From Russia With Love

As always, the movie is different than the book. I was surprised by how different this book was from the movie. I was surprised to not find Bond until about a third of the way into the book. This made for an interesting approach, taking time to setup the scene for the story. There are times descriptions feel a bit overdone, but the story moved along with a good pace.

What I liked:
- That Fleming takes time to create the setting for the story rather than just running away with action scene after action scene.
- The Cold War era espionage setting.
- The Bond character is an interesting character and I like the way Fleming explores the nuances of his psyche, thoughts, and feelings.
- The attention to detail, and the way Fleming keeps it from getting in the way of telling the story.

What I didn't like:
- The woman who seems mostly helpless. It feels like all she's good for is sex and that's because she's physically attractive.
- The detail in love scenes have too much description for my taste. Definitely stuff that was too racy for filming in the 60s.

I would give this book 4 stars if the story had a stronger heroine. It does feel like Bond wants a woman to rescue who won't challenge him. Also, while the love scenes leave much to the imagination, a little less detail wouldn't hurt.

I may read this again in the future, but I wouldn't buy it.