Better than the first, but it has the same issue as the first book, which is that the later portion drags. Not nearly as much as book 1, but still, I found my attention wandering.

Much, much better then the film...
Great series, classic and after this many years still working very well!!!

Folks, let me say that I did really ejoy and love it!!!

Surprisingly good...
You should read it, if you haven't yet done so...

No spoiler, so go for it!!!

PS:
And forget the movie pal!!!
This here is the real dope...

Dean;)

I really liked this book. There was a good amount of action and I liked how descriptive the writing was. The villain was pretty interesting, even though he was very stereotypical. I thought it was really unique that Mr. Big used the sharks and barracudas as weapons. I was totally not expecting this and his plan with Bond and Solitaire at the end was so shocking . I liked Felix Leiter and Bond's relationship, and I wish there was more of him in the book (too bad he was almost killed by that shark) .
Overall really good book. I think I actually liked it better than the first one, probably since I didn't already know the story before reading it.

James Bond movies and novels are pretty ridiculous. When they embrace this and give in to the pulp to basically turn into comic book stories they are so much better and, luckily, Live and Let Die is pretty darn pulpy. Bond has to navigate Black magic, psychics, killer fish, and voodoo cults on his mission to stop the nefarious Mr. Big and save bond girl Solitaire.

Classic Bond thriller is a mixture of exciting, violent action, and spy shenanigans that really tested my patience. Fleming has a tendency to over describe things — just wait for the moment when Bond passes an aquarium and a description of every single damn fish behind the glass follows — but the whole thing is surprisingly graphic and ruthless.

Be aware that this is a book written by a white Englishman in the 1950s, and has horribly outdated racial stereotypes and language throughout. Though to be fair, Fleming seems to also really hate all Americans and also, bizarrely, the elderly, who Bond views with undisguised loathing.

titular sentence:
p38: '...It's "live and let die".'

cement:
p24: His partner was found on a barrel of cement in the Harlem River in 1938 and Mr Big automatically became sole proprietor of the businesss.

p66: 'I will explain to you briefly,' continued The Big Man, 'why it is that you are not dead; why you have been permitted to enjoy the sensation of pain instead of adding to the pollution of the Harlem River from the folds of what is jouclarly known as a cement overcoat.'

p102: She led them out and down the cement path to the end cottage on the left.

p130: He dropped his Beretta with a clatter on to the cement floor.

168: Standing there, swaying in the slight current in the tunnel, Bond guessed that one more barrel of cement had splashed in the mud of the Harlem River.

There's a bit more technology in this one, but not too science fiction-y yet. Love the voodoo angle.

JAMES BOND: "Oh, Solitaire, I really want to make love to you right now in this hot, cramped compartment on a moving train with someone right outside the door trying to kill me, but---I have this broken finger, you see, which makes sex absolutely out of the question, so I'll have to exploit you at a later date."

SOLITAIRE: "Oh, James, I don't mind, because I always dreamed of being kissed exactly the way you just kissed me. And I only met you a couple of days ago, but I wanted to tear my clothes off for you the moment I saw you because I knew you were James Bond 007, even though I've been a prisoner of the Haitians for several years, with no access to information about British spies who are supposed to be top secret."

So tell me again, James, which finger is broken? Because unless it's that 11th finger, the one you keep in your trousers, a broken finger is a pretty lame excuse for withholding stud service.
These books are trash, but they're entertaining trash---the best kind. This one is especially funny because Ian Fleming chose a U.S. setting. The poor guy didn't know that Americans don't say things like, "I'm really keen to do that." And we don't call our men "chaps." Chaps are what rodeo riders wear. Fleming was about 35 years too early, else he could have learned from Garth Brooks that "It's boots and chaps, it's cowboy hats, it's spurs and latigo/It's the ropes and the reins and the joy and the pain, and they call the thing rodeo."

If you really want a good laugh, listen to the audio version of this book, in which the otherwise excellent British narrator has to produce a variety of American accents. His attempts to sound like black people in Harlem are hilarious. Not to disparage him, because I couldn't do any better. But imagine John Wayne in London trying to sound like Sir Laurence Olivier. Similarly awkward.

So by now it sounds like I hated this book, but I didn't. I'm just spouting off because it's fun, and no one's gonna read this far into the review anyway.
I saw this movie when I was about 10 years old, which I assure you was a very long time ago. Back when penny candy was a nickel. My memory of the film was vague---a lot of cool gadgets, a big scary bad guy, a lot of noise, piranhas, and a kick-ass theme song. I didn't remember the story being about Haitian voodoo, which is a big part of the novel. Having read Wade Davis's The Serpent and the Rainbow, I had to take most of the voodoo stuff here with a grain of salt. Most of what people think they know about voodoo is wrong.

I give this 2.5 stars. It was entertaining and action packed, but when it was over I wasn't sure exactly what it was supposed to have accomplished in terms of plot.

In the second James Bond book, "Live and Let Die", Bond is involved in a smuggling operation linked to a dangerous criminal named Mr. Big in New York City. Sent by his boss, M, to investigate, Bond discovers that the trail leads to a hidden pirate treasure in Jamaica. During his adventure, he meets an intriguing fortune teller named Solitaire.

The story is filled with excitement, involving international plots, powerful criminals, and touches of ancient beliefs, all of which create a thrilling atmosphere that adds to the danger faced by the characters. While the voodoo elements are less significant than in the movie version, they cleverly disguise Mr. Big’s illegal activities including trafficking exotic fish and other illicit goods. Bond, although he doesn’t believe in voodoo, can still feel the eerie tension around him.



In "Live and Let Die", Solitaire represents the classic Bond girl—a character who initially keeps her distance but eventually helps Bond out of love. Their relationship combines elements of romance and mystery, leading to a suspenseful escape from Mr. Big’s plan to torture Bond using sharks and coral reefs.



It’s worth mentioning that Ian Fleming’s portrayal of Bond differs significantly from the suave character many know from the movies. Here, Bond comes across as more of a flawed and somewhat unlikable character, reflecting the attitudes of the 1950s. The story doesn’t present clear heroes and villains but offers unexpected twists, clever antagonists like Mr. Big, and intricate strategies by Bond and MI5. This novel introduces deeper emotions, making it an engaging, though cautionary, read for fans. Despite his flawed view of the world, Bond faces constant risks that make him a relatable character.

Yes the writing was better than the first book and yes I accept that this was the book of it's time and can't be judged as per our time but my my so much racism here and probably not racism but N word is used throughout. Action moves to US and Caribbean for this second Bond outing. This is something you have to deal with when you decide to read pulp fiction from 60 years ago but I shall continue.

You should do the same and give it a chance and then Keep on Reading.

People who don't read generally ask me my reasons for reading. Simply put I just love reading and so to that end I have made it my motto to just Keep on Reading. I love to read everything except for Self Help books but even those once in a while. I read almost all the genre but YA, Fantasy, Biographies are the most. My favorite series is, of course, Harry Potter but then there are many more books that I just adore. I have bookcases filled with books which are waiting to be read so can't stay and spend more time in this review, so remember I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.

As far as the movies go, we have moved beyond Sean Connery and we are now in the Roger Moore years, a surprisingly refreshing change, I must admit. Younger, fitter, less embittered (which is the impression I was feeling from Sean Connery in the last movie).

Bond returns to America in this book and I am still amazed (yet amused) at how Fleming viewed Americans. He makes comments about the food (Americans can't boil eggs), the cars, the people, the accents. In the movie we see bumbling American cops and tough pimp-like Harlemites; in the book American blacks can, according to Fleming, barely speak English at all.

Our Bond girl this time is Solitaire, a young woman who can read the future. In the movie this character is portrayed by a very young Jane Seymour, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. She's young and hot and of course Bone needs to tap dat. She works for Mr. Big (no, not the Mr. Big) who is an agent of SMERSH, the Soviet counterintelligence agency. She only works for him; she really just wants to be loved. D'aww.

In the movie there's this scene that takes place in New Orleans that my brother and I both remember very well from our childhood viewing (whatever that says about us), in which is portrayed a street funeral. I don't really have anything to say about that other than when the first street funeral came up we were both like "I remember this part!" Considering my memory sucks, I high five myself for having a memory of anything.

This scene did not occur in the book. In case you were wondering. Which is a shame, because it's actually a great scene in the movie.

But, again, the movies are very loosely based on the books. Some of the character names are the same, some of the locales are the same, but then that's about it. What happens to said characters and in which locales vary greatly. There's a keel-hauling scene in the book that is altered significantly for the movie (though I understand the scene makes it into a later movie, so I'm excited for that because I'm a sick bastard), and something happens to Felix Leiter in the book that I was totally unprepared for because it didn't happen at all in the movie (remember, I'm watching the movies first for this project).

Reading can be traumatizing sometimes. I was traumatized. Poor Felix.

(And apparently that scene actually happens in a later movie as well, so now that I'm prepared, it will be less traumatic when I actually see it.)

I have to say that I still enjoyed this book and the movie for their fun-filled action scenes. Roger Moore has more energy than Connery did towards the end, and I appreciate that. I could have done without the wild boat chase scene that was added to the movie and I can't stand the idiot sheriff, but neither that scene nor the sheriff have any role in the book, so I felt the flow of the book was better and certainly more interesting.

Do I need to comment on the theme song? Paul and Linda McCartney as Wings. It's a classic. And then there's that other version from before Axel porked up and he and Slash were still on speaking terms. Shut up, that version is awesome.

There are still cringe-worthy moments where Fleming uses Bond as a vehicle for his thoughts on women and especially blacks. You'd think I'd be growing immune to it but it really doesn't work like that. It's still a shock. Someone just brought to my attention in one of my status updates that the US version changed the Chapter 5 title from the god-awful "Nigger Heaven" to "Seventh Avenue". I hadn't realized that because the reissued version apparently went back to the original chapter titles. I was careful not to read that chapter on the bus.

Next up... The Man With the Golden Gun.

The atmosphere and excitement of this book were just as good as in Casino Royale however I feel the story and pacing just missed the mark.
I'm normally ok at accepting a book within the era and context that it was written, but I felt with this one because the focus was so much upon a black American criminal enterprise that the stereotypes and attitudes, common amongst English gentlemen (Fleming) at the time, were just too pronounced to write off as just being the terminology and phraseology of the time. So I docked it a bit for that.

Though James Bond remains among my favourite movie characters,can't say the same about Ian Fleming's original creation.This is the only Fleming book I've read and I found it fairly slow and podding.There is plenty of racism and it even includes voodoo.I'm in no hurry to read more Ian Fleming books.