To read or not to read? A spy thriller
You have probably seen the movie, but have you read the book? Sixty years ago a former British Naval Intelligence officer wrote the first of a series of twelve books, all made into movies. It introduces a charming, sophisticated and handsome, yet ruthless spy.Read these opening paragraphs to decide whether to read or not to read this book...
The scent of smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning. Then the soul-erosion produced by high gambling-a compost of greed and fear and nervous tension- becomes unbearable and the senses awake and revolt from it. James Bond suddenly knew that he was tired. He always knew when his body or mind had had enough and he always acted on the knowledge. This helped him to avoid staleness and the sensual bluntness that breeds mistakes.
He shifted himself unobtrusively away from the roulette he had been playing and went to stand for a moment at the brass rail which surrounded breast -high the top table in the salle privee.
Le Chiffre was still playing and still, apparently winning. There was an untidy pile of flecked hundred -mille plaques in front of him. In the shadow of his thick left arm there nestled a discreet stack of the big yellow ones worth half a million francs each. He shifted himself unobtrusively away from the roulette he had been playing and went to stand for a moment at the brass rail which surrounded breast -high the top table in the salle privee.
Bond watched the curious, impressive profile for a time, then he shrugged his shoulders to lighten his thoughts and moved away. The barrier surrounding the caisse comes as high as your chin and the caissier who is generally no more than a minor bank clerk, sits on a stool and dips into his piles of notes and plaques. These are ranged on the shelves. They are on a level, behind the protecting barrier, with your groin. The caissier has a cosh and a gun to protect him, and to heave over the barrier and steal some notes and then vault back and get out of the casino through the passages and doors would be impossible. and the caissiers generally work in pairs. Bond reflected on the problem as he collected the sheaf of hundred thousand and then the sheaves of ten thousand franc notes.
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