You Only Live Twice

You only live twice:Once when you are bornAnd once when you look death in the face(You Only Live Twice, Chapter 11)

You Only Live Twice was Fleming's 11th James Bond novel. This isn't counting the short story collection “For Your Eyes Only.” It's a strange book. Through the mouths of his characters, Fleming examines the decline of post-World War II British power and influence, notably in relation to the United States. The Bond in this story reflects this. He is a shattered character who has lost his wife eight months earlier and is unsure who or what he's fighting for.

The book itself starts strongly and declines as the story progresses. It becomes more of a travelogue. The novel deals on a personal level with the change in Bond from a depressed man in mourning, to a man of action bent on revenge, to an amnesiac living as a fisherman. Bond travels to Japan, so a reader who is familiar with Fleming's attitudes towards foreigners immediately fears the worst. But the book isn't as racist as I feared. Saying that, women are still offered to Bond as little more than sexual playthings.

The plot doesn't explain the ambiguous mission Bond faces and is one of the most convoluted ever. Bond seems to mooch about for a while waiting then gets told about the villain Dr. Shatterhand. Shatterhand has created a “garden of death”: poisonous plants, snakes, piranhas, etc. Japanese people love to go to his garden and kill themselves. It's never made clear why this garden was created, nor why Fleming thinks that the Japanese like to commit suicide? Bond realises that Shatterhand is Ernst Stavro Blofeld (making his third appearance) and sets out on a revenge mission to kill him and his wife, Irma Bunt.

The last 40 or so pages contain all the action. The novel concludes with 007's obituary, written for The Times by M. The obituary provides biographical details of Bond's early life, including his parents' names and nationalities.

It seems that the series hit a peak with OHMSS, then Fleming started to struggle. I'll make up my mind after about this after I read the unfinished first draft released as The Man With the Golden Gun. And of course Octopussy & the Living Daylights.

So in summary, worth reading but only just.