From Russia with Love - By Ian Fleming (Book Review)

A few days ago, I read in some newspaper that “From Russia with Love” by Ian Fleming was one of the favourite novels of John F. Kennedy, president of the United States of America in the 1960s. In an interview to Life magazine, he had mentioned that this novel was number nine in his top ten favourite books.

I felt very nice to know that I had such exalted company. “From Russia with Love” happens to be my favourite also – perhaps number five in my top ten favourite thrillers read so far. I have read it seven times so far.

For the uninitiated, Ian Fleming is the creator of the character “James Bond”. In the 1950s, he wrote a series of thrillers based on the exploits of his character “Commander James Bond”, Secret Agent 007 of the British MI5 (Military Intelligence 5). In each of the novels, Bond is sent on a secret mission to some corner of the world. Most of his exploits have to do with the Russians since the cold war was at its peak when these novels were written.

All the initial James Bond movies were adapted from the Ian Fleming novels. They gave the audience a good cocktail of three Gs – Guns, Gadgets and Gorgeous Girls. The audience also got to see exotic locales, an intriguing story line and villain with panache. No wonder, the movies developed a cult following. Bond was what every man wanted to be and what every woman desired in her dreams.

But it is the novels which give the real pleasure. I mean, if you watch the movie after reading the novel on which the movie is based, you realize how much gets missed in the movie. Although, all these novels were written in the 1950s, but almost 50 years later they still retain their freshness and evoke the tendency to read them again and again.

If you have never read a Bond book before, “From Russia with Love” is a good place to start. The book is neatly divided into two parts. The engrossing first section of the book shows in some detail the weaving of a plot by SMERSH to kill Bond and discredit the British Secret Service with a sordid scandal. The second part deals with the execution of the plan.

(SMERSH was the official murder organization of the soviet government. In 1955, it employed more than 40,000 men and women. SMERSH is a contraction of “Smiert Spionam” which means death to spies. It no longer exists in present day Russia).

The interesting thing is that Bond does not appear in the novel till the second part of the book. But you don’t miss him because the Russians are such a colourful lot in the first section. Each chapter keeps you riveted with their antics. There are four key characters in this section who never allow you to put down the novel.

Out of these four characters, the one who intrigues me most is Major Donovan Grant. He is the Chief Executioner of SMERSH, the official murder organization of the soviet government. Chapter one is fully devoted to this psychopath killer employed by the Russians. He is a very modern villain: the relentless, remorseless psycho with the cold, dead eyes of a “downed man”. In fact, I would credit Fleming with giving us a first real literary peek into the mind of a serial killer.

The next intriguing character happens to be a ghoulish woman, Lt. Colonel Rosa Klebb, the head of Otadyel II, the department of SMERSH in charge of Operations and Executions. Her love to inflict torture gives you an insight into a mind with grotesque tendencies. The third character is Colonel General Grubozaboyschikov, the head of SMERSH, who issues the death warrant. The chapter “Moguls of Death” very effectively captures the inter-personnel tensions among the higher officials of state machinery responsible for carrying our assassinations.

The fourth character comes like a breath of fresh air. She is the beautiful Tatiana Romanova, sent by SMERSH to Istanbul. Her mission is to lure James Bond to Istanbul and onto a train journey to Paris, enabling SMERSH to do the next part of discrediting Bond and finally executing him.

When the section two of the book – the execution of plan starts, you can feel the odds Bond is against as the characters seem so real. Will Tatiana able to lure Bond? Will Donovan Grant be able to kill Bond? What happens to Rosa Klebb in the end?

Well, you got to read the book to find the answers and later on perhaps, the movie by the same name.?