* The fourteenth Bond book.

* The last Bond book by Ian Fleming, published posthumously but including three short stories originally published (by Playboy and Argosy) between 1962 and 1965 (roughly between The Spy Who Loved Me and The Man With the Golden Gun). (Later editions than mine include a fourth story, "007 in New York.")

* Bond here gets to demonstrate an unattractive yet very human failing: having rather more sympathy for a beautiful woman than a plain one. And perhaps it is too bad: if the plain woman had been beautiful, the story might somehow have been better. As it is, this story, "The Property of a Woman," is the weakest of the lot, though only because the climax is the stuff of routine spycraft. The rest is well-told and involving, about a double-agent being paid off in an unusual way by her Soviet masters. (Her fate is not revealed in the story, but is provided in the first part of The Man With the Golden Gun.)

* "Octopussy" is another one of those Bond stories that has little to do with Bond himself, but it's a satisfying tale of a retired British military man whose wartime greed finally catches up with him.

* "The Living Daylights" has the cold-blooded setup that many casual Bond fans associate with the character: Bond is sent to Berlin to assassinate an assassin. Trouble is (as any dedicated fan of Bond knows), he despises missions like these, and it's interesting to see how far he will go to maintain his own sense of propriety in such matters.

* In all, a very good collection and a worthy addition to the Bond library.

Short stories but Portrait of a Lady and Living Daylights would make ace short films

Miscellaneous

Another cash grab on top of “The Man With the Golden Gun,” this collection of short stories has been packaged and repackaged to suit whatever title has been leveraged by Eon Productions. Of course, none of the stories were ever directly adapted to the cinema, but bits and pieces would be added for local color. In general, these have aged better than the rest of Fleming’s work. Perhaps the short form avoided some of the perilous inner monologing that set Bond as an arch-Imperialist within his jetsetting veneer. However, Fleming’s prose has always felt a bit at sea in the short story format. His books are typically short, almost novellas, and the chapters in turn were only 10-12 pages. A hallmark of his writing was the quick build of tension and conflict as each chapter built up the tension of the story. His short stories, however are at most 40 pages long, and lack that drumbeat of ever increasing stakes. Too often Bond is a spectator, as in Octopussy, or in the previously published a Quantum of Solace. Of this collection, I lean most toward The Living Daylights, though even that feels a bit contrived with the “3 days” plot element. James Bond in New York feels like some notes found on Fleming’s desk. Octopussy has a good story, but its told almost entirely through internal reverie. In the end, the book is a bit of scraps and oddities.

Book #14 and the last of the original Bond stories so the last Bond book for me. (There is one last short story that is sometimes included in this book but was not in my edition)

This book is 3 short stories and was published posthumously.

Octopussy - In this Bond is not the main character and his appearance is brief. Bond has come to arrest a Major of the second World War on suspicion of murder and the theft of Nazi gold. The story is this Major, who has anticipated this moment his whole life, reflects on the murder and the theft and is wondering what to do. Octopussy referrs to his pet octopus named Pussy.

The Living Daylights - Several stories point out that Bond does not enjoy pure murder. Though he has a licence to Kill, a 00 number, he hates killing in cold blood which he must do. In this story, Bond is not his normal chipper self. He seems depressed and disapproving of his career.

The Property of a Lady - In this story, Bond is to attend an auction and find Russian spies. This story seems incomplete.

In some additions of this book, there is a short story included entitled "007 in New York" This was not in my edition.

I was not a fan of this book. I have enjoyed seeing Bond progress and see him become a much more complex character. Fleming was not a great writer, but I have also enjoyed seeing his writing progress and him try different styles.

I finally finished reading all of the Ian Fleming James Bond books. I picked up a paperback collection of all the Fleming Bond books years ago from Sam's. But never got to this last book. Till I finally picked it up via Kindle and now I knocked it out. Another collection of short stories.

Most of the time, the Bond movies have little to do with the actual books, like Goldeneye (not even a short story), or The World is Not Enough (family motto mentioned in a Bond book). Three of the stories in this collection are somewhat tied to the movies. The main character in Octopussy never appears in the movie, but he was mention by Maud Adams (playing Octopussy), he was her father (in the movie, not the book), and the Faberge Egg that was featured in The Property of a Lady was also featured in the Octopussy movie (but not like in this short story). And finally, the female assassin in The Living Daylights did appear in the Timothy Dalton Bond movie of the same name.

Loose ties, but ties nonetheless.

I have read a few other James Bond books by other authors, but felt I needed to complete the original series. Now on to more Bond.....

El último libro de James Bond escrito por Ian Fleming, publicado tras su muerte y que reúne tres cuentos cortos de Bond. No puedo evitar sentir pena por saber que ya no tendré más capítulos de 007 escritos por su autor original. Y es que, pese a sus clichés machistas e incluso racistas en algunas de sus novelas, escritos en una sociedad con menos corrección política como la de ahora, Fleming tenía una manera de escribir que enganchaba. Y, sobre todo, que supo reinventarse novela tras novela, con planteamientos diferentes, con el foco de la atención cambiando de un lado a otro, y mostrando todas las caras de un personaje que sufre y evoluciona, igual que el estilo de su creador.

En estos tres relatos vemos una muestra de ello. En uno, Bond no es el protagonista, pero su aparición en escena supone el final de la vida del que sí lo es. En otro relato, Bond tiene un caso emocionante pero carente de acción para averiguar quién es un espía de la KGB ¡en una puja! Y en el tercer cuento Bond tiene que ejercer su licencia 00 para eliminar a un francotirador enemigo. Tres historias muy diferentes, que sumándolas no dan para una novela, pero que nos ponen en situación de la diversidad de ideas en las que Fleming sitúa a su personaje estrella.

Fleming además introdujo muchos paralelismos de personajes, lugares y protocolos que conocía de primera mano. Hay continuas localizaciones en Jamaica, donde Fleming residía. La vida despreocupada y poco sana de cigarrillos y alcohol a la que era asiduo, pese a su delicada salud, también está presente en los personajes, especialmente en Bond pese a las necesidades de su trabajo. Y esa preocupación por no ser esnob, pero en realidad ser otro tipo de élite alejada de la aristocracia…

Una pena que nos dejara tan pronto. Ahora le echaré de menos.

Of the two collections of James Bond short stories penned by Ian Fleming, this is the best. With narration by Tom Hiddleston, three of the four stories in the book are brought to life with gravitas and humor. "007 in New York" was left out of this and a previous Simon Vance audiobook, but the two stories from the book's title, along with "Property of a Lady" are here. Unlike other Bond short stories, there's quite a bit of these in the films which bear their name (Octopussy - the film - incorporates elements of both "Octopussy" and "Property of a Lady," while The Living Daylights is an expansive but straightforward adaptation.

The stories themselves - along with "007 in New York," which is a fun diversion - are quite good, and Hiddleston provides excellent narration.

I listened to this out of sequence in the timeline (see my blog and previous reviews for my obsessiveness about this) because it was unavailable from the library until after I completed my cross-country drive. Ordinarily I'd have just read the stories from the book, but I was curious to hear what Hiddleston brought to the mix. I'm glad I made that choice. With Kenneth Branagh narrating The Man With the Golden Gun I may just close out Fleming's original works with one more audiobook.

2 1/2 stars
This is one that I had forgotten about reading. I don't even know how I ended up reading it in the first place, but this is the only James Bond story I've read and from this story I gather that Ian Flemming's James Bond is a bit different from the one in the movies. The short story Octopussy is very different from the movie of the same name. Instead you get an okay action thriller without all of cheesiness that is the movie. That's not a bad thing, but I just thought it was a little dull.

"The octopus, quietly, relentlessly, pulled downwards and terrible realization came to Major Smythe. He summoned his dregs of strength and plunged his spear down. The only effect was to push the scorpion fish into the mass of octopus. The tentacles snaked upwards and pulled more relentlessly. Too late Major Smythe scrabbled away his mask. One bottled scream burst out across the empty bay, then his head went under and down and there was an explosion of bubbles to the surface. Then Major Smythe's legs came up and the small waves washed his body to and fro while the octopus explored his right hand with its buccal orifice and took a first tentative bite at a finger with its beak-like jaws."

Another short story anthology... 'Octopussy', 'The Property of a Lady' and 'The Living Daylights' ('007 in New York' was eventually added to the 2002 edition).

Again, these shorter adventures make the Fleming canon all the more richer by exploring three slightly different exploits to James Bond's usual routine of facing off against megalomaniacs trying to upset the global order.

'Octopussy' has Bond track down the man who murdered his surrogate father (who is not Blofeld's father in Fleming's canon). 'The Property of a Lady' has Bond staking out an auction at Sotheby's in order to track down a Russian spy (this was eventually adapted into the plot of 1983's Octopussy). The Living Daylights has Bond protecting an East German defector from a female assassin (just like how it plays out in 1987's The Living Daylights).

A collection of four James Bond short stories. In two of the stories, Bond acts as a detective tracking down people to solve a mystery. Though, in the first of those stories, "Octopussy," the antagonist is the point of view character and Bond proves to be a minor player. "The Living Daylights" gives us some Cold War suspense as Bond is called in to act as a sniper supporting an agent returning from East Berlin. In the final story, "007 in New York," Bond essentially has to deliver bad news to an agent working overseas, but we get his impressions of the Big Apple. Overall, I thought they were enjoyable short stories, but may not be what most people expect when coming to a book about Ian Fleming's most famous secret agent.

Ian Flemingin James Bond -novellit on julkaistu kahtena kokoelmana, joista tämä on jälkimmäinen. Kuulun itse siihen koulukuntaan, joka arvostaa lyhytfiktiota. Novellimuodossa tarinaa ei ole pakko venyttää sivumäärätavoitteiden takia, joten kirjailija pystyy rajoittamaan sanomisensa siihen, mitä tarvitsee sanoa.

Niinpä ei liene yllättävää, että olen tykännyt molemmista Bond-novellikokoelmista enemmän kuin 007-romaaneista keskimäärin. Octopussy ym. -kokoelman novelleista kaksi on filmatisoitu ja kahdesta on poimittu ideoita muihin Bond-filmeihin. Filmeillä ja novelleilla yhteistä on useimmiten vain nimi. Novelleissa Fleming tarkastelee James Bondia näkökulmista, joita romaaneissa ja varsinkaan elokuvissa harvemmkin käsitellään, ja samalla kommentoi hienovaraisesti 1960-luvun brittiyhteiskuntaa.

Octopussyssa James Bond on sivuhahmo, joka on lähetetty Jamaikalle pidättämään ryvettynyttä ja rähjääntynyttä ex-vakoojaa. The Living Daylightissa tuodaan kaksoisagenttia ulos Itä-Berliinistä. The Property of a Ladyssä etsitään vakoojaa Sothebysin huutokaupasta – novellin sisältöä on käytetty Octopussy - Mustekala -elokuvassa. 007 in New York on hassu pikku tarina, jossa James Bond muun muassa vierailee New Yorkin seksiklubeilla.

James Bond on yksi aikamme kulttuuri-ikoneista, joten tietyntasoinen 007-tuntemus kuulu mielestäni yleissivistykseen. Enemmän korkeakulttuuri-suuntautuneille lukijoille novellit voivat olla hyvä portti kovempiin aineisiin.

This Bond short stories were enjoyable enough. But they are never long enough to create enough tension/excitement or enjoyment of the characters (which is part of what I love in the Bond novels). They were a nice and quick read though and I’m looking forward to trying James Bond’s recipe for scrambled eggs!