Doctor No, the sixth book in Ian Fleming’s James Bond series, picks up immediately following the events of the cliffhanger ending of From Russia With Love. 007, in need of rest and recuperation, is sent on what is supposed to be a ‘holiday’ mission, only to find himself in the worst and most torturous predicament of all his previous documented adventures. Interestingly enough, Doctor No not only ties in with events of From Russia With Love, but the story returns James Bond to the Jamaican island of his expoits in the novel, Live and Let Die, and once again pairs him with his very likeable jack-of-all-trades, Quarrel. You may recall that although I thoroughly loved the intensity of the adventure in Live and Let Die, the racism prevalent in the book was a real turn off. This being set in the same territory, there is a slight return to form, this time with mixed race Chinese/African Americans being the target. There is, however, significantly less of this than in Live and Let Die and this feels much more like a product of the time than a deliberate judgement on a race of people. All in all, Doctor No is an engrossing tale that turned into a real page-turner before the end.
It should be no mystery at all to those who know me well that the cover of Camille DeAngelis’ debut novel, Mary Modern, was what drew me in to picking up this book in the first place. In fact, I found the cover image to be so hauntingly seductive that I made it a point to pick up this book every time I went into the bookstore. After several such clandestine meetings, it seemed very untoward not to buy the book and take it home, so I did. As with most books I buy, it ended up sitting on the shelf for awhile as I read other selections I was currently involved in. Then came our Halloween party and I was looking for something to decorate our table with and this book, with its illusions to my wife (they share the same name, Mary), became part of the centerpiece for our table. All it took was holding it in my hands once again to decide that this would be my final read for the R.I.P. II Challenge, and I was off and running…er, reading.
Saccharine movies. You know the kind. The conclusion is foregone and you await the inevitable and unlikely twists and turns, improbable coincidences and plot devices, that will eventually produce the results that you expected because you have seen this type of film a hundred times before. August Rush is that type of film. As the film unwinds you can sit back and witness as many as a dozen contrived coincidences, designed wholly to play on the heartstrings of your emotion as the ending you predicted unfolds before your eyes.
The great thing about August Rush is, that you don’t care that you’re being played like an instrument, in fact you welcome the experience.
Annie, our 10 year old reading phenom (when does she turn 11, Debi?) who has participated in both the Once Upon a Time Challenge and the R.I.P. II challenge (and cranks out more books during the challenges than anyone except probably Kailana!), is hosting a fantastic reading challenge of her own that you really should consider joining: the What’s In a Name Challenge. The details from her post are:
Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men;
but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude.
~E.P. Powell
