius Ernst Stavro Blofeld (who, incidentally, was the murderer of Bond's wife). Tiger Tanaka, head of Japanese SIS, is a wonderful character through whom Bond learns about Japanese culture, food, sake, and of course haiku (whence comes the book's title). The delightfully/preposterously named Kissy Suzuki is one of the series' most sympathetic and fully drawn female characters, and may be the only one to offer Bond a true period of happiness. The novel is suffused with more than a hint of melancholy and ennui, suggesting that perhaps Fleming is growing aware of 007’s mortality—or his own.

(B+) 77% | Good
Notes: James Bond, ninja tourist, prefers labor and vice simple and direct, but is sent to Japan: land of subtext and etiquette.

James Bond turns Japanese, for a time anyway.

One of the more bizarre sights in the Bond cinema cannon is the tall Scotsman Sean Connery made up to appear Japanese, so far as that might be possible, in the 1967 release of You Only Live Twice.

Yet it remains one of my two favourite Bond films, the other being Diamonds Are Forever. The two are quite dissimilar but they hit the mark for me. Both feature the villainous Ernst Stavro Blofeld, played by Donald Pleasance in Japan and disconcertingly, by Charles Grey in the United States in 'Diamonds'.

In the book You Only Live Twice, Blofeld has set himself up on a heavily guarded remote island lushly planted with toxic, venomous and otherwise lethal vegetation. What's he up to? Well, no good is what he's up to and Commander Bond has to put an end to it.

Conveniently, with the help of 'Dikko' Henderson, 'our man in Tokyo', and 'Tiger' Tanaka, Head of the Japanese secret service, the Japanified Bond is embedded near Blofeld's dangerous island, in a small fishing village, where the attractive women dive, usually naked, for the maritime bounty below. Prominent among the attractive women is Kizzy Suzuki, whom Bond admires.

You can probably work out what happens thereafter.

An entertainingly dated fantastical adventure.

Bond is slipping in the spy game since his bride was killed, courtesy of Blofeld. M decides to send him to Japan to try to shake some Intel from their counterpart, Tiger Tanaka.

Bond is taught ninja skills, cosmetic adjustments are made to his appearance, and Japanese society training is applied. Tanaka will trade Intel if Bond removes a doctor who's created an entire island of deadly animals, vegetation and geysers that invited suicidal people to dispatch themselves.

Fun, fantastical adventure.

Fleming closes Bond's story in this tale, and the ending is fantastic. Unlike the films, Fleming incorporates the consequences of previous books, such that Bond is under severe stress by this last volume. This affects his actions and increases the stakes. I was surprised just how good this book--and the series as a whole--is. If you love the films, then I recommend trying the books that inspired them.

To be honest, this entry into the series was a disappointment. It promises to be the final encounter between Bond and Blofeld, but it's really just 170 pages of Ian Fleming writing about all of the "facts" he's learned about Japan and 30 pages concerning Blofeld. On top of that, there's little to no plot, not really a threat or a villainous masterplan. It's just a book about a couple of guys talking about Japan that ends with one of them swinging a sword and pretending to be a samurai.

At one point near the end, Ian Fleming even breaks the fourth wall. It's a minor comment, but I found it surprising (and not in a good way).

Don't bother.

"You Only Live Twice"(or, as it should be better known, the book in which Ian Fleming came close to the territory John Le Carre and Graham Greene), is perhaps the strangest of the James Bond novels that I have read. When I call it the strangest, I mean it as a compliment. It has none of the usual sleek swagger that we associate with Bond, which occasionally borders on smugness, and it has no wonderfully protracted scenes of playing cards with tough-headed villains, beautiful ladies, not even much of spectacular standoffs or even gritty action, though both come in full brute force in that rather thrilling but too literally metaphorical climax - about a vengeful knight entering the nemesis' castle and killing him then and there. Apologies for spoiling it all for you.

Rather, this is an almost anguished, downbeat tale, a spy story without spies, an action thriller without much thrills or action for a major part of its length and, most crucially, a Bond novel without the James Bond we know, at least from most of the films and even the books. Instead of being the smart-mouthed, sly-witted, suave secret agent, he is here world-weary and worn-out, broken and battered in body and spirit and merely driven to his latest mission with a nihilistic thirst for revenge.

And this downbeat tenor is evident from the early part of the novel, as Bond lands in Japan and while Fleming always had the gift of mesmerising his readers with exotic scenery and the heady whiff of local texture and flavour, they are all here packed in to heighten the sense of the story's gritty realism instead of a decorative trope. We see Bond maneuver his way around the minute intricacies of Japanese food and rituals and even engage in a strange scissors-paper-rock game with his hard-witted ally "Tiger" Tanaka but through it all, there is little excitement; instead, there is only a wry, weary cynicism.

It is, surprisingly for a Bond novel, when oo7 and Tanaka, an Englishman and a Japanese, start talking about themselves, about their respective empires already past their heyday and then about this pickle that Tanaka finds himself in, that we realise that we are witnessing a different side to Fleming - intelligent, sober, prescient, politically astute, objective and even erudite, something that we got to see in flashes in his short stories. For once, we realise the futility of these men's allegiances to their respective nations and this is where the Le Carre and Greene flavour seeps in - broken men of the world of cloaks and daggers sharing confidences and doubts about their chosen profession.

Hardened James Bond fans can, however, rest easy as Fleming skillfully lets the tension simmer in slow-burn fashion - we are told of a Doctor Shatterhand and his Garden of Death, a sort of Eden for the bruised pride and destroyed honour of Japanese society where many flock to find their redemption in...the most exotic, dangerous, sinister forms of death. So much that the Garden Of Death has become almost a nihilistic theme park for the populace and Tanaka is apprehensive about the whole thing. So is Bond when he starts to sense something familiar in this Doctor Shatterhand...

But while you would expect Bond to take a dramatic leap and jump right into the fray of action, Fleming, instead soft-pedals and lets the suspense build up step by step, leading to the inevitable conclusion in the end, which in hindsight, is, despite its preposterous fantasy, one of the more convincingly rendered scenes of stealth and brutal action to be found in any Bond novel, even embellished by baroque touches.

Fleming's trademark wit, roving eye for almost voyeuristic detail and flair at dialogue are all in place; on top of that, imagine a wonderful serving of Greene-like gift for realistic characterisation and psychological darkness and Le Carre-style deconstruction of heroism and you get a James Bond novel unlike any other. It is not quite as perfectly structured, entertaining, romantic and thrilling as "Dr. No" but it is certainly close to its perfection in its own unique way.

Part three of my 2023 James Bond movie/book project. Continued from Thunderball in February.

You Only Live Twice theme song sung by Nancy Sinatra.

Bonus track: Capsule in Space, part of which is heard in other Bond movies.

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The ending to this was fantastic, five stars all the way, but laws, it's a long, slow slog to get to it, and since the ending alone can't carry the whole book, I can't go higher than three stars. This one is also completely different from the movie. Both take place in Japan, Tiger's in it, and so is Blofeld. Kissy Suzuki is the main Bond girl, and there's a volcano, but that's pretty much where all major similarities end. As for minor details, there are piranha, and Bond falls through a trap door in the floor at one point... I think that's it. Oh, wait. Bond also turns Japanese in both, but he does it a lot better in the book since Blofeld doesn't even recognize him after he's captured (though Irma Bunt does). As for the movie transition...

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Give me a break. This is Sean Connery with a bad haircut and eyebrow extensions. You can't even see the spray-on tan, or whatever it is, he's supposed to have! And that brings us to the racism which we might as well get out of the way. By today's standards, I think this book is probably racist. At least everyone else says so. I didn't notice it much, but there is a lot of hissing and bowing going on, and I guess that's offensive? I'm not sure. I'm told I'm insensitive, so I don't always know when something is offensive, and I'm usually confused once it's pointed out to me.

The movie concerns SPECTRE trying to start a nuclear World War III between the USA and the USSR so China (presumably) can pick up the spoils afterward. The book involves Blofeld getting in touch with his inner Dr. Kevorkian, though for his own shits and giggles... eventually. The first 2/3 of the book is about Bond getting over his last case which went badly and learning all there is to learn about Japanese ways. He's given an impossible mission because M realizes that's where he thrives best, and Bond is often able to do the impossible. (M did this intentionally to get Bond out of his funk, though he would've been well within his rights to fire him instead. I thought this was pretty cool.) A lot of people think this was Fleming's worst Bond outing. Even his good friend Roald Dahl who was given the task of making this book into a workable screenplay said it was "tired, bad, Ian's worst book with no plot in it which would even make a movie." (I agree with the "not a good movie" sentiment.) So, he took some hot topics of the day, borrowed some of the structure from Dr. No, took a couple of characters and the setting of Japan from the book, and used a few requirements from the producers. E.G. a friend who gets killed pretty early on; three bond girls, (two who die halfway through and one of those a baddie, the last who doesn't get laid by Bond until the end); and the formula set in Goldfinger where there are lots of gadgets, chases, explosions, etc. He crammed it all together against a hard deadline (six weeks), and turned in "the biggest load of bullshit I've ever put my hand to." Regardless of what he thought about it, it turned out to be a hit movie.

I'm reading these in movie order which grates on me on principle, and if it weren't for my movie project, I would read these in book order. I suggest anyone else do it that way unless you're doing the same movie project I am. The books can be read as standalones, but events from previous books are mentioned, and they're complete spoilers. You Only Live Twice was the penultimate Bond novel Fleming penned, but one of the early films so I read it before other books, and the climax of On Her Majesty's Secret Service was ruined for me. I also know of something that happens to Felix Leiter in Live and Let Die because I read Diamonds Are Forever first. This doesn't completely ruin my day, or anything, but I'm going on record as saying it would be better to read these in order if you plan to read the entire series. Plus, the ending to this one was left open, though not quite a cliffhanger, but I have to go through a couple of older books before I get to the sequel to this one, The Man with the Golden Gun, to find out what happens to Bond in book world.

Interesting tidbit: Part of the crew including the producers, director, production designer, and director of photography (pretty much the movers and shakers who make the movie happen) were supposed to take a plane from Japan back to the UK after scouting locations. They were invited to watch some ninja demonstrations, so they opted for a later flight. The flight they were supposed to take crashed after takeoff, killing everybody on board. So, I guess you could say Bond was saved by ninjas just like he was in the movie. I like to think that that incident influenced that part of the film.

Continued with April's entry: Diamonds Are Forever

I’ve been naturally comparing the films to the novels as I go. You Only Live Twice is one of the more interesting comparison points in the series, mostly because the placement of this story is so different in the novels than the films. Having it come after OHMSS instead of before radically changes things.

This isn’t, of course, the only case of order flipping - Dr. No comes after From Russia in the novels - but this far more pivotal due to Tracy’s death in OHMSS. The comparison then says less about the film version YOLT and more about what a failure Diamonds Are Forever was. Not only is it one of the weaker Bond films, it also fails to carry the emotional weight from the end of OHMSS. We don’t even get a cameo from Irma Bundt!!

Fleming, thankfully, doesn’t make that same mistake and gives a novel that captures the pathos of OHMSS. This is one of the better stories in the series and one that elevates Bond to a fully realized character

My friend recently praised the audiobook narrations of Simon Vance. Unfortunately, my library's inventory is small and Overdrive Media only allows me to download MP3s to my Nexus, further limiting my options to only two James Bond novels narrated by Vance. Since I have been wanting to read Bond books, I figured why not.

Shortly into the reading, my friend asked me what I thought of Vance's performance. I informed her that there was no Simon Vance. There was only James Bond and Tiger Tanaka. Vance has definitely earned a place on my list of favourite audiobook narrators.

This is the twelfth Bond book, taking place shortly after the violent death of Bond's wife of only a few hours. Bond physically survived the explosion at the hands of Dr. Blofeld, but the emotional effects are obvious. M is uncertain of what to do with his formerly best agent, until one doctor determines that what Bond needs is an impossible mission. This leads Bond to Japan and a friendship with Tiger Tanaka.

This is the last Bond book published by Ian Fleming in his life time, and it differs significantly from the film. There are no spacejackings and nuclear weapons in the book, but there are ninjas.

The story takes place not long after Japan's defeat in WWII. The west is encroaching on the east, and not everyone is happy with subjugation. The samurai sense of honour remains.

I enjoyed the insight into the Japanese culture, which was not as pretentious or derisive as it was in Michael Crichton's Rising Sun. The back-and-forth between Tanaka and Bond is amiable and respectful, even when they are being negative or insulting to each other's countries.

Bond's mission changes significantly when Tanaka asks him to deal with the "Castle of Death" that has been built on a Japanese island. A lot of their discussions deal with their differing views on suicide and honour. Although Bond does not get heavily into his emotions over Tracy's death, there is a sense that the discussions about suicide and other aspects of Japan are definitely on Bond's mind. Or, perhaps I was just projecting, because I wanted a little more of Bond's internal struggle to come out. It does rear its head in the end, with good reason, but I wanted to see a bit more of his pain than Fleming allowed.

As this is a Bond book, there has to be a Bond Girl. In this case, it is Kissy Suziki, a clam diver on the small island that becomes Bond's base of operations. Throughout the book, he has numerous encounters with women and the book comments on his lascivious thoughts, but I found it interesting that the woman who is clearly intended to be a love interest, is treated with the utmost respect by Bond. Several moments in Kissy's appearances were dedicated to Bond's utter appreciation of her as a woman. The descriptions spoke as much about her body as they did about her abilities and demeanor.

There is not a lot of action in this book. In fact, M informs Bond at the beginning, that the mission requires his wits, more than anything. When the mission changes, Tanaka denies Bond's requests for the simplicity of guns, instead introducing him to ninjutsu and the art of stealth. I was a bit skeptical about this part, though I appreciated that Bond didn't simply learn how to ninja over night. Or at all, really.

My only other complaint comes from two particular moments when mission information is provided to Bond. I expected the information to be summarized, but instead it was listed off in great detail that caused me to tune out a bit. That said, I do now have a long list of poisonous flora and their resulting effects.

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