Augustus Caesar, Ph.D.

Solid and suspenseful Bond novel., May 28 2004

Ian Fleming's fifth James Bond novel, "From Russia, With Love" (1957), remains one of the most popular and exciting in the series. Here we see all the attributes that made Fleming such a remarkable thriller writer--the brilliant descriptive passages, the superb characterization, the ability to inject tension and suspense into the narrative until the inevitable explosion of violence. "From Russia, With Love" has it all, and then some.

The plot is among Fleming's most ingenious. SMERSH, the Soviets' dreaded counterintelligence agency, hatches to a plot to kill Bond and humiliate the British Secret Service. Using an unwitting girl and a valuable piece of Russian… Read more

Extremely intelligent buttrock., May 27 2004

Can vintage pop metal from the 1980s be taken seriously by adults? Sometimes, yes. Case in point: Whitesnake's eponymous 1987 album, which catapulted them to international success and made them one of the top bands of the late eighties.

This album is the result of the songwriting collaboration between singer David Coverdale and guitarist John Sykes, and it has everything one could ask of good pop music: melody, wit, energy, and immaculate production. Coverdale is in very fine voice, and Sykes' guitar playing--well, it simply must be heard to be believed. This man is a virtuoso's virtuoso; his fingerwork alone is worth most guitarists' tapping. One scintillating solo follows… Read more

A disservice to Fleming's legacy., May 25 2004

"The Man With the Golden Gun" was published in 1965, the year after Ian Fleming's death, and was his last work of fiction to feature the character of James Bond. After the magnificent "You Only Live Twice" (1964), which carried the Bond series to a level beyond its previous heights and remains Fleming's finest novel, many readers had high hopes that Fleming's final Bond outing would be of high quality as well. They were bound to be deeply disappointed.

This is the worst published fiction (albeit posthumously) Fleming ever wrote; indeed, it is, by common consent, the worst of all the James Bond novels (including the much maligned "The Spy Who Loved Me")… Read more