He is often cold, but ‘easily tipped over into sentiment’ a subtly evoked vulnerability and capacity for self-doubt temper the impression of a man who is unshakeable and undefeatable. Bond is absorbing and elusive at once charming and, at times, shockingly ruthless. The beautiful and inscrutable Vesper Lynd has been sent to assist him, but their love affair will imperil them both.Īs Banville writes in his excellent introduction, which explores the genesis of the novels, Fleming based his hero on a number of people he had known during the war. Bond becomes his opponent in a game of baccarat – a game set on a ‘luminous and sparkling stage’, with violence lurking in the wings. Le Chiffre’s unsavoury predilections have left him bankrupt and desperate for money, and his defeat lies in the hands of ‘the finest gambler available to the Service’. Darker and more visceral than those new to Fleming’s novels might imagine, Casino Royale plunges Bond into a battle of luck, wits and physical endurance against Le Chiffre, a corrupt agent of the feared Soviet organisation, SMERSH.
