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 The Spy Who Got Stuck In The Mud June 13, 2008
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It's been said that Ian Fleming was a brilliant travel writer trapped in the body of a successful spy novelist. Nowhere is that case better made than in "Diamonds Are Forever."
This fourth installment in the Bond series, published in 1956, puts Bond on the trail of a diamond-smuggling operation, hopping from England to New York to Las Vegas to what was then French Guinea in pursuit of a crew of American gangsters and their fetching accomplice, Tiffany Case. Along the way he samples local cuisine, plays a few games of chance, and contemplates a criminal underworld peopled with characters like "Tingaling" Bell and "Shady" Tree.
"They've got a good machine, even if they do have funny names," warns Bond's old friend from Texas, former CIA agent Felix Leiter.
Leiter's words of warning turn out to be exaggerated. The "Spangled Mob" Bond does battle against are amateurs, and only with help from Bond in terms of some lunkish decision-making do they even come close to threatening him. It is a singularly dissatisfying element in a novel that never gels, and in terms of plot, represents a step back from the engagingly visceral storylines of previous Bond adventures.
What Fleming does get right, beyond an interesting beginning which presents a scorpion stalking a beetle before the narrative moves up the food chain, are the settings. Whether describing mud baths in Saratoga, N.Y. or dining out in Manhattan, Fleming makes sure his prose bathes you with atmosphere. His ability to make minutia diverting is almost a thing of amusement in itself. Las Vegas gets the blunt end of Fleming's pen, described as a noisy, gnashing place where old ladies clutch mindlessly at slot machines and every casino is mobbed up. Nothing wrong with writing the truth.
You only wish Fleming allowed his book more space to capture all this and room enough for Bond to have a decent case. Alas, 007 is largely a mule in this one, pretending to be a diamond carrier in order to get to the heart of the smuggling operation. He gets so bored he decides to flip things over with some sudden improvisation work that exposes him as a potential risk to the Spangled Mob. Since Fleming seems to share Bond's contempt for the situation, this doesn't succeed in making things more interesting.
As John Maggiore wrote in his May 2002 review, "Diamonds Are Forever" is more of a detective story than a spy story. It's the second such genre-bender in the Bond canon, after "Moonraker", but unlike "Moonraker" the mystery here is never that mysterious or deadly. Everything is resolved too easily. You even get ample hints Fleming found the United States too dull and tawdry a place for Bond to operate in at his more characteristically vivid way. A shame, since he takes to writing about it so well.
Fleming's writing talent is on constant display, in his descriptions, in the succinct beauty of the book's title, and in stray lines like this, regarding the pitfalls of aging playboys: "Up to forty, girls cost nothing. After that you have to pay money, or tell a story. Of the two it's the story that hurts most."
 Bond does Vegas September 15, 2007
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One of the big movies of recent times was Blood Diamonds, a grim action movie dealing with conflict diamonds, those mined in certain African countries in states of civil war. A few years before that, the final Pierce-Brosnan-as-James-Bond movie, Die Another Day also dealt with these diamonds. Ian Fleming had first introduced Bond fans to the African diamond trade much earlier, however, in 1956 with Diamonds Are Forever (and a year later, he would come out with a non-Bond novel called The Diamond Smugglers which also dealt with the subject). Moviewise, this is most noted as being the last "official" Bond movie featuring Sean Connery (Never Say Never Again, a remake of Thunderball, is not considered part of the official canon).
This fourth Bond novel has the British Secret Service agent contending with diamond smugglers who are sending the gems from Africa to England and then to the United States. When Bond first receives his assignment - to impersonate a smuggler and determine how the pipeline is organized - he treats it as something of a lark. After contending with SMERSH and other professional spies and assassins, dealing with simple American gangsters should be a breeze. Bond is to soon find out that he is underestimating the opposition.
In England, Bond meets the beautiful Tiffany Case who works for the smugglers. Like most women in Bond stories, Tiffany has had a rough past, but only needs the (physical) love of a good man (that is, Bond) to be healed. (Such damaged women are actually a staple in the so-called "men's fiction" of decades ago.) Tiffany gives the diamonds to Bond hidden in golf balls, and the smuggling goes fine; the "hot ice" arrives fine in New York. When complications arise regarding Bond's payment, he goes to Las Vegas where the pipeline also ends.
This is another fun Bond novel, albeit not the strongest in the set. Its big lack is a real good villain, although some of the bad guys are at least a bit interesting. As usual, the action is much more limited than the movies, but the trade-off is a bit more depth of character, though I'd be hard-pressed to call this a character-driven novel. It is, instead, pure entertainment, which is exactly what Fleming intended and succeeded in doing. This is another worthwhile read for literary Bond fans.
Super Reader August 4, 2007
This novel has an opponent for Bond that is quite different. He is sent by M to look into diamond smuggling in Africa, that he determines is run buy the American Spangled Mob. After infiltration, he comes across the nasty assassins Wint and Kidd, part of the gang, and the attractive Tiffany Case, who he develops a serious thing for.
The diamond smuggling happens by dentist and a few other tricks. Felix Leiter lends a hand, now out of the CIA due to the shark bite problems, and working privately.
 Bond vs. The Spagled Mob August 2, 2007
There are a few slow parts in the story, but I overall enjoyed it more than I did reading Moonraker, which is the novel before this one. In this novel, Bond goes to America so he can find who is smuggling diamonds there from Africa. While doing so, he becomes involved with the mob and meets a beautiful woman named Tiffany Case. That's the basic story, which is completely different from the movie once again.
If you are into stories about the mafia, then this book is definitely something that you should pick up and read. If you are not interested in criminal activity such as the mob, then this will probably not appeal to you as much. But if you are like me, you are planning to read all of the Fleming Bond novels anyway. Overall, a good story but not the best in the series.
Definitely not the best Bond June 27, 2007
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If you're new to Bond, start with Casino Royale or Moonraker, two gems. Diamonds are Forever had some high points, but way too much slow-paced action, description of what Bond is eating, pointless scenes that have you skimming pages to get to the point, etc. Nothing like the gripping tension of the aforementioned two volumes.
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