His mission is to bankrupt the SMERSH paymaster Le Chiffre in a game of Chemin de far, which would result in the villain being targeted by his own people after he used their money for poor investments. We soon flashback to M giving Bond the assignment that leads him to the titular casino. A world the writer knew well considering his own experiences as an intelligence officer. In fact, the opening chapter and our introduction to Bond is all about how incredibly tired he is as he retreats to his hotel room to sleep.įleming’s Bond and the world he inhabits is one of bureaucracy. He’s thinking about how draining the atmosphere of such a place is. Yet not in a charming, suave manner, delighting in vices. Despite in medias res, the book doesn’t open with a gunfight or car chase but instead with Bond walking through a casino. Yet I have never read an Ian Fleming James Bond book until now, finally deciding to go to the source now that we’re in a lengthy break between films. The action the gadgets the maniacal villains the whole formula. I’ve loved the Bond films for as long as I can remember.
Ian Fleming uses the technique in Casino Royale – the first James Bond novel – but launches the reader into anything but furor. ‘In medias res’ openings are often used to bypass exposition and skip straight to the action, picking up the narrative already in motion and within a flurry of excitement.
