Goldfinger, by Ian Fleming
While stuck in the Miami Airport dwelling over his last mission, secret agent James Bond is approached for help to divulge how a millionaire named Auric Goldfinger has been ruthlessly cheating at cards.
On his return to London, Bond investigates Goldfinger; discovering that he is the richest man in England and is in possession of twenty million pounds in gold bars that have been stolen from England.
With this information, he is assigned the case to uncover Goldfinger’s criminal activity.
Bond’s next encounter with Goldfinger takes place at Royal St. Mark’s Golf Club in Kent, where, after a well-written round of golf, Bond uncovers Golfinger’s fraudulence and leaves him humiliated.
In one of the best driving scenes ever written, Bond tails Goldfinger’s Rolls Royce Silver Ghost in an Aston Martin DB 3 across Europe to where Bond uncovers Goldfinger’s smuggling operation and his plan the rob fifteen billion in gold bullion from Fort Knox. The book reaches its climax in spectacular military fashion.
Although this story sounds much like the 1964 movie we all know and love, Ian Fleming’s novel, first published in 1959, is very different.
Remembering that the old James Bond movies were competing against films of their era, they were given all kinds of additions and alterations; like car chases, boat chases, villains with distinctive abnormalities, cheesy one-liners, science fiction style lairs and an overall different feel.
They were great movies of their time that still stand in high regard today, but the novels were different.
However, in 2006, after a long legal battle for the film rights, Ian Fleming’s first novel ‘Casino Royale’ was finally able to be adapted for film and used to relaunch the franchise, thus giving a movie to match the feel of the books.
With Daniel Craig as 007, the world was reintroduced to the more relatable, no nonsense agent that Ian Fleming had written.
This is why I feel that now more than ever, with the popularity of the previous four Bond films; there is a strong audience for these books.
Those awaiting the fate of the next Bond movie, if you have not yet read Ian Fleming’s novels, remember there are 14 fantastic adventures already waiting inside the pages of those books.
All 14 Ian Fleming 007 novels are available from the Raven’s Parlour book store, Tanunda.
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