007 Scene It

From Russia With Love – as recommended by JFK

James Bond travels to Istanbul in From Russia With Love, where he has been sent to meet a Russian cipher clerk. She claims to have fallen in love with 007′s photograph and has promised to hand the Russian’s top secret code machine if they send 007 to meet her.

The beginning of the book gets rather stuck in a rut, while Ian Fleming describes how the Russians came to setting up the plot. However, once Bond is in Istanbul things really get going and the descriptions really transport you there.

When he arrives he is ably assisted by the local Secret Service representative, Kerim. While he is something of a rouge, he also treats Bond well and they become friends. Showing him around the city, Kerim also visits an old gypsy friend with 007.

However, on the night they arrive there is something of a stir in the gypsy camp. Two girls have fallen in love with the same man; the only way to resolve the dispute is a fight to the death! However, even that doesn’t go to plan as the fight is interrupted by an attack from the Bulgars!

While we get a real sense of being in 1950s Turkey during these scenes, James Bond and Tatiana depart from the city aboard the Orient Express, where most of the remainder of the book takes place while it passes through a variety of other countries on its way to Paris.

The Orient Express has been used in other books as a setting, probably most famously in Murder On The Orient Express by Agatha Christie. Here about what was in reality quite a cramped way to travel we experience the supposed luxury – remember that this was before people could hop across continents about jet planes.

These scenes aboard the train become quite claustrophobic as Bond faces his nemesis. Trapped in his cabin with the chief executioner of SMERSH, James Bond is counting down the moments until he hears the retort of the gun that is hidden in the spine of a book; War And Peace.

While the James Bond of the films way be able to escape thanks to a useful gadget or two, the James Bond books often give the gadgets to the baddies – Bond wishes he had something more, but knows his luck is running out fast.

When a magazine asked JFK for his top 10 books he included From Russia With Love in the list. Ian Fleming had enjoyed only limited success in the USA until that point; however, it turned out to be the tipping point that turned the James Bond books into a massive success on the other side of the Atlantic and propelled 007 into the phenomenon he enjoys to this day.

About the Author

If you enjoyed this article you might like to read more about the James Bond books by Ian Fleming and other James Bond related articles on my website.



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